Ontario coroner finally finds ‘potential’ crime in review of foster care deaths

How many of these deaths can be directly attributed to wrongful interventions by child poaching funding predators?

If the Motherisk report and the most recent coroner's report are any indication - all of them are.

“It is stunning to me how these children... are rendered invisible while they are alive and invisible in their death,” said Irwin Elman, Ontario’s advocate for children and youth. Between 90 and 120 children and youth connected to children’s aid die every year.

http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/PDRC/2013Report/PDRC_2013.html

http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/sites/default/files/content/mcscs/images/195633-19.jpg

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Ontario coroner finally finds ‘potential’ crime in review of foster care deaths

National News | March 14, 2018 by Kenneth Jackson.

https://aptnnews.ca/2018/03/14/ontario-coroner-finds-potential-crime-review-foster-care-deaths/

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12 youths who died in Ontario child welfare lacked mental health support, coroner's report finds

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ontario-coroner-expert-panel-report-1.4837245

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The Star obtained the reports in a freedom of information request and compiled them according to the type of serious event that occurred — something the ministry does not do.

They note everything from medication errors to emotional meltdowns to deaths.

Restraints were used in more than one-third of 1,200 serious occurrence reports filed in 2013 by group homes and residential treatment centres in the city, according to a Star analysis.

At one treatment facility, 43 of the 119 serious occurrence reports filed to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services include a youth being physically restrained and injected by a registered nurse with a drug, presumably a sedative.

The language used by some group homes evokes an institutional setting rather than a nurturing environment. When children go missing, they are “AWOL.” In one instance in which a child acted out in front of peers, he was described as a “negative contagion.” Often, the reasons for behaviour are not noted. Children are in a “poor space” and are counselled not to make “poor choices.”

Blame is always placed on the child.

Their stories are briefly told in 1,200 Toronto reports describing “serious occurrences” filed to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in 2013. Most involve children and youth in publicly funded, privately operated group homes.

https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/07/03/physical-restraint-common-in-toronto-group-homes-and-youth-residences.html

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Why are children in CAS care described like criminals?

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/02/06/why-are-children-in-cas-care-described-like-criminals.html

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Toronto group homes turning outbursts from kids into matters for police

https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/07/03/toronto-group-homes-turning-outbursts-from-kids-into-matters-for-police.html

Children’s aid societies should not discriminate against poor children: Star Editorial. Mon., Aug. 15, 2016.

Ontario needs to create social safety net policies that address the fact that some 550,000 children in this province live in poverty, and many of them are taken away from their parents.

It goes without saying that no one should lose their kids simply because they’re poor. But that some do is the distressing conclusion of a new study of Ontario children taken into care.

Indeed, the study of removal rates in 2013 found children whose families ran out of money for housing, food or utilities were twice as likely to be placed with foster parents or in group homes as their peers.

It’s got to stop. “These families struggle to put food on the table, they struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Some of them work two or three jobs,” said the co-author of the report, Deborah Goodman. But still their children are taken from them and put into care with foster families or in group homes.

Sadly, they may fare a lot worse there than they would have with their own families. In fact, one study indicated that just 46 per cent of Ontario children in foster care and group homes complete high school, compared with about 84 per cent of their peers with permanent families. As a result, they are more likely as adults to be poor and/or homeless, to suffer mental health problems and be involved in the criminal justice system.

So why are children being taken from their homes simply because their parents are poor? It’s a product of the former Ontario Conservative government’s actions in the 1990s, when it slashed welfare payments and social services while at the same time introducing the notion into children’s aid societies of maltreatment by “omission,” which included not having enough food in the home.

Not surprisingly, with those two factors occurring at the same time, the number of children taken into care spiked.

The solution is for the province to create social safety net policies that address the fact that some 550,000 children in this province live in poverty.

In the meantime, child-care workers shouldn’t have to remove kids from homes where parents are struggling to feed and house them. They should instead be able to access support programs to help parents provide for their children and get families back on their feet.

For far too long the province has ignored poverty as a factor in child removal rates. Goldman, a senior official with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, says officials have not even asked for data on poverty.

But now, thanks to Goldman and the co-author of the report, Kofi Antwi-Boasiako, they’ve got it. Now they must act to ensure that no parent loses a child simply because they are poor.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/08/15/childrens-aid-societies-should-not-discriminate-against-poor-children-editorial.html

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Children’s Aid Society funding model with “perverse incentives” set to change this year

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/15/childrens_aid_society_funding_model_with_perverse_incentives_set_to_change_this_year.html

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Ontario’s most vulnerable children kept in the shadows

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/12/12/ontarios_most_vulnerable_children_kept_in_the_shadows.html

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Wrongfully Separating kids from parents a 'textbook strategy' of domestic abuse, experts say — and causes irreversible, lifelong damage.

“Being separated from parents or having inconsistent living conditions for long periods of time can create changes in thoughts and behavior patterns, and an increase in challenging behavior and stress-related physical symptoms,” such as sleep difficulty, nightmares, flashbacks, crying, and yelling says Amy van Schagen - California State University.

The Science Is Unequivocal: Separating Families Is Harmful to Children

In news stories and opinion pieces, psychological scientists are sharing evidence-based insight from decades of research demonstrating the harmful effects of separating parents and children.

In an op-ed in USA Today, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff (University of Delaware), Mary Dozier (University of Delaware), and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Temple University) write:

“Years of research are clear: Children need their parents to feel secure in the world, to explore and learn, and to grow strong emotionally.”

In a Washington Post op-ed, James Coan (University of Virginia) says:

“As a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Virginia, I study how the brain transforms social connection into better mental and physical health. My research suggests that maintaining close ties to trusted loved ones is a vital buffer against the external stressors we all face. But not being an expert on how this affects children, I recently invited five internationally recognized developmental scientists to chat with me about the matter on a science podcast I host. As we discussed the border policy’s effect on the children ensnared by it, even I was surprised to learn just how damaging it is likely to be.”

Mia Smith-Bynum (University of Maryland) is quoted in The Cut:

“The science leads to the conclusion that the deprivation of caregiving produces a form of extreme suffering in children. Being separated from a parent isn’t just a trauma — it breaks the relationship that helps children cope with other traumas.

Forceful separation is particularly damaging, explains clinical psychologist Mia Smith-Bynum, a professor of family science at the University of Maryland, when parents feel there’s nothing in their power that can be done to get their child back.

