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

 "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.

http://www.ocswssw.org/resources/legislation-submissions/

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.

Unfortunately, many CASs have been circumventing professional regulation of their staff by requiring that staff have social work education yet discouraging those same staff from registering with the OCSWSSW.

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.

Ontarians have a right to assume that, when they receive services that are provided by someone who is required to have a social work degree (or a social service work diploma) — whether those services are direct (such as those provided by a child protection worker or adoption worker) or indirect (such as those provided by a local director or supervisor) — that person is registered with, and accountable to, the OCSWSSW.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234353/

As a key stakeholder with respect to numerous issues covered in the CYFSA and the regulations, we were dismayed to learn just prior to the posting of the regulations that we had been left out of the consultation process. We have reached out on more than one occasion to request information about regulations to be made under the CYFSA regarding staff qualifications.

A commitment to public protection, especially when dealing with vulnerable populations such as the children, youth and families served by CASs, is of paramount importance. In short, it is irresponsible for government to propose regulations that would allow CAS staff to operate outside of the very system of public protection and oversight it has established through professional regulation.

Regulations under the CYFSA:

The College has worked with government to address its concerns about regulations under the new CYFSA which set out the qualifications of Children’s Aid Society (CAS) staff. Upon learning in late November that the proposed regulations would continue to allow CAS workers to avoid registration with the College, the College immediately engaged with MCYS and outlined its strong concerns in a letter to the Minister of Children and Youth Services and a submission to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services during the consultation period.

We are pleased to note that, while the new regulation does not currently require CAS supervisors to be registered, we have received a "commitment" FROM THE OUTGOING WYNNE GOVERNMENT to work with the College and the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies toward a goal of requiring registration of CAS supervisors beginning January 2019.

Key concerns: The absence of a requirement for CAS child protection workers to be registered with the College: ignores the public protection mandate of the Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998 (SWSSWA); avoids the fact that social workers and social service workers are regulated professions in Ontario and ignores the College’s important role in protecting the Ontario public from harm caused by incompetent, unqualified or unfit practitioners; allows CAS staff to operate outside the system of public protection and oversight that the Government has established through professional regulation; and fails to provide the assurance to all Ontarians that they are receiving services from CAS staff who are registered with, and accountable to, the College.

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.

As Minister Coteau said in second reading debate of Bill 89, "protecting and supporting children and youth is not just an obligation, it is our moral imperative, our duty and our privilege—each and every one of us in this Legislature, our privilege—in shaping the future of this province."

A "social worker" or a "social service worker" is by law someone who is registered with the OCSWSSW. Furthermore, as noted previously, the Ontario public has a right to assume that when they receive services that are provided by someone who is required to have a social work degree (or a social service work diploma), that person is registered with the OCSWSSW.

The OCSWSSW also has processes for equivalency, permitting those with a combination of academic qualifications and experience performing the role of a social worker or social service worker to register with the College.

These processes address, among other things, the risk posed by "fake degrees" and other misrepresentations of qualifications, ensuring Ontarians know that a registered social worker or social service worker has the education and/or experience to do their job.

The review of academic credentials and knowledge regarding academic programs is an area of expertise of a professional regulatory body. An individual employer will not have the depth of experience with assessing the validity of academic credentials nor the knowledge of academic institutions to be able to uncover false credentials or misrepresentations of qualifications on a reliable basis.

Setting, maintaining and holding members accountable to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. These minimum standards apply to all OCSWSSW members, regardless of the areas or context in which they practise. Especially relevant in the child welfare context are principles that address confidentiality and privacy, competence and integrity, record-keeping, and sexual misconduct.

Maintaining fair and rigorous complaints and discipline processes. These processes differ from government oversight systems and process-oriented mechanisms within child welfare, as well as those put in place by individual employers like a CAS. They focus on the conduct of individual professionals.

Furthermore, transparency regarding referrals of allegations of misconduct and discipline findings and sanctions ensures that a person cannot move from employer to employer when there is an allegation referred to a hearing or a finding after a discipline hearing that their practice does not meet minimum standards.

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.

ACCORDING TO OACAS'S NEW CEO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A WORKER AT YOUR DOOR YOU SHOULD ASK TO SEE THEIR LANYARD AND THEN JUST ASK THEM WHAT QUALIFICATIONS THEY HAVE BEFORE TAKING THEM AT THEIR WORD AND ALLOWING THEM TO COME IN AND SEARCH YOUR HOME WITHOUT A WARRANT UNDER THE PRETENSE OF ONLY WANTING TO ASK A FEW QUESTIONS - AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT ANY COMPLAINTS THAT MAY HAVE BEEN MADE AGAINST THEM - IN CHILD WELFARE CIRCLES THAT'S COVERED BY THE UNREGISTERED WORKER'S RIGHT TO PRIVACY...

Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.

The Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice Handbook sets out minimum standards of professional practice and conduct for members of the OCSWSSW. This is in accordance with one of the objects of the College as stated in the Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998 “to establish and enforce professional standards and ethical standards applicable to members of the College.” For the purposes of the Act (Section 26), and the Professional Misconduct Regulation (Ontario Regulation 384/00), these standards have been approved in a bylaw of the College as standards of practice for its members. The Standards of Practice are meant to be applied to members’ practice in conjunction with any applicable legislation and with their professional judgment.

http://www.ocswssw.org/professional-practice/code-of-ethics/

http://www.ocswssw.org/members/online-register/

http://www.ocswssw.org/

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.

