1 - Effective date

1.1 - This Directive is issued under s. 42 of the CYFSA and is effective May 5, 2020. It temporarily suspends certain requirements set out in Directive CW002-19 which came into effect January 30, 2020.

2 - Introduction

2.1 - On March 17, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government declared an emergency in Ontario pursuant to section 7.0.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. The provincial emergency has been extended pursuant to section 7.0.7 of the Act. As a result of the emergency and the COVID-19 outbreak, the ongoing temporary closure of non-essential businesses has been determined necessary in order to protect the health and safety of the people of Ontario. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, the societies continue to operate and provide services to children, youth and families while also following public health recommendations. The government has assessed the circumstances created by the COVID-19 outbreak and the impact on the operations of societies and has determined that it is necessary to temporarily suspend certain specified transition requirements set out in Directive CW002-19 in order to allow the societies to focus on maintaining critical services to vulnerable children, youth and families. The ministry will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances of the outbreak and will address new requirements concerning the transition when it becomes appropriate to do so.

3 - Temporary suspension of sections 11.3 and 11.4 of directive cw002-19:

3.1 - Section 11.1 of Directive CW002-19 addresses new referrals. Section 11.2 of that directive addresses files transferring to ongoing services following an investigation. Sections 11.3 and 11.4 address the transfer of all other files (ongoing protection, child care – temporary care agreements, temporary society care, interim society care, extended society care, customary care, kin service, CCSY, and any other service files). The requirements set out in sections 11.3 and 11.4 of Directive CW002-19 are temporarily suspended.

3.2 - For greater certainty, all other requirements set out in Directive CW002-19 remain in place, including the requirements set out in sections 11.1, 11.2 and 11.5.

Issuance of Policy Directive CW002-20: May 5, 2020

Original signed by:

David Remington Assistant Deputy Minister
Child Welfare and Protection
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services