Child Protection Proceedings/Children’s Aid Matters

Child Protection matters are governed by the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA)
When a Child Protection Agency (Children’s Aid Society), determines that a child may or is at risk of harm while in the care of his/her current caregivers they will become involved with the family in order to ensure that the child is adequately protected.
There are three ways in which a Child’s Aid Society may become involved with a family:
1. Voluntary Service Agreements – A family may be given an option to work with a Children’s Aid Society on a voluntary basis.  If this happens the parties will enter into a voluntary service contract with terms relating to what each party will do to address the parenting concerns.  A Children’s Aid Society will monitor the family during this time however, the parties will not be part of a proceeding before the Court, and no Court order will be made relating to the family.  The contract will run until it expires or until the parties agree otherwise.  If the contract is breached by the family the Children’s Aid Society will likely seek the assistance of the Court and commence a Child Protection Application.
2. Supervision Order – A Court can make an order placing a child with a parent or other person under terms of supervision if the Court determines that a child is at risk of in his/her placement which requires the monitoring of a Children’s Aid Society.  If a family is having difficulties however these difficulties can be addressed without removing a child from his/her home then a supervision order may be ordered by the Court.  This is not necessarily a situation that a family will welcome but is preferable to having the child removed from the home and placed in foster care.  The Children’s Aid Society may feel that the problem can be dealt with my monitoring the family and recommending services such as counselling or having a third party/relative reside with the family during the terms of the order.
3. Society and Crown Wardship – a Children’s Aid Society may apprehend or remove a child from a family home if they believe that there are serious risks of harm to a child that cannot be addressed while the child remains in the care of his/her parents or caregivers.   This may be the case in situations where the parent/caregiver is believed to have a drug or alcohol problem or where there are concerns about the physical or other abuse of a child by someone in the home.  An apprehension may take place without a warrant if the agency feels there is an emergency situation, and if so the agency must have the case in front of a judge within five days of the apprehension of the child.
In some cases a child may be placed into foster care on a temporary basis while a parent/caregiver is given an opportunity to work with the Children’s Aid Society to address the issues relating to the protection concerns within that family.  Once the Court is satisfied that the parent/caregiver has adequately addressed these concerns and that there is no further risk of harm to the child the Court may consider the placement of the child back into the care of that parent/caregiver.  In other cases, a parent/caregiver may be determined not to be able to provide for a child and the child can be made a Crown Ward on a permanent basis wherein the child can be placed for adoption and a parent could lose all rights to the child.  Each case is different based upon the needs of a child.
Each lawyer at Mark Borden & Associates maintains a busy practice within this area of Child Protection.  Please contact our firm for any assistance that you may require as our firm is specifically trained to deal with these complicated and delicate matters.