Family of Nick Lang wants inquiry into son's death while in provincial care

Another B.C. family is demanding an independentinquiry into the Ministry of Children and Family Developmentafter their 15-year-old son died while he was in provincialcare.

"We thought we would get our son back, he would come back in sixmonths better than he was when he left...he died in sixdays," said Peter Lang.

Peter Lang's son, Nick Lang, was taken to Campbell River, B.C., to attend a treatment program for drug addiction paid for by the ministry. During that time, he stayed with a family screened by the ministry and attended the program during the day.

Hisson was not apprehended as a child in need of protectionhe was a meth addict who was sent to a rehabilitationprogram contracted out by the ministry.

Nick Lang died on June 9.

Family misinformed

Peter Lang blameslack of proper supervision and ministry staff incompetence for his youngest son's death.Both he and the boy's mother, Linda Tenpas, say their sonshould have been put in detox for a weekbefore starting the program.

Lang saysthe ministry misled him about what kind ofsupervision hisson would be under.

"Iwas lead to believe Nick would never be alone, that theprotocol was he would always be withsomeone, except bathrooms," said Peter Lang.

"But in actual fact, he was allowed to be alone and there were no protocols to watch him for detox or self-harm."

Lang was found dead in a closet after being left alone for 40 minutes. His father saidthe family his son was living with was not informed that the teenagerwas coming down off meth and marijuanaandhad a history of hurting himself.

The host family told Tenpasthathe was the first child they had ever cared for, and they did not know he required constant supervision.

Tenpassaysshe and her husband weretold to have no contact with their sonfor the first two weeks, but her son called and left her a voicemail sounding distressed.

She says she triedto reach his ministryworker for threedays, and when he finally returned her calls,it was too late.

"He finally called me back approximately 15 minutes before Nick passed away," she said. "I finally made the phone call to talk to my son and EMT werethere working on him."

Call for independent inquiry

The B.C. Coroner service isstill investigating the death. The ministryis also conductinga review.

CBC News tried to reach both agencies, but theiroffices said they were closed until Tuesday.

"Iwould like to see a public inquiry into all of this," said Tenpas.

The family is joining two other families in demanding an independent inquiry into the deaths of children in provincial care.

• Alex Gervais's family calling for inquiry into troubled teen's death
• B.C. Ministry of Children in question again after mother raises alarm over daughter's suicide

"I want to see someone from the outside look at all of these deaths, because there are similarities in these situations," said Peter Lang.

"These kids may have been different,but they're also extremelysimilar in how their cases were handled."

Nick Lang's friends have spray painted a permanentmemorial to the boy under the VedderBridge,and many visit often.

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