As Minister Coteau said in second reading debate of Bill 89, "protecting and supporting children and youth is not just an obligation, it is our moral imperative, our duty and our privilege—each and every one of us in this Legislature, our privilege—in shaping the future of this province."

A "social worker" or a "social service worker" is by law someone who is registered with the OCSWSSW. Furthermore, as noted previously, the Ontario public has a right to assume that when they receive services that are provided by someone who is required to have a social work degree (or a social service work diploma), that person is registered with the OCSWSSW.

The OCSWSSW also has processes for equivalency, permitting those with a combination of academic qualifications and experience performing the role of a social worker or social service worker to register with the College.

These processes address, among other things, the risk posed by "fake degrees" and other misrepresentations of qualifications, ensuring Ontarians know that a registered social worker or social service worker has the education and/or experience to do their job.

The review of academic credentials and knowledge regarding academic programs is an area of expertise of a professional regulatory body. An individual employer will not have the depth of experience with assessing the validity of academic credentials nor the knowledge of academic institutions to be able to uncover false credentials or misrepresentations of qualifications on a reliable basis.

Setting, maintaining and holding members accountable to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. These minimum standards apply to all OCSWSSW members, regardless of the areas or context in which they practise. Especially relevant in the child welfare context are principles that address confidentiality and privacy, competence and integrity, record-keeping, and sexual misconduct.

Maintaining fair and rigorous complaints and discipline processes. These processes differ from government oversight systems and process-oriented mechanisms within child welfare, as well as those put in place by individual employers like a CAS. They focus on the conduct of individual professionals.

Furthermore, transparency regarding referrals of allegations of misconduct and discipline findings and sanctions ensures that a person cannot move from employer to employer when there is an allegation referred to a hearing or a finding after a discipline hearing that their practice does not meet minimum standards.

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@ocswss

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2016: Regulation Of Child Protection Workers By Ontario College Of Social Workers And Social Service Workers: CUPE Responds.

In the psychology of human behavior, denialism is a person's choice to deny reality, as a way to avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth like child protection in Ontario is a rogue agency gone mad with power.

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"Mandatory registration and regulation by the College is not in the best interest of child protection workers and ultimately, not in the best interest of vulnerable children, youth and families."

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There are those who engage in denialist tactics because they are protecting some "overvalued idea" which is critical to their identity. Since legitimate dialogue is not a valid option for those who are interested in protecting bigoted or unreasonable ideas from facts, their only recourse is to use these types of rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of argument and legitimate debate, when there is none.

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"I may not hold a BSW or MSW degree, enjoy membership in the College or be subject to its regulation. But I am a professional practitioner in the child protection sector and, as such, I cannot countenance this move toward the regulation of the child protection workforce. I am resolved to fight it at every step of the way and instead campaign for the measures that will bring real benefits to at-risk youth, children and families.

I’m calling OACAS out on this spurious attempt to bring more oversight to our sector. Regulation will not make children safer; instead, it is distracting attention from what’s really needed to improve safety for children and youth and I hope that [CAS] will back me up on that.

The more I investigate membership in the College, the more becomes plain that regulation and registration for child protection workers will only add another layer of bureaucracy, expense and administration to our jobs.

How could anyone look at this list unnecessary all internal private corporate oversight and possibly think that child protection workers need more oversight? Asking for more ways to regulate and oversee the work of child protection workers is clearly unnecessary and leads me to think there is another agenda at work in this exercise."

CAS in-house management structure, including supervisors, managers, lawyers, and case conferences;

• a society’s internal standards, policies, procedures and protocols, some of which are governed by the Children and Family Services Act;

• a society’s internal disciplinary and complaints procedures;

• Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, which has new powers to investigate CAS workers;

• ministry audits in almost every area of service, including Crown Ward Reviews and Licensing;

• Child and Family Services Review Board, which conducts reviews and hearings of complaints against a CAS worker;

• family courts;

• Ontario’s human rights tribunal;

• the provincial auditor general;

• child death reviews, including the Paediatric Death Review and internal reviews;

• coroner’s inquests.

Regulation by the College makes scapegoats of child protection workers, while permitting the Ministry, the government and children’s aid societies themselves to avoid dealing with the real issues in the sector.

By requiring CASs to hire only College-registered employees, some agencies will be set up for future crisis in recruitment and retention of staff and those who will suffer most will be the vulnerable children, youth and families that societies are meant to help.

There are also criteria around language fluency, residency, and academic qualifications that have little or nothing to do with child protection and would only seek to narrow the group from which child protection has traditionally drawn its workers.

Children’s aid societies outside Ontario’s urban centres have long had difficulties in recruiting and retaining child protection workers. Agencies in northern Ontario, remote and rural regions, and aboriginal nations face ongoing challenges around adequate staffing for their child protection services. Restricting them to recruiting and hiring only College-registered employees can only increase severe staff shortages and under-representation by equity seeking groups.

