Another audit, investigation, or review is not what families in Ontario need.
We have a list of 396 recommendations for sweeping reform. Those recommendations came out of coroner’s inquests into four tragic deaths of children and youth in care in this province since 2010 and they are a blueprint for how our system can better care for young people and support families.
I’d love if we knew how many had been implemented, but that data doesn’t exist. The Office of the Child Advocate had a database to track it – but that office was closed by this thin-skinned government that prefers to operate free from scrutiny.
They want no transparency. They’ve created a system with zero accountability. And children, youth, families, and workers are suffering for it.
If this government was serious about making meaningful change to keep children and youth safe, they’d start today by implementing the laundry list of recommendations backed by experts and advocates. But they’re not serious.
They’re not serious when they claim they’ve made historic investments, despite their own Financial Accountability Office report calling out that spending has fallen by $70 million when inflation is accounted for. They’re not serious when they champion the falling numbers of children and youth in care while ignoring the massive resources it takes to keep families together. And they’re not serious when they promise an overhaul that’s four years in the making and has produced absolutely no meaningful change.
This problem is deeply serious. This government’s solution is not.
Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario representing 5,000 child protection workers at 27 Children’s Aid Society agencies across the province.
