L.W. v. Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society, 2008 CFSRB 1

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

L.W.

v.

Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society

REASONS FOR DECISION

WRITTEN REVIEW

Date: January 25, 2008

Citation: 2008 CFSRB 1

Indexed as: L.W. v. Windsor-Essex CAS (CFSA s.68)

1L.W. (the “Applicant”) filed an application with the Child and Family Services Review Board (the “Board”) on December 18, 2007 pursuant to subsection 68.1(4)4 of the Child and Family Services Act R.S.O. 1990, c. C.11 (the “Act”) against the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society (the “Society”).

2The Applicant’s application was assessed and had been determined eligible for review by the Board on December 27, 2007. A Summary Reply was received from the Society on January 4, 2008. The Board is now at the stage of a written review.

3It appears to the Board that the Applicant’s specific complaint is that she wants her children back in her care. She alleges that she won her case in the Ontario Court of Justice and that the Society did not return the children to her as ordered by the judge.

4Enclosed with the Summary Reply from the Society is a copy of an interim Court Order dated October […], 2006, which stated that the Applicant, L.W. and the maternal grandmother, D.B., consented to an Order of Crown wardship without access and withdrew from the trial. The Applicant, at the time of the Court proceeding, was represented by counsel, Stephanie Johnson. The Society also enclosed a final Court Order dated January […], 2007, which stated that the children, J.P.A.B. and M.K.L.B., were made wards of the Crown and committed to the care and custody of the Society without access so as to facilitate adoption.

5The Board does not have jurisdiction to hear this application. The issue of the Applicant’s custody of her children was decided by the Court. Under subsection 68.1(8) of the Act, the Board cannot conduct a review of complaint if the matter is before the Court or has been decided by the Court. It reads as follows:

68.1(8) The Board shall not conduct a review of a complaint under this section if the subject of the complaint,

(a) is an issue that has been decided by the court or is before the court.

6Even if the Board had jurisdiction to hear this matter, it is clear from the material provided by the Society that the Court did not return the children into the Applicant’s care. The Applicant consented to the declaration of Crown wardship for her children. Consequently, the Society did not contravene the Court decision. For these reasons, the application is dismissed.

Ruth Ann Schedlich

Presiding Member