We should be looking at ways of expanding our approach to our work, not restricting it to fit the strictures of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

By requiring CASs to hire only College-registered employees, some agencies will be set up for future crisis in recruitment and retention of staff and those who will suffer most will be the vulnerable children, youth and families that societies are meant to help.

These additional requirements will do absolutely nothing to increase the skill sets of child protection workers but will deter many from entering the field. We won’t be better off and neither will the children, youth and families we serve.

Currently, at least seven CUPE collective agreements (CAs) contain articles that prohibit professional regulation as a job requirement to protect unqualified workers, unless such regulation is legislated. These seven CAs represent over half of the full time equivalents (FTEs) in the sector. [This CAS] is a signatory to one of these agreements.

We will fight hard to keep these hard-won entitlements, especially because they offer protection from many of the problems identified above.

Professional registration is a red herring that ignores the real issues in the child protection sector. In order to improve the consistency and quality of child protection, the OACAS and Ministry of Children’s and Youth Services should focus on funding restraints, workload, violence in the workplace and the current insufficient investment in workers’ training.

I am not a social worker; I don’t want to be a social worker. Had I wanted to be a social worker, I would have trained as one. If regulation through the College of Social Work is introduced, what will happen to us child protection workers who don’t have degrees in social work (a BSW or MSW) or a social service worker diploma? After all, we make up to 50% of the child protection workforce.

None of the options currently available to us is appealing: we can try to upgrade to the qualifications that will allow up to keep our jobs. We can move to a different job class. We can accept termination or layoff.

What doesn’t seem to be an option is “grandfathering,” something that would allow child protection workers already in post to keep doing their current jobs.

The College is quite specific that grandfathering is not on the table.

These facts seem to present some insurmountable problems for the child protection sector and represent another compelling reason that regulation by the College is a bad move for the child protection sector and for child protection workers.

(considering they're not qualified for the job we are currently doing the prospects of finding another job are pretty slim and before you know it we'll all be on welfare)

DRAFT Letter 4 (the slippery slope) – Accountability: "Mandatory registration and regulation by the College is not in The Best Interest of Child Protection Workers and ultimately , not in the best interest of vulnerable children, youth and families."

A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid. It is also called a fallacy, an informal logical fallacy, and an informal fallacy. All logical fallacies are non sequiturs—arguments in which a conclusion doesn't follow logically from what preceded it.

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"One of the rationalizations for registration and regulation with the College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers is the restoration of public confidence in Ontario’s child protection system. But violating my rights to privacy and confidentiality will do nothing to achieve this goal."

(Those employed by another person or agency for financial remuneration are not entitled to personal privacy protection anymore than a police officer or a cashier at Walmart is.)

"Currently, workplace disciplines, complaints and other personnel matters at [CAS] are treated confidentially. But if child protection workers become subject to regulation by the College, previously confidential workplace matters will become matters of public record. (just like everyone else)

My membership in the College would mean that anyone can see information about my status or complaints made against me – and under the College’s rules, there is no time limit in which to make a complaint. Disciplinary hearings are open to the public and once a complaint is made, it is on file forever. There is no process for appeal. (yes there is)

https://mydefence.ca/ontario-college-of-social-workers-and-social-services-defence-lawyer/

Employers must also file a written report with the College if one of its registered members is terminated. This requirement conflicts with an employee’s right to grieve a termination under the collective agreement or appeal it through arbitration, where a termination may be overturned. (just like everyone else)

I also have concerns for my personal safety and that of my family, since college registration is open to public scrutiny and provides no protection from potentially violent clients.

None of the ways that the College deals with personal information, complaints, and discipline allow for a fair or safe process for child protection workers.

There are any number of measures that can be and ought to be taken to restore public confidence in child protection and keep at-risk children and youth safer. Regulation by the college is not one of them."

The Special Investigations Unit is the civilian oversight agency responsible for investigating circumstances involving police that have resulted in a death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault of a civilian in Ontario.

https://www.siu.on.ca/en/index.php

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Here are some facts and figures I think point to significant problems for the child welfare sector and for underprivileged families in particular:

• There are over 5,000 child protection workers in Ontario (5160)

• The College regulates about 17,000 social workers and social service workers

• In Ontario, only 7% of College-registered social workers are employed by a CAS

• Only 4% of members of the Ontario Association of Social Workers work for a CAS

• Between 30% and 50% of Ontario’s child welfare workers do NOT hold a BSW

• Only 63% of direct service staff in CASs have a BSW or MSW (in 2012, it was 57%)

• Only 78% of direct service supervisors have a BSW or MSW (in 2012, it was 75.5%)

• The 2013 OACAS Human Resources survey estimates that 70% of relevant CAS job classifications would qualify for registration with the College (so about 1500 CAS currently employed workers would be unable to register with the College)

• From 2002 to 2014, 41 child welfare employees who did not hold a BSW or MSW submitted equivalency applications to register as social workers; only 16 were successful and 25 were refused.

http://cupe2190.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SSWCC_CAS-letters-re-college-regulation_Nov.-2016.pdf

A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used by child protection social workers and the ministry to fool people. Don't be fooled!

