RG v Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County, 2019 CFSRB 85

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

BETWEEN:

RG

Applicant

-and-

Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County

Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Catherine Bickley

Date: December 04, 2019

Citation: 2019 CFSRB 85

Indexed As: RG v Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County (CYFSA s.120)

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County, Respondent

Olivia Rebeiro, Counsel

Introduction

1On October 3, 2019, the Applicant filed an Application under section 120 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c.14, Sched.1, (the “Act”).

2The Child and Family Services Review Board (“CFSRB”) found the Application eligible to proceed under subsections 120(4)4 and 120(4)5 of the Act.

3In its October 17, 2019 Summary Reply, the Respondent challenged the CFSRB’s jurisdiction to review the Application. The Respondent submits the Applicant’s “concerns with society’s services are issues she has placed before the Ontario Court of Justice”.

4An October 22, 2019 Case Management Direction directed the parties to make written submissions on the jurisdictional issue no later than November 5, 2019. The Respondent made submissions. The Applicant did not make submissions by the deadline or at any time up to the date of this decision.

5For the reasons set out below, I find that the Application must be dismissed as the allegations in the Application concern issues that have been decided by the court or are before the court.

the law

6Subsection 120(8)(a) of the Act states:

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.

analysis

7The Court of Appeal for Ontario held in Children’s Aid Society of Waterloo v. D.D., 2011 ONCA 441 (“D.D.”) that the mere existence of a child protection proceeding does not automatically bar the CFSRB from reviewing a complaint about the services an individual has received from a children’s aid society. The Court in D.D. above, at para. 35 also held that where service complaints are “separate and different from the substantive issues before the court”, the CFSRB may review the complaints.

8The Applicant’s son has been in the care of his paternal grandfather since August 2018. The Respondent is seeking a custody order placing the child with the paternal grandfather on an ongoing basis. The next scheduled court date is December 11, 2019.

9The Applicant’s September 16, 2019 affidavit in the Ontario Court of Justice proceeding lists concerns she has with the Respondent’s staff with a particular focus on one worker. I agree with the Respondent’s submission that the concerns are “strikingly similar” to those in the CFSRB Application.

10For example, the Application states:

Danielle once told me “It was my fault that I was abused because I chose these men”.

11Paragraph 13 of the September 16, 2019 affidavit includes the following:

On or about March 23, 2018, my worker, Danielle …, told me it was “[my] fault that I had been abused because [I] chose these men.”

12Much of the Application is about the behaviour of the paternal grandfather. His behaviour and his suitability to care for the child is before the court. Further, the Applicant included her concerns about the paternal grandfather in her September 16, 2019 affidavit.

13Finally, as part of the Application, the Applicant filed a September 19, 2019 letter she wrote to the judge in the child protection proceeding. The Application repeats many of the allegations in that letter about the behaviour of the paternal grandfather and the Respondent’s staff.

14For these reasons, I conclude that the allegations in the Application are not separate and different from the substantive issues before the court. Accordingly, the Application is outside the CFSRB’s jurisdiction.

order

15The Application is dismissed.

confidentiality order

16Pursuant 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.