For all the dislocation, strangeness and pain of being separated forcibly from parents, many children can and do recover, said Mary Dozier, a professor of child development at the University of Delaware. “Not all of them — some kids never recover,” Dr. Dozier said.

“But I’ve been amazed at how well kids can do after institutionalization if they’re able to have responsive and nurturing care afterward.”

The effects of that harm may evolve over time, says Antonio Puente, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington who specializes in cultural neuropsychology. What may begin as acute emotional distress could reemerge later in life as PTSD, behavioral issues and other signs of lasting neuropsychological damage, he says.

“A parent is really in many ways an extension of the child’s biology as that child is developing,” Tottenham said. “That adult who’s routinely been there provides this enormous stress-buffering effect on a child’s brain at a time when we haven’t yet developed that for ourselves. They’re really one organism, in a way.” When the reliable buffering and guidance of a parent is suddenly withdrawn, the riot of learning that molds and shapes the brain can be short-circuited, she said.

In a story from the BBC, Jack Shonkoff (Harvard University) discusses evidence related to long-term impacts:

Jack P Shonkoff, director of the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, says it is incorrect to assume that some of the youngest children removed from their parents’ care will be too young to remember and therefore relatively unharmed. “When that stress system stays activated for a significant period of time, it can have a wear and tear effect biologically.

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Use of 'behaviour-altering' drugs widespread in foster, group homes.

2014.. Almost half of children and youth in foster and group home care aged 5 to 17 — 48.6 percent — are on drugs, such as Ritalin, tranquilizers and anticonvulsants, according to a yearly survey conducted for the provincial government and the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS). At ages 16 and 17, fully 57 per cent are on these medications.

In group homes, the figure is even higher — an average of 64 percent of children and youth are taking behaviour-altering drugs. For 10- to 15-year-olds, the number is a staggering 74 per cent.

“Why are these kids on medication? Because people are desperate to make them functional,” Baird says, and “there’s so little else to offer.

Yet if the parents take medication to help make them more "functional" it's a reason for to keep a file open or apprehend a child, not render assistance or relief.

The figures are found in “Looking After Children in Ontario,” a provincially mandated survey known as OnLAC. It collects data on the 7,000 children who have spent at least one year in care. After requests by the Star, the 2014 numbers were made public for the first time.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/12/12/use_of_behaviouraltering_drugs_widespread_in_foster_group_homes.html

What’s worse is that the number of children prescribed dangerous drugs is on the rise. Doctors seem to prescribe medication without being concerned with the side-effects.

Worldwide, 17 million children, some as young as five years old, are given a variety of different prescription drugs, including psychiatric drugs that are dangerous enough that regulatory agencies in Europe, Australia, and the US have issued warnings on the side effects that include suicidal thoughts and aggressive behavior.

According to Fight For Kids, an organization that “educates parents worldwide on the facts about today’s widespread practice of labeling children mentally ill and drugging them with heavy, mind-altering, psychiatric drugs,” says over 10 million children in the US are prescribed addictive stimulants, antidepressants and other psychotropic (mind-altering) drugs for alleged educational and behavioral problems.

In fact, according to Foundation for a Drug-Free World, every day, 2,500 youth (12 to 17) will abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time (4). Even more frightening, prescription medications like depressants, opioids and antidepressants cause more overdose deaths (45 percent) than illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and amphetamines (39 percent) combined. Worldwide, prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death.

https://dailyhealthpost.com/common-prescription-drugs/

:::NO CAUSAL LINKS HERE:::

Ontario Opioid Epidemic Plunges Children's Aid Societies Into Crisis...

Agencies from Sault Ste. Marie to Brantford are laying off workers as the number of kids who need care mounts.

Kim Streich-Poser has tried to reduce her staff with early retirement offers, but most of them are too dedicated to their work to take the bait.

"We've got people who are very, very committed to working with some of the most vulnerable children and families in our community," the executive director of the Children's Aid Society of Algoma told HuffPost Canada.

Streich-Poser, who is based in Sault Ste. Marie, says she's given layoff notices to six of her 141 employees and is negotiating other "displacements" with their union. She'll also close Algoma's office in Hornepayne, Ont. and reduce two full-service district offices in Wawa and Blind River into small satellite offices with one employee each.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2019/03/29/ontario-opioid-epidemic-plunges-childrens-aid-societies-into-crisis_a_23702608/

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Woman charged with sex assault of minors worked at male Highland Shores Children's Aid Society group-home at time of alleged offences.

February 1, 2019 7:16 pm By Alexandra Mazur Online Reporter Global News.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4916584/woman-charged-with-sex-assault-of-minors-worked-at-male-cas-group-home-at-time-of-alleged-offences/

Woman charged with sexual exploitation worked at Children’s Aid at time of alleged offences.

Belleville police say two male victims came forward claiming incidents of sexual assault with the accused, 48-year-old Sandra Forcier.

https://globalnews.ca/video/4917374/woman-charged-with-sexual-exploitation-worked-at-childrens-aid-at-time-of-alleged-offences

Youth worker charged with historical sex assault.

Police in Belleville, Ont., have charged a 48-year-old woman with five counts of sexual assault dating back to 2012-2013, when she was employed as a youth worker.

The woman is charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual exploitation of a youth under 18 and one count of sexual interference.

The woman was employed by the Highland Shores Children's Aid Society (CAS) when the alleged assaults took place. Police said a lengthy investigation resulted in two victims being identified.

Highland Shores CAS executive director Tami Callahan said the accused was a supervisor at a residence for youth run by the society before leaving in December 2013.

Callahan said Belleville police have not been in touch with the CAS, and she didn't know whether the complainants were in the society's care at the time of the alleged assaults.

The accused also worked at Belleville and Quinte West Community Health Centre as a counsellor. The centre's executive director, Sheila Braidek, said the accused has been on leave for an extended period of time.

The centre would not provide any further information, citing privacy concerns.

The woman is due back in court in February after being released from custody with numerous conditions.

Anyone with more information should contact Belleville police at 613-966-0882 ext. 2328

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/youth-worker-sex-assault-belleville-1.5001086

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Negligence charges for former child welfare official after kids abused in foster care

Ontario Provincial Police have taken the unusual step of charging the head of a Children's Aid Society for overseeing an agency that placed 10 children with foster parents who ended up being convicted of sexual abuse.

