“Olivia should still be here. Her death was preventable.”
Those are among the first words in P.E.I. Child and Youth Advocate Marv Bernstein’s long-awaited report into the 2020 death of nine-year-old Olivia Rodd, who died by murder-suicide in her mother’s care.
The investigation report, released Thursday, provides harsh criticism of the P.E.I. government and mental health services in the province, laying out “systemic failures” where professionals did not follow the law and report their concerns to Child Protection Services (CPS).
That lack of action, the report said, kept Olivia in the care of a mother who had spiralling mental illness and a history of suicidal thoughts.
“It wasn’t a situation where the mother’s mental health was on the margins,” Bernstein said in an interview with CBC News.
“The signals were loud and clear. She was talking about the method by which she’d commit suicide, looking at timeframes.… She was very serious about this.”
Bernstein’s office reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed roughly 27 people.
The report provides 20 recommendations for government, police and others to help prevent any future deaths as a result of similar situations.
It also flags 12 “missed opportunities” throughout the worsening mental condition of Olivia’s mother — times when officials in mental health, CPS and other areas could have worked together, but didn’t.
Those are summarized in the child and youth advocate’s three main findings:
- Many professionals involved with Olivia’s family did not report child protection concerns, contrary to their legal obligation.
- Many professionals providing services to Olivia and her mother did not adopt a child-centred approach to their practice, meaning they prioritized their mental health client over the life and safety of the client’s child, Olivia.
- Many professionals who interacted with Olivia’s family did not share information that was necessary to ensure Olivia’s safety and well-being.
The report attributes a quote to an expert consultant who said professionals were “more concerned about getting in trouble” for disclosing information, so they erred on the side of not disclosing — even when they were legally obligated to do so.
“We have too many situations where professional staff, mental health professionals just are wearing blinders. They can’t see past the client,” Bernstein said.
“Information sharing is a major concern in different ways we identify in the report.”
Mother’s mental health was in ‘severe decline’
Olivia was born in Charlottetown in 2010 to Danny Rodd and Danielle White.
The couple separated when Olivia was a toddler. She was mostly raised by her father, but had frequent visits with her mother.
Before and after Oliva’s birth, the report details that White’s mental “challenges” and conditions were piling up.
White had at least 18 reports related to neglect and physical abuse referred to CPS, she’d been hospitalized several times for her mental state over the years and suffered from a variety of illnesses.
The report said those illnesses included:
- Adjustment disorder.
- Dependent personality disorder.
- Major depressive disorder.
- Panic disorder.
- Disordered eating.
- Bipolar II disorder.
- Complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Insomnia.
A medical practitioner described White in 2013 as “one of [their] most complicated medical patients,” according to the report. Additionally, White said she’d experienced significant postpartum depression, severe depression, significant suicidal ideation, inability to care for her household, memory loss and dissociative episodes.
White had regularly seen mental health professionals throughout Olivia’s life, and met with Child Protection Services until 2016. After that, CPS was no longer involved. Her mental health condition worsened in her final years and was described in the report as being “in severe decline functionally” and “close to a breaking point.”
The report said White told a mental health professional in 2018 that her suicidal thoughts were “everyday” and that she was afraid she was “going to act on them out of the blue,” and had a detailed plan to do so.
The report said that information was not communicated to CPS.
The report details how White was receiving support from the P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre in 2019 when she came up with a “suicide safety plan,” which was to take Olivia to Disney.
“Here’s a woman who’s trying to find a way to prevent herself from committing suicide, she is using her daughter as a prop, as a vehicle. This elevates the risk to that child,” Bernstein said.
“That should have been an immediate indicator to report to CPS based upon a reasonable suspicion.”
But that wasn’t reported to CPS either, the report said.
Weeks before killing her daughter in 2020, White had also ordered “medication” online that is known to be used for suicide.
The parcel was intercepted by American authorities and destroyed. The U.S. officials alerted Charlottetown Police Services.
Officers visited White in response and said she “presented well,” according to the report. Police did not inform CPS, mental health workers or Olivia’s father that White had bought pills as a means to die by suicide.
It was another missed opportunity flagged in the report.
Report recommends creation of ‘Olivia’s Law’
The report’s recommendations involve further mandatory education and training across government agencies, police services, the P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre and Health P.E.I.
Most of that revolves around the creation of new legislation, to be commonly known as “Olivia’s Law.”
“What we have right now is a complex labyrinth of different pieces of legislation. Even lawyers in the province can’t always figure this out,” Bernstein said.
“We just want to give service providers, government departments, a sense that they’re able to operate in the best interest of children. There seem to be so many impediments in the province. People not reporting, people not sharing information — we need to find a way to do better.”
Bernstein said the legislation would effectively allow mental health professionals and officials to share information with each other and override privacy considerations when they believe a child is at risk.
“The public has a right to know what is happening,” Bernstein said.
“Preventing even one death would make an enormous amount of difference to that particular family and to this office and, I would like to think, to the community at large.”
