J.G. v. Jewish Family and Child Service of Greater Toronto, 2010 CFSRB 45

J.G.

Jewish Family and Child Service of Greater Toronto

REASONS FOR DECISION

WRITTEN REVIEW

Date: October 15, 2010

Citation: 2010 CFSRB 45

Indexed as: J.G. v. Jewish Family and Child Service of Greater Toronto (CFSA s.68)

INTRODUCTION

1J.G. (the “Applicant”) filed an application with the Child and Family Services Review Board (the “Board”) on August 31, 2010 pursuant to subsection 68.1(4) of the Child and Family Services Act (the “Act”) against Jewish Family and Child Service of Greater Toronto (the “Society”).

2In the application to the Board, the Applicant raises concerns about the removal of her niece and nephew from her kinship foster home, by the Society. She complains that:

the Society has refused to proceed with her complaint in this respect,
the Society has failed to comply with clause 2(2)(a) of the Act which states that “Service providers shall ensure 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”, and
the Society has failed to provide her with reasons for a decision and this affects her interests.

3The Board determined on September 7, 2010 that the application was eligible for review under section 68.1 (4) subsection 5. This means that on its face, the application was appropriate to move on to the next stage of the process which is the submission of a summary reply from the Society.

4The Society filed a summary reply on September […], 2010, in which it set out its position that the Applicant is not eligible to launch a complaint under this section because she is not a person who has sought services from the Society. Rather, she has provided service to the Society in the form of an in-care kinship foster home.

5The Board finds that there is sufficient material before it to conduct a written review of the application, including the endorsement and the order of Justice Brownstone dated September […], 2009.

6The issue before the Board is whether the Applicant is eligible to apply to the Board under section 68.1 (4) 5 of the Act.

7For the reasons that follow, the Board finds that the Applicant is not eligible to apply to the Board for consideration of her complaint.

8The relevant sections of the Act are as follows:

68.1 (1) If a complaint in respect of a service sought or received from a society relates to a matter described in subsection (4), the person who sought or received the service may

(a) decide not to make the complaint to the society under section 68 and make the complaint directly to the Board under this section...

68.1 (4) The following matters may be reviewed by the Board under this section

Allegations that the society has failed to provide the complainant with reasons for a decision that affects the complainant’s interests.

BACKGROUND

9The Applicant is the maternal aunt of T., born in May of 2008, and J., born in June of 2009. T. is a crown ward without access, by Order of Justice Brownstone dated September […], 2009, which was filed with the Board. J. was made a Society ward, by the same Order of Justice Brownstone on September […], 2010.

10T. was apprehended from his mother, the Applicant’s sister, on approximately December […], 2008, and lived with the Applicant from that time until August, 2010. J. was found to be in need of protection on September […], 2010 and was also residing with the Applicant until August, 2010.

11The Society’s letter to the Applicant dated August […], 2010, was filed with the Board. That letter explains that the Society removed both children from the Applicant’s care as a kinship foster home on August […], 2010 because of safety issues relating to the Applicant’s parents.

ANALYSIS

12The Board’s jurisdiction to deal with any application is set out by statute and all of the requirements must be met before the Board has jurisdiction over a matter.

13The Applicant’s complaint relates to the removal of the children from her home. There are three ways under the Child and Family Services Act in which persons may apply for review of a decision or Society action to the Board:

a person has been a foster parent to a crown ward for two years (s.61.(8))
a person has applied to adopt a child (s.144.(3))
a person has sought or received a service from a children’s aid society (s.68.1(1))

14The Applicant has not applied to adopt T., nor has T. lived with her for two years. J. is not free for adoption. J. is not a crown ward. She has been living with the Applicant for less than two years and thus s. 61 does not apply in her case. Therefore, the only manner in which the Applicant may seek to apply to the Board, is under s.68.1(4), as a person who sought or received services from the Society.

15Section 68.1 (1) sets out the jurisdiction of the Board to hear complaints, and provides that complaints may be made to the Board “in respect of a service sought or received from a society”.

16The term “service” pursuant to the Act is clearly defined as follows:

“service” means,

(a) a child development service,

(b) a child treatment service,

(d) a community support service, or

(e) a youth justice service.

The terms within the definition are also defined in the Act and they read as follows:

“child development service” means a service for a child with a developmental disability or physical disability, for the family of a child with a developmental disability or physical disability, or for the child and the family.

“child treatment service” means a service for a child with a mental or psychiatric disorder, for the family of a child with a mental or psychiatric disorder, or for the child and the family.

“child welfare service” means,

(a) a residential or non-residential service, including a prevention service,

(b) a service provided under Part III (Child Protection),

(d) individual or family counseling;

“community support service” means a support service or prevention service provided in the community for children and their families;

“youth justice service” means a service provided under Part IV (Youth Justice) or under a program established under that Part”

“residential service” is further defined and means boarding, lodging and associated supervisory, sheltered or group care provided for a child away from the home of a child’s parent, …………….

17The Board has found in previous decisions that foster parents are not persons who receive a service from the Society, but rather provide services to a Society (see R.W. and Ro.W. v. CAS of Toronto (CFSA s.68), 2007 CFSRB 10, and D.P. v. Family, Youth and Child Services of Muskoka, 2007 CFSRB 11 regarding an agency providing residential services for a Society ward).

18The Applicant has recognized in her application that her niece and nephew were removed from her “kinship foster home” by the Society. The Applicant never sought or received services from the Society for herself, but was actually a service provider for the Society.

CONCLUSION

19Since the Applicant has not been a foster parent to a child for two years, has not applied to adopt a child, and is not a person who has sought a service from a children’s aid society, she does not fall within the categories of persons under the Act who are eligible to apply for a hearing to the Board.

20As a result, the Board is unable to review this application.

Heather Gibbs

Presiding Member

Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 15th day of October, 2010