Officials from the province’s Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services revealed the province’s plans at a media briefing on Oct. 9. Ministry staff, who spoke on condition they not be identified, noted deficits at children’s aid societies have risen over the past five years, and the review will provide the government with a comprehensive picture of the current state of the Ontario child welfare system while helping to identify strategies for societies facing financial challenges.
The review will look at finances, service quality, compliance with regulations, staffing models and executive compensation, among other areas.
Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Michael Parsa said funding for child welfare reached $1.7 billion this year while the number of children and youth in care has declined by 30 per cent over the last 10 years but added that “we continue to see children falling through the cracks.”
“We know more needs to be done to ensure that every dollar is spent effectively on supporting these children and youth,” Parsa said in a statement. “That’s why we are taking this next step with a sector-wide review to better understand the pressures children’s aid societies face and to ensure they remain focused on providing high-quality services and support while protecting children receiving services from societies.”
The announcement of the review follows a statement from Premier Doug Ford last week in which he said the government would undertake an audit of the societies, adding he had heard “nightmare stories” about the use of taxpayers’ money and referring to the buildings where some of the agencies were located as “Taj Mahals.”
This earned the ire of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS), who called Ford’s statements “disappointing.”
“Addressing the inadequate access to community-based and out-of-home care is a responsibility that cuts across all levels of government and provincial partners, community-based organizations and service providers in the child and youth services sector,” the association said in a statement. “There are persisting systemic gaps and barriers to highly specialized, intensive early intervention and prevention supports and services as well as out-of-home care.”
According to officials, there are approximately 11,600 children and youth that are in care in Ontario. Staff added that the province’s 13 Indigenous-based children’s aid societies are not being included in the review because the government is on a different path with them in terms of self-determination and jurisdictional issues.
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