Jury made 13 recommendations after hearing evidence about the 2018 death of Florence Girard in the home of her caregive
A coroner’s inquest jury looking into the starvation death of a B.C. woman with Down syndrome has ruled her death a homicide and is calling for better pay for home carers of adults with developmental disabilities.
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It’s among 13 recommendations made by the jury after hearing evidence about the 2018 death of Florence Girard in the home of her caregiver, where she lived as part of a government-funded program.
The homicide ruling is not a determination of criminality and inquest juries are not asked to find fault in cases that they hear, but rather make recommendations on how to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The jury foreman has told coroner Donita Kuzma late Friday that that home-share providers should get “a living wage commensurate with the complexity of care needed” beyond paying for basic necessities.
The foreman says the jury, which deliberated for almost two days, heard “repeatedly” that funding isn’t adequate to attract and retain home-share providers.
The recommendations also include making compensation for home-share co-ordinators in charge of monitoring living arrangements comparable with pay for similar positions with the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
Fifty-four-year-old Girard weighed only about 50 pounds when she died in the Port Coquitlam home of Astrid Dahl, who was later convicted of failing to provide the necessaries of life.