The Manitoba government is cutting ties with a private foster home operator and has asked police to investigate after learning the home was giving underage teens unauthorized cannabis as a form of harm reduction.
Spirit Rising House, a Winnipeg-based for-profit company, runs nine foster homes and two specialized group homes for 34 high-risk youth in Child and Family Services care.
“We are talking about some of the most vulnerable, at-risk youth with incredibly complex needs,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine told CBC News. “So to learn that cannabis was being distributed was quite concerning.”
Former and current employees told CBC underage youth were provided cannabis by staff, which was widely known throughout the company.
“Harm reduction is great when it’s being used for harm reduction, but what we were doing is providing weed every day at 3:30,” said a former employee who used to work at one of the homes and gave the youth cannabis.
Staff were told by upper management it was better to have workers at the home provide cannabis than risk residents going elsewhere and doing harder drugs, such as methamphetamine and opioids.
“It’s easier to just keep [them] placated and happy than to have to deal with the paperwork, police and hospitals,” the former employee said.
Another former worker said the teens, some as young as 15, were given a choice between getting one gram of cannabis a day or getting a weekly cash allowance.
Every youth picked the cannabis, she said.
She said an underage teen who had never smoked marijuana in her life started smoking it daily after she moved into a Spirit Rising House home.
“It was very concerning to me when I would show up and she’s walking around … with a bong in her hand and just out of it all the time,” said the former worker.
“And it’s all she does now.”
The two former employees are among four people — past and current employees — who spoke to CBC News about concerns with the operations of Spirit Rising House. CBC is not identifying the individuals because they fear speaking out will harm their future job prospects.
They are speaking out because they say what they’ve seen happening at the homes isn’t right and believe the children deserve better care.
The foster homes are in charge of Level 5 CFS children in care — youth with high, complex care needs deemed at risk of sexual exploitation, drug use and self-harm.
Current staff worry about teens’ future
One current Spirit Rising House employee says the kids are given the best care possible from staff, but says the company took its harm reduction plans too far.
“If people are providing these kids with a gram of weed every single day, what happens when they’re not in their care?” she asked.
“We should be preparing them for real life, because some of these kids, the second they turn 18, they’re out of our houses. They’re gone.”
The Manitoba government got involved about a month ago, after a department staff member alerted them to reports of cannabis being given to youth by Spirit Rising House staff, a spokesperson for the families minister told CBC.
Around that time, a now-deleted Reddit post was published accusing Spirit Rising House owners of giving the kids cannabis as a means to “numb” them.
Fontaine said her department investigated and during an on-site visit was able to confirm that unauthorized cannabis was being given to the youth.
In response, the government put a hold on all new placements in Spirit Rising House homes, informed all CFS authorities of their findings and decided to cut ties with the company, Fontaine said.
Southeast Child and Family Services, which licenses Spirit Rising House, did a similar review and has placed a co-manager in the homes, Fontaine added.
The findings were also reported to Winnipeg police, who confirmed their child abuse unit is now investigating.
Finding new placements priority: minister
There is no timeline for when the youth will be transitioned out of the homes, Fontaine said.
“Right now my priority is Spirit Rising House. More particularly my priority is the children that are there,” and finding them new placements, she said.
“They deserve to be safe. They deserve to be seen, to be heard. And certainly at the end of the day, they deserve to be protected and loved. That is my concern.”
Spirit Rising House Inc. began in 2021 and is co-owned by Ian Rabb — a well-known addictions counsellor and managing director of Kelburn Recovery Centre.
Christine Ormiston, Kelli Register and John Bennett are also listed as owners, according to company records.
The province and CFS agencies paid the company over $2.2 million for its services last year, according to figures provided by the government and the Southern First Nations Network of Care — an authority responsible for over 4,000 youth in care that oversees the Southeast Child and Family Services agency.
Spirit Rising House bills itself as a provider of homes that specialize in stabilization and treating addictions for at-risk youth.
Rabb declined an interview request for this story. In a statement sent by the company’s lawyer, Rabb said he could not speak about specifics due to confidentiality concerns.
He said the company’s homes focus on a harm reduction approach for kids in care who are addicted to opioids and methamphetamine.
Using cannabis is part of this approach, he said, adding that it can be prescribed by physicians or the youth can buy it themselves.
Choosing cannabis over meth a step in ‘right direction’: co-owner
He did not address allegations that staff at the home were directly providing cannabis for the kids and no evidence was provided to support the youth were prescribed the cannabis.
“We all agree that abstinence is where we all want to be and choosing to use cannabis instead of opioids or meth and other illicit hard drugs is a step in the right direction,” Rabb said in the statement.
Following the Reddit post on Jan. 29, CBC obtained a Feb. 9 memo that went to all Spirit Rising House staff, stating that cannabis must only be given with a prescription from a doctor.
“To be clear, under no circumstances should there be any non-prescribed marijuana or cannabis products on SRH property moving forward,” executive director John Bennett wrote.
The memo said before any controlled substance, including marijuana, is given to a youth, staff also need the consent of the child’s guardian CFS agency.
Cannabis cannot be given to the youth in lieu of their cash allowance, the memo said, and workers must document the use of any substance on a provincial form.
Bennett noted the company is new and admits it has made mistakes.
“We take ownership of those mistakes and intend to learn from them,” he said.
Smoking cannabis dangerous for young adults: doctor
There is limited data on the efficacy of medical cannabis use by youth, according to a 2023 position statement by the Canadian Pediatric Society.
It can be prescribed, off-label, to youth by a doctor, but smoking cannabis is not recommended due to its unpredictable dosing and respiratory hazards, according to the society.
When used for therapeutic consideration, benefits must outweigh the risks and there must be a clear treatment plan that is monitored by physicians, the society states.
Winnipeg pediatrician Dr. Ruth Grimes said no one under the age of 25 should be experimenting with cannabis, given the effects it has on brain development.
It can impact short-term memory and put teens at a higher risk for developing anxiety or depression, she said.
“Teens that are using cannabis on a daily basis definitely have impaired academic functioning because that short-term memory, that working memory, processing speed, all of that is impaired,” Grimes said.
“And I would still beg the question, why is the cannabis being used? Let’s try and address the reasons behind the use.”
The Manitoba government has paused all new placements of kids in the care of Spirit Rising House after learning it was giving kids in their care unauthorized cannabis as a form of harm reduction. Former and current staff say that it was widely known throughout the company that weed was given daily to children in lieu of giving them their weekly allowance.