Bill Sweet, 67, former executive director of the Prince Edward County CAS, was charged in May with 10 counts of negligence causing bodily harm and 10 counts of failing to provide the necessities of life — a charge usually reserved for guardians who neglect children.

Sweet, who left the CAS in 2012, declined to discuss the case with CBC News. He's scheduled to make a court appearance later this month.

His case is being closely watched by advocates for children in care.

Lawyer Mary Birdsell, executive director of Justice for Children and Youth, says it could have wide-ranging implications for people whose job it is to protect children in need.

"It's not unheard of for [children's aid] societies and administrators to be sued when things go wrong," said Birdsell, who has been offering legal aid services to children in care for 20 years.

"But as far as I know, having an administrator brought up on criminal charges is a rare thing."

The 10 abused former foster children, now adults, will also be watching the case closely.

MK, whose identity is protected under a court-ordered publication ban, is one of them.

She was 15 years old in 2007 when the Prince Edward County CAS placed her, along with two other teenage girls, in foster care with Joe and Janet Holm.

But that foster home, meant to be a place of refuge, ended up being where MK faced even more harm.

"I still struggle daily with having to use the coping mechanisms that I learned in therapy to get through life," said MK, now 26.

She remembers Joe Holm being extremely sexually inappropriate from the start, something she says Janet Holm continually tried to cover up.

N.W.T. government faces lawsuit over allegations it failed to protect children from sexual abuse

Consultant hired to review 'effectiveness' of child protection system

CBC INVESTIGATES: Former foster home operators accused in lawsuit of inappropriate discipline, letting kids use drugs

"We were told by my foster mother that my foster father was not to be present when [CAS] would do the annual visits," she said. "He was very very inappropriate with almost every single person he met."

MK says her former foster father faced no consequences when his sexually inappropriate comments and touching were exposed.

"I recall something had happened with my foster father and one of the young girls in the home, and [CAS workers] had asked us if that had actually happened and we said, 'Yes, we witnessed this happening,' and he was told not to do it again and it was left at that," MK said.

"So when the behaviour started to progress with me, I almost kind of felt that this was normal, that I deserved this."

Joe Holm went on to sexually abuse MK over the next three and a half years.

In April 2011, the Holms pleaded guilty to charges including sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching and possessing child pornography related to the sexual abuse of MK and four other children in their care. The judge sentenced Joe Holm to four years in prison and Janet Holm to three years.

Theirs wasn't an isolated case.

Province issues damning report

Three other Prince Edward County foster parents were convicted of sexual offences against children in their care — all placed with them by the county's CAS.

The large number of sexual abuse charges and convictions in what was the smallest children's aid society in Ontario prompted the province's Ministry of Children and Youth Services to launch a wide-ranging review.

A report issued in 2012 found a poorly run, dysfunctional organization where workers routinely failed to complete proper screening of foster parents. Monthly checks-ins on the foster homes were also not done.

And infighting among staff meant crucial information about foster parents was often not shared.

MK believes her social worker was not aware of the abuse until she told him.

After the damning government review, the Prince Edward County CAS was merged into the regional Highland Shores CAS.

It's unclear what led police to charge Sweet, but the report, seen by CBC News, found the CAS under his direction had issues involving, among other things:

Child protection investigation practices with respect to foster homes, particularly with respect to record keeping and documentation, verification of abuse and compliance with requirements for child protection investigations.

Compliance with child protection standards.

Mark Kartusch, executive director of Highland Shores, says a lot has changed in the way foster care is run in Prince Edward County.

"We have a lot of checks and balances in place. When we open a foster home there's a very extensive assessment process, some even call it intrusive," he said. "This was an extremely rare event. For something like this to happen and to this scale, it was just completely out of the norm."

MK says she hopes the charges against Sweet are a warning to all CAS administrators.

"I hope this is an eyeopener for them," she said. "I hope the agencies can be present and mindful of who they allow to be foster parents."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ron Charles CBC News

Ron Charles has been a general assignment reporter for CBC News since 1989, covering such diverse stories as the 1990 Oka Crisis, the 1998 Quebec ice storm and the 2008 global financial crisis. Before joining the CBC, Ron spent two years reporting on Montreal crime and courts for the Montreal Daily News.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-county-foster-care-abuse-negligence-charges-1.4723516

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You'll remember Mary Birdsell from the Toronto Star article about an unlicensed daycare owner being successfully sued for reporting unreasonable concerns to the CAS.

“It’s hard enough to get people to report (to the CAS) and this will have a silencing effect,” said Mary Birdsell, executive director of Justice for Children and Youth. “The legislation is supposed to protect people from being sued if their report was reasonable.”

In a decision delivered last month, Superior Court judge Lewis Richardson ruled Tammy Larabie’s call to the CAS was “unreasonable” and there “was nothing to suggest that (the baby) was in any danger.”

In a court transcript obtained by the Star, Richardson found the parents “to be competent, caring and capable” who “properly looked after the interests of their son.”

“There was no basis whatsoever to report them to the Children’s Aid,” he said. “(Larabie) acted selfishly and to protect her own interest, not for the benefit of the child.”

THERE WAS NO REASON OR ANYTHING TO SUGGEST THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG... TAMMY WAS ACTING TO PROTECT HER OWN - DELUSIONAL - SELF INTEREST.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/03/27/daycare-operator-sued-for-calling-the-cas.html

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“Harmful Impacts” is the title of the Motherisk commission's report written by the Honourable Judith C. Beaman after two years of study. After reading it, “harmful” seems almost to be putting it lightly. Out of the over 16 000 tests the commission only examined 56 cases of the flawed Motherisk tests, administered by the Motherisk lab between 2005 and 2015 and were determined to have a “substantial impact” on the decisions of child protection agencies to keep files open or led to children being permanently removed from their families.

Parents right to a fair hearing were ripped out by the roots...

Lives were ruined. Parents’ lives, and quite possibly children’s lives. Siblings and grandparents and other family members’ lives, too. Irreversibly ruined. And in many cases, it seems this was allowed to happen primarily because people were poor.

