The Manitoba government announced Monday it will review the treatment of children at its Child and Family Services department, following recent reports of the deaths of two children in the Fisher River First Nation community.

Family Service Minister Christine Melnick said the external review will examine the protocol surrounding the opening and closing of cases, the transfer of cases between various child-welfare authorities and the caseloads managed by front-line social workers.

Melnick said she hopes the review process will improve services for children in care and provide support for social workers who are on the front lines.

"Manitobans want to know the answers," she said. "I want to know the answers. We will find out the answers, and we will make the changes to improve the child and family services system for all of our children."

The external review will be carried out by Manitoba ombudsman Irene Hamilton, children's advocate Billie Schibler and an Ontario child and family services director.

The internal review under the Child and Family Services Act will examine financial files and accountability, review file-management practices and interview agency staff, management, clients and community members.

The external review is scheduled to have a draft completed by the end of June, with a final report due by September.

The opposition Conservatives also want a full public inquiry into child care, so clients and workers can speak freely about problems they see in the system. They have also called for Melnick's resignation.

Second Fisher River girl died in care

Meanwhile, the father of another child on the Fisher River First Nation has come forward with a troubling story of his daughter's death in the care of child-welfare authorities.

Fisher River resident Lawrence Traverse said he believes his two-year-old daughter, Heaven, was abused while in the care of the child-welfare system.

Traverse told CBC News he saw unexplained bruises on Heaven on several occasions while she was in the care of a foster family. He said he raised concerns about his daughter's care with child-welfare authorities.

Heaven died in a Winnipeg hospital in January 2005. Traverse said she appeared to have several bruises on her body, including a large welt on her head. He said doctors told him Heaven died as a result of head trauma.

RCMP investigators say Heaven's death is still being investigated. No charges have been laid.

Traverse's case is the second tragic story in recent weeks about children in care on the Fisher River First Nation. Last week, RCMP charged Samantha Dawn Kematch, 24 and her common-law husband, Karl Wesley McKay, with first-degree murder in the death of the Kematch's five-year-old daughter, Phoenix Victoria Sinclair.

Phoenix had been missing for nine months, although her case only came to light recently. Court documents indicate police believe the little girl was abused, confined and eventually killed in June 2005. Her body has not been found.

Phoenix was in and out of the child welfare system for most of her life. Her case had been closed by social workers before her death.

Lack of resources: former social worker

A former social worker said a lack of resources and foster families may have contributed to the deaths of the two little girls on the Fisher River First Nation.

Janet Brady, a former social worker who currently teaches at the University of Manitoba's faculty of social work in Thompson, said most groups who work with endangered children are facing a lack of resources.

"I think the problem is now with agencies having enough placement resources for children," Brady told CBC News on Monday. "Do they have enough foster homes? What is the quality of those foster homes that they do have, and is there training going on for those foster parents?"

Brady believes there should be a public inquiry into the deaths of Phoenix Sinclair and Heaven Traverse, but she's not confident it would result in changes, noting inquiries have been held on similar cases in the past.

"It's very sad when I hear this over and over and over again," she said. " I thought we've done this before. Have we not learned from our mistakes? We've had internal reviews of the system and recommendations have been made, so it kind of begs the question, how come things are not getting any better?"