CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD
BETWEEN:
SB
Applicant
-and-
Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society
Respondent
DECISION
Adjudicator: Tracy Foster
Indexed As: SB v Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society (CYFSA s.120)
OVERVIEW
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 is the grandfather of a child who is receiving services from the Respondent. The child has been placed with a kinship caregiver by the Respondent. The Applicant complains that the Respondent has not heard his concerns regarding the child’s caregiver and that the Respondent did not proceed with his complaint.
3This decision explains why the Application is not eligible for review by the CFSRB.
ISSUE
4The issue is:
a. Is the Application eligible for review by the CFSRB?
RESULT
5The CFSRB finds that the Application is not eligible for review.
ANALYSIS
6In 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 give you reasons for its decisions that affect your interests.
The Society refused to proceed with your complaint.
The CFSRB cannot review a non-parent’s complaints about not being heard
7The Applicant checked off the first box which relates to the right to be heard, Section 120(4)4 of the Act. Section 120(4)4 defines complaints that the CFSRB may review: “Allegations that the society has failed to comply with subsection 15(2).” Subsection 15(2) of the Act limits the right to be heard to “children and young persons and their parents.”
8The Applicant is not the parent of the child.
The CFSRB cannot review a complaint from an applicant who has not sought or received a service from a children’s aid society
9There was no evidence filed to demonstrate that the Applicant sought or received a “service” from the Respondent as defined by subsection 2(1) of the Act,
10Subsection 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.
11Subsection 2(1) of the Act defines service as:
(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 (this refers to any other service as defined by the Regulations, of which there are none).
12For 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. If that is established, the CFSRB must, second, determine whether the applicant’s complaint set out in their application relates to the service they sought or received. If an applicant does not meet the first threshold test, the CFSRB is not required to consider the substance of the complaint.
13The Applicant has not received or sought a “service” as defined under the Act. Therefore, the Application does not meet the first threshold test for a section 120 review.
14Based on the above reasons, the CFSRB does not have jurisdiction to review the Application.
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.
Tracy Foster
Tracy Foster
Member