“In many of the cases we reviewed, when a Motherisk hair test came back positive, CAS (Children’s Aid Society) workers focused solely on the apparent substance use instead of considering any actual effect on parenting,” Beaman writes. Use was considered proof of addiction, and addiction was considered proof of “an inability to parent.” That, sometimes in the absence of any other meaningful evidence at all, led to children being taken away from their parents.

Removal from the home — permanent removal — is not supposed to be a move taken lightly. The report goes over the legal principles, laying out that it should be a last resort. It is the “capital punishment” of child protection, according to one citation, absolutely devastating to parents, and for children it is “often the beginning of a life sentence.”

Yet in the cases reviewed here, it is imposed, often apparently cavalierly and without even a trial, for reasons that amount to a punishment for being poor.

Rich parents who are alcoholics, after all, are not having their children taken from them after a single relapse. Few rich parents, in fact, are having their children taken from them at all.

“The underlying issue in many child protection cases before the court is poverty,” the report says. Much of the time, Beaman writes she heard what families most needed was help with groceries or babysitting, counselling or mental health treatment, help providing safe shelter.

What these parents and children needed, in other words, was help.

Helping struggling families takes billions of dollars in resources families need, like 5160 unregistered workers and large costly office buildings obviously of which OACAS admits in their own report over 1500 of them are not qualified by College standards. And as we see all too clearly, they are the systematic ruination of thousands of people’s lives.

What they got instead was the irrevocable breakup of their families. The loss for life of any contact at all with those in the world they loved most, and those who loved them most. They got harm, permanent harm.

It is hard to think of anything worse than that.

By EDWARD KEENAN Star Columnist Fri., March 2, 2018.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/03/02/motherrisk-reforms-show-struggling-families-dont-need-to-be-split-up-they-need-our-help.html

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Respecting The Canadian Constitution And Our Procedural Safeguards..

The Motherisk Commission details years of rights infringements by courts. "If the same problems were identified in criminal court, there would be a huge public outcry." Tammy Law.

(put up your hand if you think CAS workers would recognize their own rights were being violated in a court of law)

There is a major power imbalance between an impoverished parent (we know that families of low socio-economic status are hugely over-represented in the child welfare system and race has little to do with it) and the state funded agency. To guard against such an imbalance, it is critical that our legal system respect the time-tested procedural safeguards developed to specifically ensure that the disadvantaged party is treated fairly.

Yet according to the Motherisk report, these safeguards were ignored. The report describes a litany of procedural injustices perpetrated on parents: parents were pressured to consent to testing; were not informed of their right to reject testing; they had adverse inferences drawn against them when they rejected testing; they were required to prove the unreliability of testing instead of the other way around; and they were refused the right to cross-examine Motherisk "experts" at summary judgment motions.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees procedural fairness when the state interferes with fundamental personal rights, such as the right by parents to care for their children. Ironically enough, the issue of taking body samples (such as hair for testing) without proper consent for the purpose of criminal investigations was found to be an infringement of the Charter 20 years ago by the Supreme Court.

The problems detailed in the Motherisk report’s 278 pages are too numerous to go into in detail. They document the many problems with the SickKids lab’s testing and with the child protection system’s overreliance on those results. The hair testing process produced inconsistent and untrustworthy results despite being perceived as carrying the unimpeachable weight of scientific authority. That much we pretty much knew because of earlier reporting, though the detailed breakdown of it and the specific case references make the injustice of it sickeningly vivid.

According to the Toronto Star out of the cases they reviewed Motherisk reported positive results 93% of the time and lets say Motherisk only strongly influence decisions to apprehend children in 56 cases, how many times did Motherisk results strongly influence the decision to keep files open and how much did that cost the taxpayers?

The 2017-2018 Expenditure Estimates set out details of the operating and capital spending requirements of the Ministry of Children for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2017.

Restated total operating expense $4,369,258,414

$4,306,237,616 ($1.5 billion going to the CAS)

https://www.ontario.ca/page/expenditure-estimates-ministry-children-and-youth-services-2017-18

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Motherisk hair test evidence tossed out of Colorado court 2 decades before questions raised in Canada.

A Motherisk expert testified for the defense in a Colorado murder case. The judge mocked the lab’s processes. But the case remained virtually unknown in Ontario until now.

For more than two decades, Motherisk performed flawed hair-strand tests on thousands of vulnerable families across Canada, influencing decisions in child protection cases that separated parents from their children and sometimes children from their siblings. (CBC)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/motherisk-colorado-court-case-1.4364862

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Judge rejects proposed class-action over Motherisk drug-testing scandal.

By RACHEL MENDLESON Investigative Reporter. Thu., Nov. 2, 2017.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/11/02/judge-rejects-proposed-class-action-over-motherisk-drug-testing-scandal.html

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Parents lose second bid to launch class-action suit against Motherisk over flawed hair tests.

By RACHEL MENDLESON Investigative Reporter. Tues., Nov. 27, 2018.

https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2018/11/27/parents-lose-second-bid-to-launch-class-action-suit-against-motherisk-over-flawed-hair-tests.html

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Five things to know about Motherisk hair testing..

1. The tests were preliminary

The tests performed by Motherisk relied on the unconfirmed results of its enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) tests.

ELISA is often used as a screening tool before more in-depth tests are undertaken. It can be used in toxicology as a rapid presumptive screen for certain classes of drugs. It’s useful if you need to screen a large number of samples when the presumption that only a small percentage will test positive. But it’s not definitive and the results can be erroneously interpreted.

The Motherisk Lab did not follow-up its presumed positive ELISA results with follow-on in-depth tests. Therefore, the results simply could not be relied upon to provide the absolute certainty needed.

As Craig Chatterton, a forensic toxicologist and a proponent of hair sample testing, correctly explains in the CBC report on Motherisk, a preliminary test like ELISA can be spot on - but, tragically for the families implicated, it can be 100% incorrect, too.

Susan Lang’s report went on to say "No forensic toxicology laboratory in the world uses ELISA testing the way MTDL [Motherisk] did."

2. Motherisk had no written standard operating procedures

Having standard, professional operating procedures in place is one of the central pillars of any testing environment, not just hair sample testing.

In this regard, Motherisk failed egregiously. The Lang report found no evidence of any written standard operating procedures at Motherisk. This raises serious doubts about the reliability and, crucially, the standardisation of its testing procedures.

Both forensic and clinical laboratories should have standard operating procedures in place for each of the tests they perform. Motherisk had no clear, documented procedures which means the processes could have varied substantially in each individual case, calling into question, rightly, the integrity of the lab’s results.