This post has been designed to help you identify and call out dodgy child poaching funding predator logic wherever it may raise its ugly, incoherent head.

Follow the link and rollover the icons to click for examples. If you see a child protection social worker committing a fallacy, link them to it ...

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-logical-fallacy-1691259

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/common-logical-fallacies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

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DRAFT Letter 2 – Professionalism (I feel like a professional)

2016: Regulation of child protection workers by Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers: CUPE responds:

Please send or adapt any of the following letters to the Unregistered Executive Director of your CAS.

I understand that there are plans in the works to force anyone who works in child protection to register with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

One of the reasons given for this change is that regulation will result in higher quality services and bring greater professionalism to the field and that this will improve the standard of child protection work in Ontario.

I would like to point out that a failure to meet standards of care in child protection work is very rarely the result of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity on the part of individual child protection workers.

The stated purpose of the College is to protect the public from unqualified, incompetent or unfit practitioners.

But children’s aid societies already set those standards and ensure their adherence: they determine the job qualifications. They deal with employees they deem to be unqualified or incompetent. And CASs decide whether child protection work in their area can be performed by someone who holds a Bachelor’s degree and has child welfare experience.

I may not hold a BSW or MSW degree, enjoy membership in the College or be subject to its regulation. But I am a professional practitioner in the child protection sector and, as such, I cannot countenance this move toward the regulation of the child protection workforce. I am resolved to fight it at every step of the way and instead campaign for the measures that will bring real benefits to at-risk youth, children and families. (I may not be a doctor but I play one on TV)

Sincerely,

http://cupe2190.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SSWCC_CAS-letters-re-college-regulation_Nov.-2016.pdf

https://globalnews.ca/news/5453400/prince-edward-county-cas-executive-director-trial-ag-preliminary-hearing/

https://globalnews.ca/news/4182170/childrens-aid-executive-charged/

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

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

https://www.intelligencer.ca/2014/10/21/three-cas-cases-settled/wcm/3fd07287-3f2a-1755-7386-1c8c2353c943#:~:text=Three%20former%20County%20foster%20children,were%20in%20the%20society's%20care.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5334666/drugs-theft-alcohol-abuse-alleged-childrens-aid-group-home/

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/14/two-teens-harrowing-stories-of-ontario-group-homes.html

https://globalnews.ca/news/5360057/teen-sexual-cult-ontario-foster-home-childrens-aid-society/

https://nypost.com/2019/06/12/childrens-aid-society-in-canada-turned-a-blind-eye-to-sexual-abuse-report/

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/04/30/shocking-conditions-at-now-shuttered-thunder-bay-foster-homes-detailed-in-child-advocates-final-report.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/06/13/province-shuts-down-three-thunder-bay-foster-homes.html

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

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2020: Registration of Children’s Aid Society workers.

SHOULD COMPLAINTS AGAINST ONTARIO CAS WORKERS BE A MATTER FOR THE COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORKERS OR UNION ARBITRATION LIKE THEY'RE FACTORY WORKERS?

One has a duty to protect the public and the other has a duty to protect worker..

And should child clients of the children's aid societies have the right to report bad workers to the College of Social Work with an official completely independent third party public process for children and youth?

The College has allegedly long worked with its stakeholders and with Government to address its concerns about registration requirements under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act while avoiding talking to families who have been harmed by the CAS since 2000.

As a result of past efforts, regulations were updated in 2018 to require Local Directors of CASs to be registered with the College. We also received a commitment from Government at that time to work with the College and the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies toward a goal of requiring registration of CAS supervisors.

We are disappointed that this objective remains unaddressed. (They're disappointed? How meaningful is that total bullshit..)

Registration of all those who are eligible is included as part of the College’s 2020-2023 Strategic Plan as fundamental to achieving our mandate to: serve and protect the public interest; regulate our members; and ensure that we are accountable and accessible to the communities we serve.

https://www.ocswssw.org/2020/08/17/message-from-the-registrar-and-ceo-changes-to-ontarios-child-welfare-system/

Considering how closely the societies work with courts, the police and the ministry maybe the SIU would be a proactive way to deal with the children's aid societies refusal to register with the college.

The Special Investigations Unit is the civilian oversight agency responsible for investigating circumstances involving police that have resulted in a death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault of a civilian in Ontario, Canada and might easily be adapted to investigated complaints about CAS workers...

https://www.siu.on.ca/en/index.php

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2016: Taking off her lanyard in and putting on her union pin frontline worker Nancy Simone, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees local representing 275 workers at the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, argues child protection workers already have levels of all internal secret oversight that include unregistered workplace supervisors, family courts that reverse burden of proof, internal reports bypassing the public coroners’ inquest process and annual rubber stamp case audits by the ministry.

“Our work is already regulated to death.” (minus judicial oversight)

https://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news-story/6437856-children-s-aid-societies-launch-major-training-reforms/

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ontario-coroner-s-report-highlights-need-for-changes-to-child-welfare-system-1.4109439

http://thecaribbeancamera.com/training-for-childrens-aid-societies/

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

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/04/03/childrens-aid-societies-launch-major-training-reforms.html

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Former Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian wrote:

“I am disheartened by the complete lack of action to ensure transparency and accountability by these organizations that received significant public funding. As part of the modernization of the Acts, I call on the government to finally address this glaring omission and ensure that Children’s Aid Societies are added to the list of institutions covered.”

