The Children’s Aid Society is in trouble.
In Ottawa, members are currently on strike. The union cites deficits and burnout as just two reasons for the labour unrest.
On July 24, we learned how the situation is impacting the Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Aid Society.
They’ve been running a deficit for two years and counting. And now the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services is reeling them in, demanding a plan to get back in the black.
Seems somewhat strange to me, since the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care appears to be fine with Haliburton Highlands Health Services and other hospital services running a perennial deficit.
We’ve since learned KHCAS is not alone in facing financial challenges in delivering mandated services. Over half of child welfare agencies in the province were projecting deficits at the end of last fiscal year.
No one is denying they are in deficit, but let’s look at the reasons why.
In the past, when children had to be taken away from their biological parents for safety reasons, they were placed with extended family or in foster care. In the past, there were enough foster families to take them in. The numbers have dwindled, however, down about half in the KHCAS catchment area. With remuneration of just $50-a-day from the ministry, that does not cover enough of the expenses when faced with cost-of-living.
It’s forcing agencies such as KHCAS to use outside paid resources to house children, that are largely for-profit, and licensed by the ministry. They can cost between $400 and $2,600 a day. Not hard to figure out why CASs are running a deficit.
Why would the province allow for-profit residential care, rather than pay foster parents more?
But is it really about money?
A June report from the Financial Accountability Office laid bare that the Ford government is underspending on their own commitments to social services by a shocking $3.7 billion.
So, it’s not the Children’s Aid Society that is in trouble – it’s the provincial government.
Thanks to them, Haliburton is poised to lose CAS physical office space as of April 1, 2025. The agency will go cap-in-hand to other social service agencies – equally strapped – in the hopes of finding some shared space. They’ll also have to do the same – if not more work – with one fewer staff member.
I can only imagine how CAS workers must feel. Across the province, we’ve heard from OPSEU of workers crying in their cars, on stress leave, or terrified that a lack of resources will lead to a child’s death. They are the last line of defence for children and are dealing with chronic stress and not enough resources to do their jobs.
They are being forced to keep children in unsafe situations not because it’s what’s best for them but because they don’t have the resources to do anything else.
Haliburton County will figure it out. An agency will step forward to offer space. But, really, that’s just a Band-Aid. The government has the money, but just doesn’t seem to care.
