BM v. Family and Children’s Services Niagara, 2024 CFSRB 72

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

BETWEEN:

BM

Applicant

-and-

Family and Children’s Services Niagara

Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Tamara Jordan

Date: June 24, 2024

Citation: 2024 CFSRB 72

Indexed As: BM v Family and Children’s Services Niagara (CYFSA s.120)

OVERVIEW

1This is an Application filed with the Child and Family Services Review Board (“CFSRB”) under section 120 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c.14, Sched.1 (the “Act”).

ISSUE

2The issue is:

a. Is the Application eligible for review by the CFSRB?

RESULT

3The CFSRB finds that the Application is not eligible for review.

ANALYSIS

4The Applicant is the grandfather of a child (the “Child”) named in the Application. The Applicant complains about services the Respondent provided or failed to provide to the Child and her parents, legal steps taken by the Respondent related to the Child, and concerns about visits between the Child and family members.

5At section 6 of the Application (where an applicant checks boxes to identify why they are applying to the CFSRB), the Applicant alleges that the Respondent did not give him a chance to be heard when he raised his concerns or when decisions that affected his interests were made, the Respondent did not give him reasons for decisions that affected his interests, and the Respondent did not follow its complaint review process or timelines.

6Subsection 120(1) of the Act states that, if a person has “a complaint in respect of a service sought or received from a society” and the complaint “relates to a matter described in subsection (4), the person who sought or received the service may decide” to make a complaint to either the society or the CFSRB.

7For a complaint to be eligible for review by the CFSRB under section 120 of the Act, an applicant must meet two threshold tests. First, an applicant must demonstrate that they have sought or received a service, as defined under subsection 2(1) of the Act, from a children’s aid society or Indigenous child and family well-being agency. Once that is established, then the CFSRB must determine whether the applicant’s complaint set out in their application relates to the service they sought or received.

8Although it appears that the Applicant provides support to his daughter (the Child’s mother) and the Child in their receipt of services from the Respondent, there is no information in the Application that demonstrates that he himself has sought or received from the Respondent any service as defined in the Act.

9As the Application does not support that the Applicant has sought or received a service from the Respondent, it does not meet the first threshold test for eligibility under section 120(1) of the Act.

10For these reasons, the Application is ineligible for review by the CFSRB.

ORDER

11The Application is dismissed.

CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER

12Pursuant to Rules 9.3 and 9.4 of the CFSRB’s Rules of Procedure, parties and their representatives must not use, share, discuss or disclose any CFSRB documents or decisions or any other documents or information provided or used in this Application with anyone, including through the media or online. The CFSRB prohibits the use of any of this information for any purpose outside of the CFSRB’s proceedings, except with an order of the Court or the CFSRB, as appropriate.