The only oversight for the province’s children’s aid agencies comes from Ontario’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

"As the law stands now clients (voluntary and involuntary) of the Ontario Children's Aid Society are routinely denied a timely (often heavily censored) file disclosure before the court begins making life altering decisions and the clients can not request files/disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act nor can censored information reviewed by the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario or the federal counter-part."

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How do you become a client of the CAS?

#1 You can ask for their help.

#2 You can be reported to a CAS, then investigated and submit to their findings.

#3 Or the CAS can take you to their secret courtrooms where the burden of proof is reversed and ask the judge (who may have been a former CAS employee) for anything they want..

The big problem is the CAS only receives funding when they claim there are,or is, a reason for concern and they are using family courts to obtain funding.

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In her 2004 annual report, which was released on June 22, 2005, the Commissioner called for amendments that would bring virtually all organizations that are primarily funded by government dollars under FOI for the purposes of transparency and accountability: This would include the various children’s aid agencies in the Province of Ontario. Many parents and families complain about how difficult it is, if not impossible, to obtain information from children’s aid agencies. Many citizens complain that CAS agencies appear to operate under a veil of secrecy. Unlicensed and untrained CAS workers are making decisions which are literally destroying families, yet there is little or no accountability for their actions short of a lawsuit long after the damage is done..

“Hundreds of organizations that are recipients of large transfer payments from the government are not subject to the provincial or municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Acts,” said the Commissioner, “which means they are not subject to public scrutiny.” Among the examples she cites are hospitals and Children’s Aid Societies. “Openness and transparency of all publicly funded bodies is essential – they should be publicly accountable.”

In my 2004, 2009, and 2012 Annual Reports I recommended that Children’s Aid Societies, which provide services for some of our most vulnerable citizens – children and youth in government care, be brought under FIPPA. I am disheartened by the complete lack of action to ensure transparency and accountability by these organizations that received significant public funding. As part of the modernization of the Acts, I call on the government to finally address this glaring omission and ensure that Children’s Aid Societies are added to the list of institutions covered.

In her annual report for 2013 released on June 17 there is just one paragraph on children's aid on page 12: The Information and Privacy Commissioner is appointed by and reports to the Ontario Legislative Assembly, and is independent of the government of the day. The Commissioner's mandate includes overseeing the access and privacy provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and the Personal Health Information Protection Act, and commenting on other access and privacy issues.

2020 UPDATE: CAS NOW REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TO FOI REQUESTS THE SAME AS ANY OTHER GOVERNMENT FUNDED AND CONTROLLED AGENCY SHOULD BE.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/beef-up-information-laws-ontario-privacy-czar-says/article1120573/

http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/commissioner-cavoukian-calls-on-government-to-preserve-freedom-and-liberty-514463911.html

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE STANDARDS, OR LEGISLATION, OR THE BUREAUCRACY - IT'S ABOUT ETHICS AND APPLICATION. IF YOUR GOING TO FIX WHAT'S WRONG WITH CHILD PROTECTION - START AT THE BEGINNING.

IT'S NOT THE SYSTEM THAT LACKS ETHICS, MORALS AND ACCOUNTABILITY OR ACTS IN BAD FAITH - IT THE PEOPLE ENTRUSTED TO OVERSEE THE SYSTEM THAT LACK THOSE THINGS. IT'S NOT BAD SYSTEM THAT MAKES GOOD WORKERS BAD - IT'S BAD WORKERS THAT MAKE A SYSTEM THAT'S NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD, BAD.

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Organization of Children’s Aid Societies. Every area of the province is served by a Children’s Aid Society. Some areas, such as Toronto, have multiple Children’s Aid Societies, some of which serve different religious and ethnic communities. While all Societies share the same legislation and standards, each CAS is an independent corporation with its own Board of Directors and volunteers to assist in its functioning. All Societies are funded completely by the Ministry of Community and Social Services. DEFINITION of 'Protected Cell Company.. A corporate structure in which a single legal entity is comprised of a core and several cells that have separate assets and liabilities. The protected cell company, or PCC, has a similar design to a hub and spoke, with the central core organization linked to individual cells. Each cell is independent of each other and of the company’s core, but the entire unit is still a single legal entity. The basic principle behind cell organization is simple: By dividing the greater organization into many multi-person groups and compartmentalizing and concealing information inside each cell as needed, the greater organization is more likely to survive unchanged if one of its components is compromised and as such, they are remarkably difficult to penetrate and hold accountable in the same way the mafia families, terrorist organizations and the children's aid societies of Ontario are. ::: Corporatism: Fascism's theory of economic corporatism involved management of sectors of the economy by government or privately-controlled organizations (corporations). Each trade union or employer corporation would theoretically represent its professional concerns, especially by negotiation of labor contracts and the like. Marketization of law making is a process that enables the elites to operate as market oriented firms by changing the legal environment in which they operate in, in the best interest of the child according to a bunch of sociopathic child poaching funding predators... See Motherisk recommendations: The Motherisk hair testing was imposed on vulnerable parents with little regard for due process or their rights to privacy and bodily integrity. CASs and the courts often drew negative inferences about parents who did not go for testing or disputed the results. CASs and the courts often used hair test results as a proxy for assessing parenting. The use of testing generally reflected a narrow approach to substance use, focussed on abstinence. Test results were often admitted into evidence without the usual checks and balances of the legal system and given excessive weight by CASs and the court. Disclosure The Family Rules Committee should amend the Family Law Rules to require children’s aid societies to provide automatic, ongoing, thorough and timely disclosure to parents. Education for judges on gatekeeping role in child protection. The National Judicial Institute, the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, and the Ontario Court of Justice should enhance their efforts to provide education programs and resources on expert evidence in child protection proceedings. Education should emphasize the skills judges need in order to perform their gatekeeper function in the unique context of child protection. Accessibility of Legal Aid funds. Legal Aid Ontario should in authorizing disbursements to parents’ counsel related to expert evidence, consider the complexity of child protection cases and the miscarriages of justice that could result from failing to vigorously challenge expert evidence; expand its Big Case Management program to child protection cases; and expand its Complex Case Rate policy to child protection counsel.

