A heartbreaking report by Children and Youth Representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says two North Vancouver brothers who tried in vain to get provincial authorities involved in ensuring the care of their Down syndrome half-sister should have been listened to.

Last year, one of the adult brothers who lives in North Vancouver told the North Shore News that he and his brother tried for years to tell authorities that his mother was spiralling downward into alcohol abuse and that his teenaged half-sister was not getting proper care.

In September, the girl was found emaciated in a Chilliwack trailer beside her mother's body, which had been there at least a week.

This week, Turpel-Lafond issued a damning report about what went wrong in the months leading up to the mother's death and how the needs of the girl could have been overlooked by so many social workers involved in the case.

Among her conclusions were that social workers didn't know what others involved in the case were doing, didn't delve deeply enough into reported problems and didn't seek out information from family and community members who had long-term knowledge of the girl and her mother.

In the case of the girl's brothers, "They accurately saw that the deterioration in their mother's health was placing their sister at risk and did everything they could to bring that to the attention of (the Ministry of Child and Family Development). Their tone may have been strident, but they, more than anyone else, understood that the safety and well-being of their sister had to be the centre of their attention," she wrote.

But instead of paying attention to their concerns, "the brothers' insights into their mother's behaviours appear to have been either ignored or discounted," said Turpel-Lafond.

The report documents desperate action taken by one of the brothers in the summer before their mother died, when he brought his sister to North Vancouver and phoned the ministry, saying he wouldn't take the girl back until he was assured that social workers would keep close tabs on her welfare.

Ministry officials assured the brothers they would. But that didn't happen, Turpel-Lafond's report makes clear. Instead, the situation worsened while the mother cut off contact with her sons, refusing to allow them into the trailer when they visited with bags of groceries.

After their mother died, the brothers had to clean out the trailer. The living conditions inside were beyond their worst fears.

In her report, Turpel-Lafond said social workers were too passive in dealing with the case, referring the mother to various social supports and programs but never following up to find out if she had contacted them. "There was not enough focus on the child, who had significant unmet medical needs, was isolated and was essentially confined to her home for long periods of time with a desperately ill mother," wrote Turpel-Lafond.

Following the mother's death, the brothers filed a complaint about the way the case was handled with the ministry. But the ministry, which maintained it had followed proper procedures, also essentially brushed that off.

But that was also wrong, said Turpel-Lafond.

The girl has since been placed in foster care and is reportedly doing much better.

The brothers could not be reached for comment on the report. The North Shore News has chosen not to name them in order to protect the girl's identity.

jseyd@nsnews.com