3. No transparency

Motherisk’s next misstep was the lack of formal process and documentation meant that it was almost impossible for any third party to robustly assess its results.

When the entire process isn’t adequately captured, it becomes easy for the lab to skirt over anomalies and simplify conclusions.

At Cansford Labs, for instance, we share the evidence in full. This is an absolutely vital component when the test will be involved in a highly sensitive matter like child custody.

The fact that Motherisk offered no insight into how its results were arrived at beggars belief.

4. Inadequate training and oversight

The inadequacy and transparency issues within Motherisk seeped all the way into the employees at the lab.

From reading the Lang report, Motherisk scientists were operating without any forensic training or oversight. The ELISA tests were inadequate, but even if they weren’t, the individuals interpreting the results weren’t properly trained.

Nobody at Motherisk, including, rather incredibly, Dr. Koren himself, had the proper training.

The lack of training manifested in all manner of amateurish mistakes. Staff routinely failed to wash hair samples before analysis, for example. One mother tested positive for alcohol because her alcohol-laced hairspray had not been washed off the sample. With the right training and process, these issues could easily have been avoided.

5. A compromised chain of custody

In the CBC report into Motherisk, one mother recalls how her second test was conducted after she disputed the first test’s results: “With my second test, the hair was done in the social worker’s office with the scissors out of her desk, tape off her desk and cardboard from the trash.”

Her sample tested positive for crystal meth, but laughably when she next saw her “hair sample”, the hair that allegedly belonged to her was longer and a different colour.

It should go without saying, but any robust testing process requires professionalism throughout. It’s not just about testing the sample, but also about how the sample is collected and treated.

The chain of custody is of paramount importance. Trusted professionals need to be present at every stage of the process, guided by the lab that will do the testing, and the procedures need to be the same for every single case.

Motherisk was an aberration that resulted in a positive result in 93% of tests done which was no doubt used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the eligibility spectrum used by CAS workers.

When things go as wrong as they did at Motherisk, it’s important not to stick our heads in the sand. Especially when it involves vulnerable individuals.

But Motherisk wasn't just an aberration IT WAS AN ABERRATION that SPECIFICALLY targeted impoverished families.

The science of hair sample testing remains a powerful tool when the analysis is done correctly, appropriately, with quality control and assurances and interpreted by qualified experts.

Indeed, it’s only right that for vulnerable individuals, that nothing but the best will do. A fact that Motherisk seemingly forgot.

https://blog.cansfordlabs.co.uk/the-drug-and-alcohol-testing-blog/5-reasons-why-the-motherisk-scandal-shouldnt-happen-again

http://projects.thestar.com/motherisk/part-2/

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To what lengths will the CAS go to protect group home workers and foster parents?

A 14-year-old girl is a ‘sexually mature young woman,’ not a child, children’s aid society lawyer argues in sex abuse suit.

Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services tells the Star it disagrees with what its lawyer argued in an ongoing sexual abuse court case, but refused to say whether it plans to rectify the statement in court.

NEWS 01:49 PM by Jacques Gallant Toronto Star

A 14- or 15-year-old girl is not a child, but rather a "sexually mature young woman," according to a lawyer for a Northern Ontario children's aid society.

The statement by Toronto lawyer Gary McCallum is contained in a July 2018 affidavit in an ongoing civil court case, in which a woman is suing Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services, claiming she was sexually abused as a child by her foster father in the 1980s while under the care of the agency's predecessor organization.

It was again referenced in a January 2019 ruling from the lengthy case, which is playing out in a Toronto court.

The statement has been described to the Star by other lawyers and a professor of social work as "offensive," "shocking," and "appalling" — doubly so because it was made by the lawyer for the very agency charged with protecting the most vulnerable children.

"This is outrageous," said Melissa Redmond, assistant professor of social work at Carleton University. "You represent the organization that is responsible for protecting children in this community, protecting children from exactly the sorts of horrific circumstances that this child found herself in."

Redmond, whose research interests include child protection policy, said she can't understand why there have not been consequences for the statement. "I don't understand how this is in the public record and (Kenora CFS) have not been seen to distance themselves as quickly as possible and to talk about how they value the children in the community and the children they have served in the past."

820 Lakeview Drive Kenora Ontario P9N 3P7 Canada Phone: 807-467-5437

Fax: 807-467-5539

Ontario's Child and Family Services Act, which governs children's aid societies, is also clear. "'Child' means a person under the age of eighteen years," it reads.

Kenora CFS refused to say when it became aware its lawyer had made the statement, but told the Star this week it disagrees with McCallum and called his position "inaccurate."

The agency also refused to say whether it plans to rectify the statement in court.

McCallum declined to comment to the Star, saying in an email that "I will not be making any statements on matters that are currently being litigated and I will not be making any statements inconsistent with those of my client."

The statement is part of a voluminous court record that stretches back years. It appears in a July 2018 affidavit in which McCallum states he is responding to the affidavit of the plaintiff's lawyer, Simona Jellinek, which McCallum said is "rife with errors, imprecisions, and misrepresentations." (Jellinek declined to comment to the Star.)

"She states that the alleged assaults took place while the plaintiff was 'in childhood,'" McCallum states before noting that the plaintiff's year of birth indicates she would have been about 14 or 15 in the early 1980s.

"A fourteen or fifteen (sic) girl is a sexually mature young woman, not a 'child,' as the term is conventionally understood," McCallum states.

The statement is again referenced in a January 2019 decision by Superior Court Justice Jessica Kimmel, who ruled that the plaintiff's action could proceed. In her decision, Kimmel makes no comment on the statement itself, other than to say it was identified as a "live" issue by McCallum surrounding the allegation of sexual assault.

As other lawyers have pointed out, McCallum's position — which has now been in the public record for about eight months since the affidavit was sworn in July 2018 — is effectively the agency's position, as he is acting for it in court.

"He's speaking on behalf of a children's aid society, so it's deeply concerning that there's a children's aid society out there that takes the view that youngsters of 14 or 15 are sexually mature," said lawyer Loretta Merritt, whose practice is almost exclusively focused on representing plaintiffs in civil cases involving sexual abuse.

"If that's their view, the view of an organization charged with responsibility for caring for vulnerable children, then that's deeply concerning to me."