The Ministry of the Attorney General should ensure that the total funding available to Legal Aid Ontario is sufficient to enable the Recommendations in this Report to be implemented. Summary judgment motions. The Family Rules Committee should amend the Family Law Rule relating to summary judgment motions to permit only evidence that would be admissible at trial, and in particular, to prohibit hearsay evidence that does not meet the common law tests for admissibility; require all expert evidence tendered at a summary judgment motion to comply with the Rule regarding experts and expert reports (as amended by these Recommendations); require the court to conduct a voir dire before admitting any expert evidence; and permit deviation from these requirements only where the parent expressly acknowledges to the court that the findings of the expert are correct and the court is satisfied that the parent adequately understands the expert opinion and the consequences of such an acknowledgement. Temporary proceedings. The Family Rules Committee should amend the Family Law Rules to require courts to assess the necessity for and reliability of any expert evidence through a voir dire before admitting that expert’s report into evidence on any motion in a child protection proceeding, except at the first appearance. Deviation from this requirement should only be permitted where the parent expressly acknowledges to the court that the findings of the expert are correct and the court is satisfied that the parent adequately understands the expert opinion and the consequences of such an acknowledgement. The Ontario government should amend the Child, Youth and Family Services Act to prohibit the admission of hearsay evidence of expert opinion, including test results and the interpretation of those results, at any stage of a child protection proceeding other than the first appearance. Deviation from this requirement should only be permitted where the parent expressly acknowledges to the court that the findings of the expert are correct and the court is satisfied that the parent adequately understands the expert opinion and the consequences of such an acknowledgement. https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/motherisk/ One of the 14 characteristics of fascism is - Corporate Power is Protected. The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. The people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights and procedural protections can be ignored in certain cases because of special need. When the people who have power in our society can have an influence in law making, the laws that get created will not maintain the appearance of equality and the elites in society can lobby and eventually criminalize the poor. The laws will start to benefit the big corporations (elites). This is well illustrated in Stan Cohen’s concept of the moral panic. A moral panic refers to the reaction of a group within society (elite) to the activities of a non elite group. The targeted group is seen as a threat to society also referred to as the folk devil. Here we can see here how child welfare law is not applied equally to everyone. In this particular instance the child welfare law is benefiting the people with means. The lawyers themselves. Comack states; “While the pivotal point in the rule of law is ‘equality of all before the law’, the provision of formal equality in the legal sphere does not extend to the economic sphere. Thus, the law maintains only the appearance of equality because, it never calls into question the unequal and exploitative relationship between capital and labour.” This statement implies that the law is in place to be neutral. Therefore, the law would apply equally to everyone, including both the working and elite class. It can be said that in today’s society we have the marketization of law making. The current hierarchical corporate structures that dominate our economies have been in place for over 200 years and were notably supported and defined by Max Weber during the 1800s. Even though Weber was considered a champion of bureaucracy, he understood and articulated the dangers of bureaucratic organisations as stifling, impersonal, formal, protectionist and a threat to individual freedom, equality and cultural vitality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber ::: NOT ALL SOCIAL WORKERS ARE CREATED EQUAL. 2009: Ontario CAS caseworkers come armed with vaster powers than any police officer investigating crime and shrouded in secrecy. It is an immense authority easily abused, without vigilant restraint. https://www.cbc.ca/…/diploma-mills-marketplace-fake-degrees… Whether we wanted it or not, knew it or not, over time, the work of child-welfare organizations has become “parenting by the state and the imposition of their value system on other people,” says Marty McKay, a clinical psychologist who has worked on abuse cases in the U.S and Canada. Provincial agencies have the power to intervene when children are considered “at risk” of abuse or neglect — even if none has actually occurred. http://www.nationalpost.com/children+society+w…/…/story.html ::: Funding of Children’s Aid Societies Historically, Children’s Aid Societies were community based and operated independently of each other. Initially, they relied on donations from individuals and private bodies such as churches. Over time, they applied to city and county councils for funding. Eventually, grants from the province and municipalities became more fixed and were based on various formulas. By the mid-1960s, the province was contributing 60 percent of the funding, and municipalities were contributing 40 percent. Over the years, the proportion of funding assumed by the province gradually increased until, in or around 1998–2000, the Ontario provincial government assumed 100 percent of the funding of all Children’s Aid Societies. The Relationship Between Children’s Aid Societies and the Ministry of Community and Social Services In the early 1900s, Children’s Aid Societies were non-profit, charitable, non-government organizations, regulated under general legislation governing charities. They were granted basic legislative enforcement powers related to the protection of children. The first legislation to govern the protection of children and the organization, membership, and management of Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario was the 1927 Children’s Protection Act. This Act authorized the provincial government to approve the formation of Children’s Aid Societies and to advise and instruct them regarding how their duties were to be performed. In the 1970s, the province started introducing standards with respect to abuse. In the late 1970s, the Ministry of Community and Social Services decentralized and established twelve area offices. Ministry program supervisors were assigned to work with specific Societies, and the frequency of contact between the Ministry and Societies was greatly increased. The 1984 Children and Family Services Act set out that a Ministry director is required to, among other things “advise and supervise societies,” “inspect or direct and supervise the inspection of the operation and records of societies,” “inspect or direct and supervise the inspection of places in which children in the care of societies are placed,” and “ensure that societies provide the standard of services and follow the procedures and practices” required under the Act. When the Ministry began providing all of the funding for Children’s Aid Societies, funding became based on volume of cases. The province also started to specify who was eligible for the service it was funding and began regularly auditing eligibility. Unlike in provinces that operate child protection agencies through government ministries, Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario are governed by community boards. Thus, the Societies still retain some autonomy from the provincial government. The responsibilities of CAS Boards generally include providing overall policy and administrative direction for the organization, approving