CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD
S.B.
v.
Children’s Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin
REASONS FOR DECISION
Date: December 19, 2011
Citation: 2011 CFSRB 49
Indexed as: S.B. v. Children’s Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin (the “Society”) (CFSA s.68)
INTRODUCTION
1S.B. the (“Applicant”), filed an application with the Child and Family Services Review Board (“Board”) pursuant to subsection 68.1(4) 4 and 5 of the Child and Family Services Act (“Act”) against the Children’s Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin (“Society”) on September 19, 2011.
2The Applicant alleges that the Society failed to hear her and failed to provide her with reasons for decisions that affect her interests. Her complaints are related to:
a) a four month investigation by the Society commencing in February 2011;
b) the doctor’s concerns regarding her mental health.
3The Society’s position was that the reasons for the Society’s involvement were reviewed regularly with the Applicant during the home visits.
4At the hearing on December […], 2012, the Society requested the opportunity to respond to the Applicant in writing and undertook to provide a detailed report in which all of the reasons for its decisions and actions would be provided to the Applicant.
BACKGROUND
5The Applicant is the mother of a son born […], 2011. After the birth of the child, the crisis unit psychiatrist at the [hospital] met with the Applicant and subsequently made a diagnosis of “psychosis”. He contacted the Society and as a result the Society launched an investigation due to child protection concerns.
6The investigation lasted for four months, during which time the Society found no protection concerns in the Applicant’s home and closed the file on June […], 2011.
ANALYSIS
7This application was made under section 68.1(4) 4 and 5 of the Act. Section 68.1 (4) of the Act gives the Board the authority to review the following:
68.1 (4) 4. Allegations that the society has failed to comply with clause 2 (2) (a);
68.1 (4) 5. Allegations that the society has failed to provide the complainant with reasons for a decision that affects the complainant’s interests.
2 (2) Service providers shall ensure,
(a) that children and their parents have an opportunity where appropriate to be heard and represented when decisions affecting their interests are made and to be heard when they have concerns about the services they are receiving;
8The Board may order the Society to provide written reasons for a decision pursuant to section 68.1(7)(d) of the Act.
9The Applicant believed that she was not a risk to her child, however the Society classified her case as a child protection concern and she was investigated for four months before the file was closed. The Applicant stated that she did not receive any explanations or clarifications from the Society. She believes that the investigation was unfair as the psychiatrist had reported that she was not a “risk”. She also had concerns regarding her classification in the Society’s records.
10The Society initiated settlement discussions and offered to provide the Applicant with the information that she requested, to include in the file history the Society’s decisions and the reasons for those decisions, as well as the applicable Child Protection Standards in Ontario, as they relate to the Applicant’s case. The Society is mandated under the Act to follow provincial standards which deal with referrals, investigations and transfers of files to ongoing services.
11The Applicant will submit in writing to the Society, all of her concerns regarding the process that she has identified relating to the four month investigation. That report will be placed in the Applicant’s closed Society file.
DECISION
12On consent of the parties, the Society has agreed to provide a written report detailing the reasons for all of its decisions which affected the Applicant during the four month child protection investigation which it launched in February 2011. The Society will provide the Applicant and the Board with the report by January 16, 2012 at which time the file will be closed.
Ruth Ann Schedlich
Presiding Member
Heather Hunter
Board Member
Lorna King
Board Member
Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 19th day of December, 2011.