BS v. Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society, 2024 ONCFSRB 143

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

BETWEEN:

BS Applicant

-and-

Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Caroline Sand Date: November 27, 2024 Citation: 2024 CFSRB 143 Indexed As: BS v Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society (CYFSA s.120)

Introduction

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

2The Applicant identifies as the main support and partner of the children’s father. She also identifies as a Registered Social Worker who has a duty to report concerns to the Respondent when observed. She alleges that the Society has not given her a chance to be heard when she has raised her concerns about the children. She claims her serious concerns about the children have been ignored.

3This decision explains why the Application is not eligible for review by the CFSRB.

Analysis

4In paragraph 6 of the Application, where an applicant identifies why they have applied to the CFSRB, the Applicant checked off the following boxes:

• The Society did not give you a chance to be heard when you raised your concerns.
• The Society did not follow its complaint review process or timelines.

The CFSRB Cannot Review a Non-Parent’s Complaints about Not Being Heard

5The first box checked by the Applicant relates to the right to be heard.

6Subsection 15(2) of the Act states:

Service providers shall ensure that children and young persons and their parents have an opportunity 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.

7Subsection 15(2) of the Act limits the right to be heard to “children and young persons and their parents.”

8As such, the CFSRB does not have the jurisdiction to review the Applicant’s complaints about not being heard by the Respondent.

The CFSRB Can Only Review Formal Complaints Made to the Society that comply with the Regulation

9The second box checked by the Applicant indicates the Society did not follow its complaint review process or timelines.

10Section 56 of Ontario Regulation 156/18 General Matters Under the Authority of the Minister (the “Regulation”) states:

A complaint to a society under subsection 119(1) of the Act must be made in the form entitled “Formal Complaint to a Society’s Internal Complaints Review Panel (ICRP)” and dated 2020/11, available on a website of the Government of Ontario.

11Subsection 119(2) of the Act requires that a complaint to a children’s aid society be made in the format set out in the Regulation. This includes the filing of a specific “Formal Complaint to a Society’s Internal Complaints Review Panel (ICRP)” form. Subsections 120(4)1, 120(4)2, and 120(4)3 of the Act permit the CFSRB to review the way a children’s aid society has dealt with a section 119 complaint only when the complaint is in the required format.

12The Applicant filed various correspondence between the Respondent and the children’s father. The Applicant did not file or provide information in her Application to support that she made a complaint to the Respondent in the form required by the Regulation.

13As such, the CFSRB lacks the jurisdiction to review whether the Respondent refused to proceed with the Applicant’s complaint.

ORDER

14The Application is dismissed.

Confidentiality Order

15Pursuant 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.