and monitoring implementation of the policies of the Society to ensure that legislation and regulations are enforced, reviewing and approving budgets, and appointing a local director for the administration and enforcement of the child protection. According to John Liston, these Boards continue to have a significant responsibility because children in the care of Ontario Children’s Aid Societies are wards of the local Society, not wards of the provincial government. The Ministry of Community and Social Services currently has nine regional offices in Ontario. Within each office there are program supervisors,who serve as the primary contact between Societies and the Ministry and have the authority to enter Societies and inspect the facilities, the services provided, the books of account, and records relating to the services. The OACAS is involved in research and special projects and assisting in government policy development. It also administers an Accreditation Program, which a number of Children’s Aid Societies have participated in since the mid-1990s. The OACAS is also responsible for the delivery of child protection training, which is funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. - Did the government give special powers to the CAS or to themselves by proxy? - The Cornwall Inquiry.. The next section will provide a summary of the evolution of policies, protocols, and procedures for the CAS of SD&G and will provide comments on the duty to report, the Child Abuse Register, and the Dawson Review. Following the policies section, I will examine the response of the CAS of SD&G to reported allegations of sexual abuse of young people in the Cornwall area. I will comment on the investigation of matters brought to the attention of the CAS of SD&G involving young people in the community who fell within its mandate, and complaints made by those placed in foster homes and group homes that were supervised by the Society. I will look at allegations made against caseworkers, foster parents, and staff, or persons otherwise associated with the CAS of SD&G. I will make recommendations on issues such as the duty to report to the CAS, the training of personnel, the screening of staff and foster parents, the reporting of allegations to police and employers for investigation, the provision of counselling for victims, and the review of policies and protocols. I will comment on the importance of communication, the sharing of information, the conducting of joint investigations with the Cornwall Community Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police, and the interactions of the CAS of SD&G with other public institutions. http://216.201.102.72/inquiries/cornwall/en/report/v1_en_pdf/E_Vol1_CH09.pdf ::: FORMER ONTARIO MPP FRANK KLEES EXPLAINS "A DISTINCTION WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE." I'M NOT A SOCIAL WORKER, I'M A CHILD PROTECTION WORKER! You can hear former MPP Frank Klees say in a video linked below the very reason the social worker act was introduced and became law in 1998 was to regulate the "children's aid societies" and they ignored that.. Do you care what kind of social workers they call themselves? https://youtu.be/SA1YyWO0RTQ?list=PLsYhw09i3If44rMBDuZQ0ztayzSQU35Fy Two decades later... Without the deterrents professional regulation provides what prevents child protection social workers from being or becoming a danger to children and their families? (See Motherisk Report and the OHRC Report) The union representing child protection social workers is firmly opposed to oversight from a professional college and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, which regulates and funds child protection, is so far staying out of it. The report Towards Regulation notes that the “clearest path forward” would be for the provincial government to -again- legislate the necessity of professional regulation, which would be an appallingly heavy-handed move according to OACAS/Cupe. http://joincupe2190.ca/files/2015/10/Professional-regulation-at-childrens-aid-societies.pdf Can the CAS be trusted with special powers we don't trust the police or the government with? No judicial or ethical oversight and secret records kept on private citizens...? https://youtu.be/PpE-Vuz1gtk ::: 2004: Child Welfare Reform: Protecting Children or Policing the Poor for Fun and Personal Gain? It was in the context of dramatic media coverage of tragic child welfare outcomes and a rapidly shrinking welfare state that Ontario's child welfare reform was introduced in 1997. The reform involves a series of changes to both law and policy that have transformed child welfare in this province within a very short time. The initiatives to support this new and much more focused direction, as we will show, have produced a high level of surveillance and intrusion into the lives of clients and suspected client of the system. https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=jlsp https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/jlsp/vol19/iss1/1/ ::: 2016: Report shines light on poverty’s role on kids in CAS system. The effect of provincial policies on struggling families was especially apparent in the late 1990s, when the Conservative government slashed welfare payments and social service funding while at the same time, it introduced in child protection the notion of maltreatment by “omission,” including not having enough food in the home and this after giving the society what amounted to an unlimited funding scheme. The number of children taken into care spiked as did their funding. https://youtu.be/CG6PT3Hw568 “The ministry has been pretty clear with us that advocacy is not part of our mandate,” Goodman said speaking for the society. “It’s not like they’re asking for the (poverty) data. They’re not.” Goodman then when on to suggest the silence suited the government more than the silence suited the society's funding goals. https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/08/15/report-shines-light-on-povertys-role-on-kids-in-cas-system.html ::: 2020: TORONTO -- Ontario's child welfare system will be redesigned to focus on prevention and early intervention, the provincial government said Wednesday. "Child welfare should not be the system that is feared," Dunlop said in a news conference. "No one should be scared to lose their children for speaking to a children's aid society." Associate Minister of Children and Women's Issues Jill Dunlop said the new strategy will also work to address the over-representation of Black and Indigenous families in the children's aid system. She said children and youth in care experience worse outcomes than those in a family setting, including lower graduation rates, a higher risk of homelessness and more involvement with the justice system. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-plans-to-redesign-child-welfare-system-to-focus-on-prevention-1.5044299 ::: Your Right to Complain to a Children’s Aid Society (and no one else) WHAT PROTECTIONS DO INVOLUNTARY CLIENTS OF ONTARIO'S CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETIES HAVE BEHIND ALL THE CLOSED DOORS? If you have a question or concern about services from a children’s aid society, you can talk to the unregistered worker who is helping you, the worker’s unregistered supervisor, or someone else at the society. If you do not want to first speak to them or if speaking to your worker or others at the society does not answer your questions, you have the right to start a formal process to complain to the society. Societies are required, by law, to establish an Internal Complaints Review Panel to review formal complaints submitted in writing who will totally deny any wrongdoing by their workers or themselves. IS THERE ANY REASON TO TRUST THE MANY FACES OF SOCIETY AND THEIR ALL INTERNAL COMPLAINT PROCESSES? https://stepstojustice.ca/questions/abuse-and-family-violence/how-do-i-complain-about-childrens-aid-society-worker https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/14/in_leaked_memo_peel_cas_staff_asked_to_keep_cases_open_to_retain_funding.html

