Services to children and youth – who does what?

Child Welfare

Child welfare services in Ontario are provide by 38 independent Children's Aid Societies and 11 Indigenous Child Wellbeing Societies (Societies) to deliver child protection services, for a total of 49 Societies. All Societies receive provincial funding from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS).  MCCSS is responsible for oversight of Societies mandated by the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA). Two umbrella organizations, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) and the Association of Native Child and Family Service Agencies of Ontario (ANCFSAO) provide services, supports and advocacy on behalf of member Societies.

Under the CYFSA, the functions of Children’s Aid Societies and Indigenous Child Wellbeing Societies are as follows: investigate allegations or evidence that children may be in need of protection, to protect children where necessary, to provide guidance, counselling and other services to families for protecting children or for the prevention of circumstances requiring the protection of children, to provide care for children assigned to its care, to supervise children assigned to its supervision, and to place children for adoption.^{footnote 1[1]}

Other services and supports

Young people being served by Ontario’s child welfare system may also be receiving other services and supports, such as health, mental health, prevention, and/or developmental services, and other special needs services. Societies generally do not provide these services directly to the young people they work with, but work to connect young people and families with the services and supports that they need. For example, community mental health agencies often provide counselling, treatment, family supports and prevention-focused care to young people.

Places for young people to live

Most young people served by the child protection system stay in their homes of origin. When young people cannot remain in their homes, they can be placed in various residential settings including group homes, foster homes and customary care homes (broadly referred to as “placements” or “placement settings” throughout this document).

Customary care is a culturally appropriate placement option for First Nations, Métis and Inuit children and youth who are in need of protection, who can’t remain with their parents. In customary care arrangements, the child or youth is cared for by a person who is not the child’s parent, according to the customs of the child or youth’s band or First Nations, Inuit or Métis community. The model of customary care varies depending on the young person’s band, First Nation, Métis, or Inuit community.

The children and youth served in residential placements come from a variety of backgrounds and may have multiple needs. Placement settings indicate that they provide a range of services from basic accommodation, care and supervision in a family home setting to specialized programs in treatment settings for children and youth with complex special needs or who are medically fragile – though the Panel found that in many cases, these services were not provided as described.

The Child, Youth and Family Services Act defines the types of environments in which children and youth that are removed from their homes can be placed in. In the Act, these environments are referred to as children’s residences. Children’s residences in Ontario have two different accountability relationships with MCCSS. The first is a transfer payment agency (TPA), which receives a direct transfer payment from the ministry and has a contractual agreement to provide group care or foster care to young people. The other is a private business, often referred to as an outside paid resource under contract with the placing agency. Outside paid resources do not have a contractual relationship with MCCSS however; they do have a contractual relationship with Societies, and they are licensed by MCCSS, where required.

Licensing

Many placements are offered by service providers and agencies that are licensed to do so by MCCSS under the authority of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. Providers must meet the requirements under the associated regulations and ministry policies.

MCCSS has the authority to issue a license to a staff-model children’s residence where there are three or more young people residing in a home, not of common parentage; a foster-model home where there are five or more young people residing in a home, not of common parentage; and a license to provide residential care, directly or indirectly, for three or more children not of common parentage in one or more homes. For operators with multiple foster homes, a single license is issued, based on an inspection of 10 per cent of those homes. Where young people are residing in a staff-model residence with two or fewer young people, a license is not required. MCCSS reports that Agency Operated Homes (AOH) are used by licensed foster care agencies to place two or fewer children, where there are no other placement options. The licensed foster care agencies are sometimes Children’s Aid Societies or Indigenous Child Wellbeing Societies. MCCSS licensors are not required to do inspections of these homes, because the agency is required to ensure that standards in the homes are being met.

Note: As of April 30, 2018, O.Reg 156/18 has expended licensing requirements to residential care homes that are not children’s residences or parent model foster care, where there are fewer than three children per location but more than three children cumulatively across multiple sites (Section 117 of O.Reg 156/18). This came into effect July 1, 2018.