The new executive director of the Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society (KHCAS) visited Haliburton last Wednesday (July 15) to meet with agency staff and Point in Time.
The Highlander asked Amanda BakerColacicco about a tumultuous time for the organization. In 2024, it was announced KHCAS would no longer have a physical office in Haliburton and would lose one full-time staff member. Shortly after, the province appointed a temporary supervisor, saying it no longer had confidence in the society’s ability to address operational issues and a growing deficit. The board resigned the same day.
Rosaleen Cutler was appointed supervisor, and later interim executive director. A new board was appointed last November. Cutler determined maintaining an office in Haliburton was a good plan, and while there was a job loss across the agency, she said it did not affect the Haliburton office.
Baker-Colacicco started June 15.
“My meeting with our staff this morning was really just to get a sense of what their day-to-day is like in service delivery. Service delivery in the different parts of our jurisdictional area look different, and require different partnerships – and just to get a sense from them how this time period has gone for them; what are their perspectives on things now; what I need to be aware of coming into my role,” she said in an interview.
The new ED added the organization is going into a strategic planning period, so she wanted to hear from long-standing staff members “of a team I am just joining. People were open, but equally excited and hopeful about the opportunities.”
She was asked about the uniqueness of Haliburton County, including higher poverty rates, and said while she is still becoming acclimated to the circumstances of the community, she was aware of high poverty rates, particularly high child poverty rates, “which for our service delivery is so relevant.”
She discussed, “a risk of maltreatment because of some of the systemic barriers that families may face and the stressors that can put on a family system.
“Our staff here do see different circumstances, not only because of the systemic realities but also what they have available to them in terms of resources spanning across a large jurisdictional area.”
Community partnerships
She said that in meeting with Point in Time, they chatted about working together to meet challenging needs, such as public transportation, or getting multiple services in one place at one time.
She feels being “quite” connected to community partners is important, noting she is new, but staff have been on the ground here for several years.
“Families and young people are facing a myriad of challenges, and it’s not just one phone call that’s going to make the difference. It’s often a partnership of service provision.”
Asked if staffing is keeping up with demand, Baker-Colacicco said the agency has been hiring. There are three protection staff in the Haliburton office and a manager who also oversees some staff in Lindsay. That is down from a receptionist, six staff, and a manager over the years.
But Baker-Colacicco said, “If we didn’t have enough staff to meet the service need, we would need to address that.”
She added, “generally speaking, the service volumes have trended down in child welfare. But, the circumstances that children, young people and families are facing in communities are increasingly complex.”
As for reassuring the community about the CAS presence going forward, BakerColacicco said “our services are critical to communities and our services are mandated.”
Speaking to finances, she said the KHCAS budget is not yet balanced. “And we don’t project to be in the near term.” She added the new board is still in a rebuilding stage, and looking for more members.
“We do not, at present, have board director representation from this part of our community, so I would love to hear the voice of Haliburton at our board table. That would be really meaningful.
“I believe in the future of KHCAS. I’m excited about the future of the organization. I believe it’s been a difficult couple of years, both for the organization, the impact on the community, and on our service recipients.”