CHILD PROTECTION WORKERS?

2019: Ontario coroner getting data for massive analysis of child and youth deaths.

TORONTO – An Ontario youth court judge has granted the coroner’s office access to justice records that will be reviewed as part of a pilot project looking into thousands of deaths of children and young adults in the province.

Chief Coroner Dirk Huyer told Justice Sheilagh O’Connell on Tuesday that more than 7,000 people aged 10 to 24 years old have died in Ontario between 2007 and 2018. He said the project was an effort to better understand the factors at play.

“It’s very important research, so I commend you for this,” O’Connell said as she granted the coroner’s office access to the records.

READ MORE: More needs to be done to protect kids in Ontario’s child welfare system, coroner says

Huyer said outside court that one area of focus for researchers will be the more than 3,000 children and young people who died due to suicide or gun violence.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW:

https://globalnews.ca/news/6249678/ontario-coroner-child-youth-deaths-data/

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2019-2020 OMBUDSMAN'S FIRST ANNUAL REPORT: DEATH AND SERIOUS BODILY HARM.. (It takes a village not a private corporation shrouded in secrecy)

Children’s aid societies and licensed residential service providers are legally required to inform the Ombudsman’s Office within 48 hours of any death or serious bodily harm of any child who has sought or received services from a children’s aid society within the past 12 months. Because they must be filed within 2 days of the incident, these reports may involve preliminary information and not findings of investigations by the police, child protection authorities or the coroner.

From May 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, we received 1,663 reports about 1,433 incidents (some reports were duplicates, from multiple agencies reporting the same incident). These reports related to 122 deaths and 1,473 cases of serious bodily harm (defined as any situation where a young person requires treatment beyond basic first aid, including for physical, sexual or emotional harm). The Ombudsman will report in more detail on our analysis of these statistics in future reports.

TOP CASE TOPICS

1,458 Children’s aid societies

240 Youth justice centres

139 Residential licensees

26 Secure treatment

https://www.ombudsman.on.ca/resources/reports-and-case-summaries/annual-reports/2019-2020-annual-report