5-Year Review of Child Welfare Legislation- John Dunn
Jan 30th, 2010 | By afterfostercare | Category: Campaigns (incl.) Grassroots, Community Board, Community Resource
The Council announced the formation of a permanent, citizen based, five-year review committee, and invites the public to join. The “Ride for Accountability of Children’s Aid Societies” (RACAS) is an awareness bicycle ride from Ottawa to Windsor led by John Dunn of the Foster Care Council of Canada. Updates on this event will be posted on Peacock Poverty
From:
John Dunn
Executive Director
Foster Care Council of Canada
12-1160 Meadowlands Drive East
Ottawa, ON, K2E 6J2
1-613-220-1039
johndunn@afterfostercare.ca
http://www.afterfostercare.ca
Speakers:
John Dunn, Executive Director, Former Foster Child
Michele Farrugia (pronounced Mick-ay-lay farroogia), Director, Volunteer, Former Foster Child
Chris Carter, a community member / Fighting for Families
Media attended: Peacock Poverty, Cheryl Smith, Former Foster Child/Ward
RE: MANDATORY 5-YEAR REVIEW OF ONTARIO’S CHILD PROTECTION LEGISLATION
Media Advisory / Press Release
For Immediate Release
January 29, 2010
NOTE: This media advisory is followed by the press release:
TORONTO (Queens Park Media Studio) – The Foster Care Council of Canada, an organization made up of former foster children and their supporters will be announcing their submission and recommendations to the Minister of Children and Youth Services in relation to the mandatory five-year review of the Child and Family Services Act which governs Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario.
The Council will also make two announcements regarding the formation of a permanent, citizen based, five-year review committee, and their “Ride for Accountability of Children’s Aid Societies” (RACAS) which is an awareness bicycle ride from Ottawa to Windsor.
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Queens Park (Legislative Assembly of Ontario) in the media studio
University and Wellesley Aves., Toronto, Ontario
For Immediate Release
Queens Park, Toronto, January 29, 2010 1PM: The Foster Care Council of Canada, an organization made up of former foster children and their supporters will hold a press conference at the media studio of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to announce their submission and recommendations to the Minister of Children and Youth Services in connection with the mandatory five-year review of the Child and Family Services Act.
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The Council made two announcements regarding the formation of a permanent, citizen based, five-year review committee, and their “Ride for Accountability of Children’s Aid Societies” (RACAS) which is an awareness bicycle ride from Ottawa to Windsor.
Speakers will included former foster child John Dunn, the founder and volunteer executive director of the Foster Care Council of Canada, board member Michele Farrugia , and Chris Carter, community member/ Fighting for Families
Background
In May, 1999, legislation was introduced by Janet Ecker — the Minister responsible for child protection services at the time — which makes it mandatory for the Minister to conduct a review of the Child and Family Services Act every five years for the purpose of ensuring the legislation is always — as Ecker said — responding sensitively and effectively to changing needs.
The first review of the Act was completed early in 2005, during which time submissions were made to the Minister by community organizations and private individuals. The submissions were reviewed and a report was made available to the public as required. The Ministry then consulted the submissions while drafting a Bill which proposed to make changes to the Child and Family Services Act in 2006, known as Bill 210.
John Dunn, the volunteer executive director of the Foster Care Council of Canada and a former foster child who spent sixteen years of his childhood under the authority of the Catholic Children’s Aid Society in Toronto said “after the first review of the Act in 2005, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, at the request of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS), attempted to weaken the complaint procedures available to foster children by proposing to remove existing external oversight mechanisms such as the ability for children to escalate their complaints to the Society’s more independent board of directors, to have the board’s decision reviewed by a Ministry appointed Director, and to make it impossible for vulnerable children to have an advocate representing them to initiate a complaint on their behalf, which children have the right to do under paragraph 103(1)(b)(ii) of the Act”.
After the Ministry introduced the first version of Bill 210 during its first reading, the Foster Care Council of Canada and other community groups such as Canada Court Watch (canadacourtwatch.com), Dufferin Voices of Children Alliance (fixcas.com), Fighting4Families (fighting4families.webs.com), and Rally4Accountability (rally4accountability.webs.com) rallied support from citizens in Ontario who were partially successful in getting MPP’s to prevent the Ministry from further weakening the complaints procedure as they had first proposed. However, despite the pressure, Ministry still managed to push through legislation which prevents children in care from having representatives file complaints on their behalf, even when they fear retaliation for doing so as was reported in a previous report from the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate titled “Voices from Within”.
The Foster Care Council of Canada will also invite the public to join a 5-year review committee to prepare for the next review of the Act in 2015 . http://www.afterfostercare.ca
A copy of the 2010 Five-Year Review-Recommendations to the Minister of Child and Youth Services submitted by the Foster Care Council of Canada is available at http://afterfostercare.ca/pdf/pressreleaseQP_2010long.pdf
In part it reads:
“In 1999 legislation was introduced by Janet Ecker– the Minister responsible for child protections services at the time–which makes it mandatory to conduct a review of the Child and Family Services Act (Act) every five years as a means of ensuring the legislation is always responding sensitively and effectively to changing needs of children and youth they serve and of the community.
The first mandatory review of the Act took place in 2005 after the newly formed Ministry of Children and Youth Services posted an announcement on their website seeking input from the public regarding possible change to the Act.
Several organizations, professionals and individuals made submissions to the Ministry with recommendations for change and a report was subsequently published summarizing the submissions made.
These submissions in conjunction with consultations the Ministry engaged in with various child welfare service stakeholders guided the Ministry in drafting what was then titled Bill 210, an act to amend the Child and Family Services Act.
In December of 2009 the Ministry posted an announcement on their website regarding the second review of the Act and again seeking submissions from the public with a deadline of January 31, 2009.
The deadline gave citizens just over 30 days to review a statute which has more than 200 sections and to formulate recommendations for changes to a very complicated piece of legislation. This short amount of time does not give citizens nearly enough time to organize, review, understand, and make recommendations for change which can improve the experiences and outcomes of/by those who are affected.
In response to the Ministry’s invitation, the Foster Care Council of Canada (a grassroots organization 10 yrs old founded by and for people in/from “care”)*, drafted a list of recommendations. http://afterfostercare.ca/pdf/pressreleaseQP_2010long.pdf
In an effort to accomodate citizens need for time to conduct a proper review in the future, we have created a permanent Five-Year CFSA Review Committee and invite the public to join. johndunn@afterfostercare.ca & http://wwwafterfostercare.ca
It is our hope as an organization made up of foster children and their supporters that the Ministry will take our recommendations into consideration while drafting legislation which will have a serious impact on the lives of children and youth affected by child welfare services.
*editors note
I am wondering if you know of anyone who could help me and my fianc’e cause we have been victims of corruption in dealing with family and children services (F.A.C.S.). Against our will they involved themselves in our lives and have forced us to put our son in temporary foster care.. i have to fdind the right person in the legal community that may be able to help, as our lawyers are not even of any help.
Thanks