CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD
BETWEEN:
BLL
Applicant
-and-
Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region
Respondent
DECISION
Adjudicator: Caroline Sand
Indexed As: BLL v Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region
(CYFSA s.120)
Introduction
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 filed a complaint with the Board in response to the Society’s decision to close the Applicant’s foster home.
3This decision explains why the Application is not eligible for review by the CFSRB.
the law
4Section 119(1) of the Act states:
A person may make a complaint to a society relating to a service sought or received by that person from the society in accordance with the regulations.
5Section 120(1) of the Act states:
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 119 and make the complaint directly to the Board under this section; or
(b) where the person first makes the complaint to the society under section 119, submit the complaint to the Board before the society’s complaint review procedure is completed.
6Section 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.
analysis
7In 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 reasons for its decisions that affect your interests.
The Society did not follow its complaint review process or timelines
8The Applicant was providing a service for the Society as a foster parent operating a foster home, and as such, she was providing a service, and not seeking or receiving a service.
9Further, Section 119(2) of the Act requires complaints to a children’s aid society be in the specific format set out in the Regulation, i.e., on the “Formal Complaint to a Society’s Internal Complaints Review Panel (ICRP)” form. Sections 120(4)1, 120(4)2 and 120(4)3 of the Act permit a CFSRB review of the way in which the children’s aid society has dealt with a section 119 complaint only if the complaint to the children’s aid society is in the required format. In this case, the Applicant has not made a complaint to the Respondent on the required form.
10The Applicant did not file or provide information in their Application to support that they made a complaint to the Respondent in the form required by the Regulation.
11For the above reasons, the CFSRB lacks jurisdiction to review the Application.
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.
Dated at Toronto, September 18, 2024.
Caroline Sand
Caroline Sand
Vice-Chair