CUPE Ontario and OPSEU’s child protection workers have organized a legislative petition calling for an immediate end to the use of unlicensed homes by Children’s Aid Societies (CAS).
Children and youth should never be forced to live in motels, hotels, CAS offices, or in tents because of a lack of resources. When child protection workers take children or youth into care, they are making a promise to that young person, their family, and community that they are going to be given all the supports and resources they need to not only be safe but thrive. The government is failing to live up to that promise. What’s worse, they are allowing for-profit providers to make money on the backs of children while funding for in-community mental health programs has dried up.
The petition urges the Ontario government to increase baseline funding for child welfare agencies, eliminate for-profit care, streamline licensing for care providers, and reinstate the Ontario Child Advocate to ensure vulnerable children receive the protection and care they deserve.
