DM v. Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, 2024 CFSRB 85

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

BETWEEN:

DM Applicant

-and-

Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Tamara Jordan Date: August 08, 2024 Citation: 2024 CFSRB 85 Indexed As: DM v Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville (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 grandmother of three children (the “Children”) named in the Application. The Applicant has made referrals to the Respondent relating to concerns about the Children’s safety. She complains that the Respondent has not provided her with contact information for Respondent workers involved with the Children or follow up information related to her referrals.

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 her a chance to be heard when she raised her concerns or when decisions that affected her interests were made, the Respondent did not give her reasons for decisions that affected her 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. 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.

8There is no information in the Application that demonstrates that the Applicant herself has sought or received from the Respondent any service as defined in the Act. She has made referrals to the Respondent related to her grandchildren.

9Thus, the Application does not meet the first threshold test for eligibility under section 120(1) of the Act.

10I further note that complaints related to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by children’s aid societies is governed by Part X of the Act and must be made to the Information and Privacy Commissioner. The CFSRB cannot hear these complaints.

11For these reasons, the Application is ineligible for review by the CFSRB.

ORDER

12The Application is dismissed.

CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER

13Pursuant 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.