KE v. The Children’s Aid Society of the District of Nipissing and Parry Sound, 2024 CFSRB 44

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

BETWEEN:

KE Applicant

-and-

The Children’s Aid Society of the District of Nipissing and Parry Sound Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Tamara Jordan Date: April 22, 2024 Citation: 2024 CFSRB 44 Indexed As: KE v The Children’s Aid Society of the District of Nipissing and Parry Sound (CYFSA s.120)

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

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”).

2The Applicant states that she and her husband were foster parents of the child, H (the “Child”) for approximately 13 months. The Applicant states that in mid-March 2023, the Respondent removed the Child from the Applicant’s home and placed the Child with kin.

3The Applicant complains about the circumstances surrounding the Respondent’s removal of the Child from her home, including impacts of the removal on the Applicant and other family members. The Applicant also complains about the way in which Respondent workers interacted with the Applicant in relation to the Child and other foster children unnamed in the Application.

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 decisions that affected your interests were made; and
• The Society did not give you reasons for its decisions that affect your interests.

5This decision explains why the Application is not eligible for review by the CFSRB.

ANALYSIS

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.

7Subsection 2(1) of the Act defines what constitutes a “service” under the Act. This includes:

(a) a service for a child with a developmental or physical disability or the child’s family, (b) a mental health service for a child or the child’s family, (c) a service related to residential care for a child, (d) a service for a child who is or may be in need of protection or the child’s family, (e) a service related to adoption for a child, the child’s family or others, (f) counselling for a child or the child’s family, (g) a service for a child or the child’s family that is in the nature of support or prevention and that is provided in the community, (h) a service or program for or on behalf of a young person for the purposes of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (Canada) or the Provincial Offences Act, or (i) a prescribed service; (“service”);

8For 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 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.

9Subsection 2(1) defines “foster care” as “the provision of residential care to a child, by and in the home of a person who…receives compensation for caring for the child” (with some exceptions irrelevant to the information provided in this Application). Foster parents generally provide residential care to children’s aid societies and Indigenous child and family well-being agencies but do not seek or receive services as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Act.

10The CFSRB has found, however, that foster parents may be in receipt of a service if they have been subject to a child protection investigation and they are seeking reasons for decisions made in that investigation under subsection 120(4)5 of the Act.

11In this Application, the Applicant describes that she provided services to the Respondent as a foster parent. There is no information in the Application that indicates that the Applicant was subject to a child protection investigation by the Respondent.

12While the Applicant alleges some serious concerns about the Respondent’s actions with the Applicant and her family, the Application does not support that the Applicant has sought or received a service as defined in the Act. Thus, the Application does not meet the first threshold test for eligibility under section 120(1) of the Act.

13For these reasons, the Application is ineligible for review by the CFSRB.

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.