Dean Harper’s joy at finding his long-lost daughter Athena Glusing has turned out to be bittersweet, as he blames authorities for failing to contact him years ago when his daughter was placed into foster care.

And to add insult to injury Batshaw Social Services has asked him to pay $7,800 for parental services.

Harper says that his quest for his daughter began when his former partner disappeared with their daughter Athena Glusing after the couple split. He was unable to locate the two but after 16 years of trying he tracked his daughter down through social media and showed up at her workplace.

“My heart was pounding like you wouldn't believe. I thought for sure Athena could hear my heart pounding. I said, ‘Can I tell you something?’ She said, ‘sure.’ She had a beaming smile on her face and I said, 'My name is Dean Harper.' ‘And that's supposed to mean?’ She didn't even know who I was. I said, 'I'm your father,'" Harper told CTV Montreal.

Harper’s joy at finding his daughter has been tempered by the knowledge that authorities did not contact him when she was removed from her mother’s care and was placed in a series of foster homes. As a result he remained separated from her throughout her teenage years.

“I was very upset because they had my name on file. They knew who I was and I asked them, ‘Why didn't you look for me when you got my daughter?’ They said, ‘Well we didn't have your birth date,’” said Harper.

Batshaw would not comment on the case when contacted by CTV Montreal but issued a statement: "In all situations, social workers make regular attempts to locate parents, in the province of Quebec, across Canada, and any other countries, even in prisons. These efforts are always based on children's needs."

Athena, now an adult, has moved in with her father but still carries some bitter memories from her difficult years. “How I was raised from zero to 12, it was really not a childhood that a child should go through,” she said.

But she is enjoying her new family. “I really like having family dinners because i get to know my two biological brothers on his side more. I have a nephew now, it's awesome.”

Harper said that he has contacted a lawyer to fight the bill and possibly pursue legal action against Batshaw Social Services for its failure to locate him.