Kenora CFS executive director Bill Leonard told the Star in an email exchange this week that he can't really comment as the court case is ongoing.

"Mr. McCallum's statement is before the court and as you point out, it has been before the court for some time," he said. "But to be clear my agency does, and always has, considered 14 and 15 year old young persons to be children as defined by legislation and as such are deserving of our full protection from any form of abuse."

It's "disappointing" if Kenora CFS didn't know at the time that their lawyer had made such a statement in court, said Allen Wynperle, president-elect of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, which represents lawyers acting for plaintiffs.

"I would have hoped that they would be aware of the comments that their lawyer is making, and certainly if they weren't, that's a problem and a concern," he said. "But certainly now that they are made aware of it, what are they going to do about it?"

Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering legal affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9237081-a-14-year-old-girl-is-a-sexually-mature-young-woman-not-a-child-children-s-aid-society-lawyer-argues-in-sex-abuse-suit/

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2014: Three former County foster children have reached out-of-court settlements with the Highland Shores Children’s Aid Society for damages stemming from sexual abuse sustained while they were in the society’s care.

An order dismissing further action against the child welfare agency has been approved by a judge at the Prince Edward County superior court where the lawsuit was filed in April 2013. Court staff confirmed only three of the five cases have been settled to date, leaving two outstanding plaintiffs.

https://www.intelligencer.ca/2014/10/21/three-cas-cases-settled/wcm/3fd07287-3f2a-1755-7386-1c8c2353c943

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Cornwall sex abuse victims given large settlements

Published Thursday, June 10, 2010. ctvottawa.ca

Some victims of the Cornwall sex abuse scandal are receiving large financial settlements after decades of allegations that a cover-up of a pedophile ring existed in the eastern Ontario city, CTV Ottawa has learned.

The sex abuse scandal was uncovered in the early 1990s. A public inquiry ended in December 2009 after four years. The inquiry found the Catholic Church, police, the Ontario government and the legal system all failed to protect children from sexual predators.

Now, Ontario's attorney general has confirmed to CTV that several financial settlements have been reached with victims, and more lawsuits are outstanding.

The Project Truth inquiry into a pedophile ring cover-up and sex abuse allegations in Cornwall ended in December 2009.

Alleged victim Steve Parisien says the public has a right to know about large settlements paid out to sex abuse victims.

Although confidentiality agreements could mean taxpayers will never learn the true cost of the settlements, a former MPP predicts the payouts will total tens of millions of dollars.

"I would look at somewhere between $70-100 million," said Garry Guzzo, a former Conservative MPP who blew the whistle on the scandal and pushed for a public inquiry.

"It's a lot of money coming from very few taxpayers, and the people of the Catholic Church are taxpayers."

While sources have told CTV the payouts are in the millions, alleged victim Steve Parisien says some individuals are getting less than $20,000.

"I think parishioners and taxpayers have a right to know how much has been paid out," he said.

A lawyer representing dozens of the victims wouldn't reveal how much money was paid. However, he confirmed several settlements have been reached with the Catholic diocese, the Ontario government and other Catholic organizations. There are also several cases in the works against the Children's Aid Society.

Cornwall's Catholic Diocese says it has settled all 16 of the lawsuits against the Catholic Church. The last lawsuit was settled a few weeks ago.

Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher says the total payouts from those lawsuits amount to $1.2 million. He adds none of those settlements involved confidentiality agreements.

"There's no doubt in my mind that these victims deserve this money," said Guzzo.

"You know the confidentiality agreement - never going to trial, never allowing it to become public - there's an element of hush money."

Although Parisien hasn't received a settlement, he is hoping to get some compensation for his experience.

He says while no amount of money will change his life, it will help validate what he went through.

"Just for my loss of wages - that's all I seek. I don't want nothing else from these people, they've done enough damage. And they have to sleep with themselves at night."

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Catherine Lathem

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/cornwall-sex-abuse-victims-given-large-settlements-1.521190

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2013: In leaked memo, Peel CAS staff asked to keep cases open to retain funding.

An internal memo from Peel Children’s Aid Society management asks staff not to close any ongoing cases during March, as part of a strategy to secure government funding.

According to the memo, when service volume is lower than projected, there is less money for the CAS.

An anonymous employee is troubled by the memo as it raises concerns about quotas and the impact on Peel families.

“Wrongly opening or leaving these files open can have a damaging impact on these clients’ lives. For example, some parents are separated from their kids, some parents have to take time off work to meet with us when their files should have been closed, and some parents are unable to return home because of a false abuse claim — and all of these cases leave these families in emotional limbo,” wrote the employee who would not reveal their identity for fear of retribution.

The employee said many workers are outraged over the memo, “because it is immoral and wrong to keep client cases open just to meet a quota. . . . There are far-reaching implications when you have a CAS record.”

Gene Colman, a Toronto family lawyer who handles cases involving CAS, said his office has been puzzled by the substantial increase in people calling because of CAS intervention in their families.

“I thought, ‘What’s going on, why are we getting so many calls?’ I wonder if it’s related. I don’t know,” he said not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Though the CAS claimed the purpose of the memo wasn't to inflate numbers, between 2011 and 2013 the 46 (at that time) separate societies opened a combined total of 42 000 files or about 14 000 files per year, in 2014 - after the Peel Memo Leak - and launching a new government funded advertising campaign and reopening 20 000 previously closed files the societies opened a combined total of over 82 000 files to meet their funding goals that year as reported by the Toronto Star.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/14/in_leaked_memo_peel_cas_staff_asked_to_keep_cases_open_to_retain_funding.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/15/province_in_talks_with_peel_childrens_aid_society_over_strategies_in_leaked_memo.html

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/peel-cas-funding-shortfall-just-province-wide-tip-of-67-million-iceberg-1769188.htm

https://cupe.on.ca/archivedoc2283/

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Ontario's foster parents and group home workers celebrate as Doug the Slug Ford's conservative government the closes the child advocate's office..

Ontario’s child advocate had 27 on-going investigations into foster homes as province shuts him down. National News | November 20, 2018 by Kenneth Jackson. APTN News.

After first dealing with the shock of learning through the media that his office was being axed by the Ford government, Ontario’s child advocate’s focus shifted and it was not about his future.

Irwin Elman began thinking of the children his office is trying to help.

More so the 27 individual investigations currently on-going into residential care, like group homes and foster care said Elman.

