Mother says son was ‘savagely bitten’ at Toronto-area group home amid staff strike

The mother of a man living in a Toronto-area group home at the centre of a bitter labour dispute says she is seeking accountability after he was “savagely bitten” on the neck by another resident. Jan Beddoe says she was “absolutely furious” after the Dec. 23 attack on her 47-year-old son Chris at the home run by Central West Specialized Developmental Services. It’s a provincially funded supportive living community for adults with developmental disabilities, with satellite locations in Burlington, Halton Hills, Mississauga and Oakville. The bite happened more than two months after about 40 residents were moved into the care home’s main facility near downtown Oakville to ensure there would be enough staff to provide round-the-clock care in anticipation of a strike by support staff. The workers represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union walked off the job in mid-November, about 40 days after CWSDS requested a no-board report from Ontario’s Ministry of Labour. Since then, third-party agency staff have been working in the main Oakville facility to support residents. Beddoe alleges the attack on Chris occurred in the upstairs part of his unit while all the staff working in that area were in a meeting. Chris had to reach the top of the stairs before anyone could hear him calling for help, she said. Chris saw a nurse on site and was later taken to a hospital, where he received several stitches, Beddoe said. The Canadian Press reviewed photos of the bite, which revealed a deep wound that extends from his chin to the edge of his jaw. Toronto-area gets slammed with major snowstorm, weather alert upgraded Ontario winter wallop causes dangerous roads, crashes and Pearson flight cancellations Ford government pausing its own affordable housing policy, calling it ‘red tape’ Trial begins for woman charged with murder of friend’s toddler inside CAS building “As soon as the incident happened, (I felt) terrible fear,” Beddoe said in an interview. “But once I knew he was all right and he was going to be all right, then I was just absolutely furious, beyond furious. I did not hear from the centre. I did not hear from house management.” Beddoe said she blames the incident “fully on understaffing, some unqualified staffing ... They don’t know these clients well enough to know their individualized needs.” Get daily National news Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy . She said Chris’s wound was partially closed with stitches and the open part needs to be packed with gauze on a daily basis, likely for another month. CWSDS CEO Patricia Kyle wouldn’t comment on the bite, citing patient confidentiality, but she said that “supervision was in place at the time of the incident.” The organization is “deeply proud of the high-quality, compassionate care we provide people with complex developmental needs,” Kyle wrote in an email to The Canadian Press. Union spokesperson Jolene Cushman said OPSEU is aware of the incident. “This is a dangerous situation that members have been warning could happen long before they went...

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