This is consistent with findings in previous years, 93% (113/121) of the children and youth that died in 2016, where a Society was involved with the child, youth or family within 12 months of the death, were not in the care of a Society at the time of their death. This includes six youth (aged 19-21) that were receiving Continued Care and Support for Youth (CCSY) from a Society (formerly Extended Care and Maintenance), which a youth in care may be eligible to receive when their care and/or custody order expires upon their 18th birthday. Of the 7% (8/121) of children and youth that were in the care of a Society, five were in extended Society care, one was in temporary Society care one was the subject of a formal customary care agreement and one was subject to a temporary care agreement.

89% (112/126) of children and youth that died in 2017 where a Society was involved with the child, youth or family within 12 months of the death were not in the care of a Society at the time of their death. This included three youth aged 18 and four youth between the ages of 19-21 that were not in care but were receiving CCSY supports. Of the 11% (14/126) of children and youth that were in the care of a Society at the time of their death, six were in extended Society care, one was in interim society care, four were subjects of formal customary care agreements and three were subjects of temporary care agreements.

What does the available data tell us?

Information provided by the Societies through Child Fatality Case Summary Reports supports a greater understanding of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of children and youth.  In particular, the information helps to illuminate particular risks and vulnerabilities. 

  • In 2016, 66% and in 2017, 72% of cases where a child or youth, including those receiving CCSY that had been receiving services from a Society were open files at the time of death (see Chart 17A and 17B).  This is consistent with previous years.
  • 37% of the cases in 2016 and 46% of cases in 2017 were rated as high or very high risk at the time of death (see Chart 18A and 18B). The Ontario Child Protection Standards released in February 2016 require that when deciding whether more frequent visits are required the worker considers:
    • the risk rating on the risk assessment;
    • the strengths and needs of the family;
    • whether a safety plan is actively being monitored and the child continues to reside in the home; and
    • the vulnerability of the child.” (Standard 7, p..83).
  • Requirements of the Standards would suggest that in these cases, the Society would have been engaging with the family with some frequency prior to the death.
  • A history of verified abuse and neglect of the child or youth and/or the sibling(s) of the deceased continued to be the most commonly reported vulnerability factor (see Chart 19).  31% of Society reports in 2016 and 47% of Society reports in 2017 regarding the deaths of children and youth indicated that the child or youth had been the subject of verified abuse or neglect, and in 64% of cases reported in 2016 and 63% reported in 2017 indicated that a sibling of the child or youth had been the subject of verified abuse or neglect. In 20% of cases reported in 2016 and 38% of cases reported in 2017, both of these vulnerability factors were present.
  • Disabilities are the next most commonly reported vulnerability factor (see Chart 19). 37% of the children and youth that died in 2016 and 22% that died in 2017 had physical disabilities, and 22% in 2016 and 18% in 2017 had mental or emotional disabilities. In 9% of cases in 2016 and in 3% of cases in 2017, both of these vulnerability factors were present.  Chart 19 provides a comparison of 2015 through 2017 data on vulnerability factors reported by Societies.
  • Suicide was the manner of death for 17 youth receiving services from a Society (ages 0-18) and one of the youth received CCSY in 2016 (aged 19-21). In 2017, suicide was the manner of death for 21 youth receiving services from a Society and three youth that received CCSY.  Of these in 2016, nine were Indigenous youth and in 2017, 17 were Indigenous youth, as compared to three to five per year from 2013 to 2015. There are three known or suspected vulnerability factors related to suicide reported on the Child Fatality Case Summary Report by Societies – child/youth has previously attempted suicide, recently experienced the suicide of a friend or relative, and/or had spoken to someone about suicidal thoughts.  For two of the 18 youth in 2016 and 10 of the 24 youth in 2017, there was more than one of these vulnerability factors present. In 2016, six youth had previously attempted suicide, nine had previously spoken to someone about suicidal thoughts and six had recently experienced the suicide of a friend or relative.  In 2017, 12 of the youth had previously attempted suicide, 14 had previously spoken to someone about suicidal thoughts and eight had recently experienced the suicide of a friend or relative.   

Chart 17A: Case status at the time of death – Society involved cases in 2016 (n=121)

  • Chart 17A shows the case status for Society involved cases of children and youth between the ages 0 – 21 that died in 2016, which includes individuals who were receiving Continued Care and Support for Youth at the time of their death.  67% of cases were open at the time of the death, and 33% of cases were closed at the time of the death but had been open in the 12 months preceding the death.

Chart 17B: Case status at the time of death – Society involved cases in 2017 (n=126)

  • Chart 17B shows the case status for Society involved cases of children and youth between the ages 0 – 21 that died in 2017, which includes individuals who were receiving Continued Care and Support for Youth at the time of their death.  73% of cases were open at the time of death and 27% had been closed within 12 months prior to death.

Chart 18A: Overall risk rating at time of death/case closure – Society involved cases in 2016 (n=115)

  • Chart 18A illustrates the risk rating reported by the Society at the time of death or case closure for Society involved cases in 2016.  10% of the cases were rated very high risk, 27% of cases were rated as high risk, 33% moderately high risk, 35% moderate risk, 11% low risk and 4% were categorized by the reporting Society as “not applicable”.

Chart 18B: Overall risk rating at time of death/case closure – Society involved cases in 2017 (n=122)

  • Chart 18B illustrates the risk rating reported by the Societies at the time of death or case closure for Society involved cases in 2017.  15% of cases were rated as very high risk, 31% high risk, 30% moderate risk, 11% low risk and 13% were categorized by the reporting Society as “not applicable”. 

Chart 19: Known vulnerability factors – Society involved cases 2015-2017

  • Chart 19 illustrates the proportion of 2015, 2016 and 2017 cases with Society involvement of children and youth aged 0-18 where the Society reported known vulnerability factors.  As in previous years, in both 2016 and 2017, verified abuse and neglect of the child or youth that died and/or their sibling was the most commonly reported vulnerability factor.  Disabilities are the second most commonly reported vulnerability factor.

While the information that the Society provides when a child or youth dies is valuable in identifying particular vulnerability factors, there may be other risk factors for children and youth that are not reported through the Joint Directive reporting process. This is because all potential risk factors for children and youth in Ontario are not collected in a standardized way.  Furthermore, the factors collected should not be construed as unique to children and youth that have died, or to children and youth that were receiving the services of a Society.  It is not known whether the prevalence of identified factors is different in the population of children and youth that have died as compared to the living population of children and youth in Ontario, or receiving services from a Society.