“I have been very clear what I think about this change. I absolutely do not agree with it. Now I have been working, thinking and turning my mind to how we can we preserve all the things we do,” said Elman, 61, Tuesday.

He said right now it is “unclear” what happens to those investigations if he isn’t able to complete them before new legislation is passed that will officially close his office.

“We’re talking to the ombudsman to ensure any investigation that isn’t wrapped up transfers over. We don’t know where the government’s mind is,” said Elman.

“We intend to complete them. Our office expects those investigations will go over if they are not completed. We will fight to ensure that happens.”

He also said more investigations are expected to start and that the province is notified each time one is opened.

Elman couldn’t speak specifically to any individual investigation, just that they are based on complaints his office received into group and foster care homes.

APTN News knows one of them appears to be Johnson Children’s Services (JCS) which operated three foster homes in Thunder Bay when Tammy Keeash died in May 2017.

APTN reported last week that the three homes were closed after Keeash’s death but had been investigated at least seven times within a year of her dying.

This was all found in an on-going court battle between two Indigenous child welfare agencies fighting over jurisdiction. In documents filed as part of the litigation the advocate’s office first wrote Dilico Anishinabek Family Care of its intention to investigate JSC in August 2016. It appears, from the court documents, Dilico asked the advocate’s office to wait until the agency first investigated JSC.

It was then again confirmed in documents the advocate’s office was investigating JSC following Keeash’s death.

“We can’t allow Indigenous children to fall through the cracks of saying ‘oh you called this ombudsman’s office’ and they’ll sit in Toronto and they’ll tell you use a complaints process. Tell that to a 15-year-old First Nations child, to use a complaint process. When our process is we will go out and stand with the child and walk them through some of the options they have to ensure their voices are heard,” said Elman.

“The ombudsman is not used to working with children. The ombudsman doesn’t have any ability, yet, or capacity, yet, to use an Indigenous lens in its work but we have strived to develop one.”

Elman’s term officially ends Friday as the child advocate. Before he learned his office was being closed he was supposed to be attending a meeting with the provincial government Nov. 26 to discuss what the province is going to do about problems with residential care.

He’s unsure if he’ll still be invited to that meeting if he’s told between now and Friday he is no longer the advocate.

The meeting was scheduled after Ontario’s chief coroner released the findings of the so-called expert panel report into the deaths of 12 children living at group or foster homes in Ontario between 2014 and 2017. Eight were Indigenous and included Keeash.

The panel of experts picked by the coroner reviewed each child’s death and provided recommendations after finding the system failed each of them and continues to do so.

But it wasn’t news to those that have been listening for the last 10 years since the child advocate’s office was first opened.

“This is not news,” said Elman of the report. “We supported the process but we were sort of astounded that people pretended like this is the first they ever heard about it.”

Regardless, if it created action by the government Elman supported that.

But the first move the Ontario government publicly made after the report was released in September was to announce the closure of his office.

That means Elman will be the first and last child advocate in the province.

kjackson@aptn.ca

Tags: child advocate, Featured, ford government, foster homes, Ontario, ontario government, tammy keeash, Thunder Bay.

https://aptnnews.ca/2018/11/20/ontarios-child-advocate-has-27-on-going-investigations-into-foster-homes-as-province-shuts-him-down/

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Lest we forget the reasons why...

The inquest into Jeffrey Baldwin's death was supposed to shed light on the child welfare system and prevent more needless child deaths. Baldwin's inquest jury made 103 recommendations. Sep 06, 2013.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/inquest-into-boy-s-death-to-shed-light-on-child-welfare-system-1.1699846

Nearly six months after the inquest into the death of Katelynn Sampson began, jurors delivered another 173 recommendations. APRIL 29, 2016.

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/inquest-into-death-of-7-year-old-girl-emphasizes-duty-to-report-abuse/article29798749/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglobeandmail.com

276 OFFICIAL REASONS FOR CONCERN AND SUSPICION ABOUT CHILDREN IN CARE EXCLUDING THE MOTHERISK REPORT AND THE MOST RECENT CORONER'S REPORT IN GROUP HOMES AND FOSTER CARE.

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Coroner’s panel calls for overhaul of Ontario child protection system.

By LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN Social Justice Reporter SANDRO CONTENTA Feature Writer Tues., Sept. 25, 2018

Vulnerable children are being warehoused and forgotten.

A scathing report from Ontario’s coroner presses the provincial government to reform a child protection system that “repeatedly failed” youths who died while in care for decades.

The report describes a fragmented system with no means of monitoring quality of care, where ministry oversight is inadequate, caregivers lack training, and children are poorly supervised.

After the 276 recommendations made by the all two public inquests into the deaths of children in care the Ontario coroner says “Change is necessary and the need is finally urgent enough to say something about it,” said the report, written by a panel of experts appointed by chief coroner Dirk Huyer last November to examine the spike of deaths between January 2014 and July 2017.

(the CAS doesn't make recommendations to parents when there is a clear and present danger to children or even the slightest possibility a child might be at risk so why were nothing but recommendations made by the inquests into child in care deaths?)

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/09/25/coroners-panel-calls-for-overhaul-of-ontario-child-protection-system.html

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The Eligibility Spectrum.

The Ontario Child Welfare Eligibility Spectrum is a field-developed, eligibility tool for child welfare in Ontario. Promoting excellence in our provincial child protection services, the child welfare eligibility assessment instrument supports the Ontario network of Children’s Aid Societies, their associated communities and the children, youth and families they serve.

The Eligibility Spectrum is a tool designed to assist Children’s Aid Society child protection staff in making consistent and accurate decisions about a child or family’s eligibility for service at the time a society becomes involved.

Child protection workers investigate physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect and determine if a society needs to become involved to protect children and youth from domestic violence; help children find adoptive families; provide family care for children; and support families and youth in conflict.

The revised Spectrum (2016) contains additional scales and items to assist decision making in areas resulting from changes in legislation, current research, practice and inquest recommendations from the Office of the Chief Coroner. The 2016 version is the result of a group of dedicated Children’s Aid Society (CAS) professionals who completed research and consulted with frontline staff and stakeholders throughout the province to ensure the revisions made reflect the interests and needs of the sector.

http://www.threemountains.ca/oacas

http://www.oacas.org/publications-and-newsroom/oacas-annual-reports/

http://www.oacas.org/publications-and-newsroom/professional-resources/eligibility-spectrum/

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Under suspicion: Concerns about child welfare.

In 2015, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) began a year-long consultation to learn more about the nature of racial profiling in Ontario. Our aim was to gather information to help us guide organizations, individuals and communities on how to identify, address and prevent racial profiling. We connected with people and organizations representing diverse perspectives. We conducted an online survey, analyzed cases (called applications) at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario that alleged racial profiling, held a policy dialogue consultation, and reviewed academic research. We conducted focus groups with Indigenous peoples and received written submissions. Overall, almost 1,650 individuals and organizations told us about their experiences or understanding of racial profiling in Ontario.

Ways to address concerns about racial profiling in child welfare.

Preventing and addressing racial profiling is a shared responsibility. Government, child welfare organizations and other responsible organizations must take concrete action and decisive steps to prevent, identify and respond to racial profiling.

The OHRC has made many recommendations over several years to address racial profiling. These recommendations are included in our report, Under suspicion. Where applicable, they should be used to identify how racial profiling may be taking place in the child welfare system. They also identify specific approaches organizations should use to prevent and address racial profiling.

Overall, consultation participants agreed with the following broad strategies to prevent and address racial profiling:

Anti-bias training

Developing policies, procedures and guidelines

Effective accountability monitoring and accountability

mechanisms, including:

complaint procedures

disciplinary measures

collecting, analyzing and reporting on data

Holistic organizational change strategy

Leadership

Communication (external and internal)

Engagement with affected stakeholders.

The OHRC is also very concerned that the overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous children in the child welfare system is a possible indicator of systemic racism. We conducted a public interest inquiry to examine this issue. We requested that CASs across the province provide us with data on race and other information. In the preliminary analysis of the data, we found that for many CASs across the province, African Canadian and Indigenous children are overrepresented in care, compared to their census populations.

Concerns about risk assessment standards and tools.

Consultation participants raised concerns about bias in the tools and standards used to assess risk to children. Although they seem neutral, we heard that risk assessment standards and tools may lean towards more positive outcomes for White people.

Social work researchers argue that risk assessment tools in Ontario are biased and perpetuate racism because they do not account for structural inequalities, such as racial discrimination, that may affect a child’s well-being. Parents may be blamed for these external factors, even though they are largely out of their control. We heard that relying on these tools, coupled with worker bias – which may be conscious or unconscious – may contribute to assumptions about racialized children and families being “inherently wrong or deficient.” This can lead to incorrect assumptions about the level of risk children are exposed to.

We also heard concerns about risk assessment standards that relate to poverty – for example, the number of children allowed per bedroom. Poverty in racialized and Indigenous families may be seen as a sign of neglect, providing a basis for a child welfare agency to become involved. We heard that these standards can affect what is seen as acceptable in a home and contribute to CAS decisions to intervene.

It is unclear to what extent child welfare risk assessment standards and tools reflect real risk to children in all cases, or arise from White, Western, Christian middle-class norms. When standards and tools are not based on objective factors, but on the cultural norms of the dominant group, they may contribute to racial profiling.

Concerns about biased decision-making

Concerns were also raised both about the perceived bias of authorities or individuals that refer to CASs, and perceived bias in decision-making practices when child welfare workers and authorities become involved with families. Participants said that child welfare workers, many of whom are White, may be more likely to construe family situations or the actions of Indigenous or racialized people as “risky.”

The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) identified that Indigenous families experience “intense scrutiny of [their] ways of life” (for more information, see the full OHRC report, Under suspicion: Research and consultation report on racial profiling in Ontario). We repeatedly heard that non-Indigenous child welfare workers often do not understand the nature or structure of Indigenous families and cultural differences in how families live. For example, they only see that children are not being raised by their parents or are living in what they think are over-crowded conditions. In another example, Indigenous youth told us that they are sometimes put into care because they miss a lot of school due to practicing their traditions and taking part in ceremonies.

Social work researchers talked about some of the factors that may contribute to the over-scrutiny of Black parents, and the tendency to view Black parents as risks to their children and in need of intervention by CASs. For example, researchers note that child welfare authorities commonly view Black parents as “aggressive” and “crazy” when they are externalizing resistance, grief, fear or shame. They also note that Black children are perceived as needing “rescuing” from their parents. As well, we heard how Black families may be reported to CAS because their children eat non-Western foods that are specific to their culture.

Next steps. The OHRC will:

Release the results of our public interest inquiry

Develop specific policy guidance to help individuals, community groups and organizations understand how racial profiling can be identified, prevented and addressed in the child welfare sector

Continue to call for the collection of race-based data and data on other Code grounds to better understand if racial disparities exist in this sector

Continue to work with community stakeholders to enhance public education on racial profiling.

For more information

To find out more about racial profiling in the child welfare and other sectors, the full Under suspicion report is available online at www.ohrc.on.ca.

To file a human rights claim (called an application), contact the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario at:

If you need legal help, contact the Human Rights Legal Support Centre at:

Toll Free: 1-866-625-5179

TTY Toll Free: 1-866-612-8627

Website: www.hrlsc.on.ca

http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/under-suspicion-concerns-about-child-welfare

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"Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 proclaimed in force."

The new regulation was updated to only require Local Directors of Children’s Aid Societies to be registered with the College.

The majority of local directors, supervisors, child protection workers and adoption workers have social work or social service work education, yet fewer than 10% are registered with the OCSWSSW.

The existing regulations made under the CFSA predated the regulation of social work and social service work in Ontario and therefore their focus on the credential was understandable.

However, today a credential focus is neither reasonable nor defensible. Social work and social service work are regulated professions in Ontario.

Updating the regulations under the new CYFSA provides an important opportunity for the Government to protect the Ontario public from incompetent, unqualified and unfit professionals and to prevent a serious risk of harm to children and youth, as well as their families.

Submission-re-Proposed-Regulations-under-the-CYFSA-January-25-2018. OCSWSSW May 1, 2018

https://www.ocswssw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/OCSWSSW-Submission-re-Proposed-Regulations-under-the-CYFSA-January-25-2018.pdf

If you have any practice questions or concerns related to the new CYFSA, please contact the Professional Practice Department at 416-972-9882 or 1-877-828-9380 or email practice@ocswssw.org.