Failsafe LanarkAn Advocacy group formed by similar families and friends suffering the same scrutiny from the Children's Aid Society.(Sarah Laurin, Founder of Failsafe, 2009, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada)

• Cartoon of the Month
• Comments
• Contact
• Events
• Downloads
• Letters
• Links
• Mission Statement
• News
• Photo Gallery
• Press Coverage
• Promotions
• Support
• Testimonials
• Victims

Press Coverage

Here is some of some of the coverage we are getting from local and or national releases

Top Stories

• The Perth Courier, Oct. 13, 2009
  Local Woman Pushes for CAS Reform
  Laura Mueller
  Reporter/Photographer
  The Perth Courier
  laura.mueller@perthcourier.com
  Office: 613-267-1100 ext. 225
  
  The children’s aid society should be a resource to help keep families together, not tear them apart, says a Lanark Highlands Township mother whose child was removed from her home. Sarah, who asked to keep her last name private due to domestic violence issues with a former partner, is starting an advocacy group called Families Apart in Lanark, which she says will promote fairness and accountability of the Children's Aid Society of the County of Lanark and the Town of Smiths Falls, an organization she called “authoritative and impulsive.” Sarah said she feels the CAS has too much power and little accountability, since the Ontario Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction to oversee children’s aid societies. “They take your children away on allegations,” she said. “In my mind, it is a clear violation of Charter rights. “It has a disastrous effect on the family unit,” she said. Families Apart in Lanark could be the groundwork for a forum where people can access a support network outside of the CAS, Sarah said. A mentorship program is another dream; Sarah envisions partnerships where young mothers could pair up with experienced parents to share skills. “That is empowerment,” she said. She plans to launch a website soon, and is considering charging a small fee for membership that would be used to establish a legal fund to help families pay for lawyers to represent them in child protection court. Suzanne Geoffrion, the executive director of the Lanark children’s aid society, said, “I couldn’t agree with her more that the most harmful thing is separating a family,” adding that the safety of each child is the CAS’s top priority. Sarah said CAS workers removed her eight-year-old-daughter from her home in June due to what CAS workers deemed an unsafe environment created by Sarah’s ex-partner. The daughter is now living with Sarah’s parents. Sarah said the CAS removed her child without any attempt to offer counseling or resources to help her keep her family together and encourage strong parenting skills. Margo Bell, the community outreach co-ordinator for the Lanark children’s aid society, said the organization offers a lot of supportive programs for families and works to connect parents with other organizations and service agencies that can help families, such as the Ontario Early Years Centre, Tri-County Addiction Services and the health unit. Bell said she “would find it surprising” that a client wasn’t directed toward resources that would help her keep her child. Geoffrion said the CAS operates under strict conditions, including the Ontario Child Welfare Eligibility Spectrum, which are very clear in how child protection workers determine the seriousness of a situation. Information gathered in a child-welfare case must stand up to the scrutiny of child protection court. If a worker feels a child is unsafe in his or her home, a team including a manager and a supervisor meet to discuss the case before the child can be removed from the home. Sarah’s daughter’s case is just one occurrence in a long history of mishandled child welfare cases she has been involved with, Sarah said. She was the sole care provider for her ex-partner’s children when he was unable to care for them, even though the CAS deemed her unfit to supervise her own children, she said. She said the CAS provided documents containing her address to her ex-partner, whom she had a restraining order against. Sarah said she has initiated most of her contact with the CAS, because she has approached the organization for help several times while dealing with a stepson who abused her daughter. She has 16 incidences on her case file, and while she said nine or 10 of them are times she requested assistance from the CAS, the number of incidences – not the reason behind each call – is being held against her in her current situation with her daughter. “I contacted them for advocacy and they backstabbed me,” she said. “I have been ignored by the CAS ... why did they let me slip through the cracks?” The local CAS served 450 families in 2006/07, with 140 children in care. It received 706 calls that required no investigation and 520 cases were closed because no further protection was needed. Forty full-time child protection workers work an average of 20 open files at a time, Geoffrion said, which is close to the provincial average. Oversight for children’ aid societies lies with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, which is responsible for conducting Crown ward reviews, service and financial reviews, licensing foster care and residential programs and reviewing fatality and serious incidence reports. In all other provinces but Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario, the ombudsman can review child welfare agencies, a point of contention that was highlighted in a June report delivered by Ontario Ombudsman, Andre Marin. In reference to the MUSH sector (municipalities, universities, school boards, hospitals and long-term care homes, children’s aid societies, and police), he stated: “Ontario continues to lag far behind other provinces in allowing Ombudsman oversight of these areas, which consume the bulk of government spending.” In June of 2008, Queen’s Park heard the first reading of a private member’s bill (Bill 93) tabled by Hamilton East MPP Andrea Horwath. The bill aims to allow the ombudsman to investigate children’s aid societies. CAS records are not available to the public, since they are private corporations, and most information is kept strictly confidential to protect children’s safety and privacy, Geoffrion said. “Unfortunately it hides our work," she said. “It mystifies it a bit.” Sarah sees it another way. She says the tight privacy controls are a way for the CAS to hide its operations from public scrutiny. “Why are they hiding?” she asked. “They are putting it under the guise of the rights of the child ... abusers use fear and secrets, and it’s the same thing the CAS uses.” The Child and Family Services Act, which governs children’s aid societies, requires that each children’s aid society has a complaint procedure to allow clients to express concerns. If you are interested in joining or learning more about Families Apart in Lanark, contact Sarah through Rev. Shirley Abrahamse Bradley at 613-267-4652, or by calling 613-257-1215
• EMC News,
  CAS Needs to Be More Accountable
  Chris Must
  Staff Writer EMC News
  EMC News – The founder of a local advocacy group is lending her support to a private member’s bill that would allow the Ontario Ombudsman’s office to investigate complaints against the Children’s Aid Society. Perth area resident Sarah Laurin founded FAILSAFE (Families Apart in Lanark County Supporting Advocacy, Fairness and Empowerment) last fall because, she said, “there is no recourse for complaints.” NDP Member of Provincial Parliament Andrea Horwath has introduced a private member’s bill which would give the Ontario Ombudsman the authority “to investigate systemic complaints and problems plaguing children’s aid societies across Ontario.” Horwath, the NDP critic for child and youth services, told the provincial legislature in 2006 that “nearly every province in Canada allows for independent oversight – except Ontario.” According to Horwath, Canadian Ombudsmen first identified child welfare as their top investigative priority in 1986, and eight provinces now have their child welfare system accountable to an impartial legislative officer. Horwath’s private member’s bill, Bill 93, has been a rallying point for groups fighting for more accountability and transparency in the organizations that attend to child welfare. Currently Ontario’s Children’s Aid Societies fall under the category of institutions beyond the reach of the province’s Ombudsman – along with hospitals, police, school boards, universities, municipalities and long-term care facilities. Ombudsman Andre Marin said in his 2008-2009 report there were 429 complaints about Children’s Aid Societies made to his office that year which his office was “forced to turn away.” In the report Marin stated: “All we need is for the government of Ontario to extend this office’s limited mandate.” “It’s always good for there to be checks and balances in place,” said Sheila Stanfield, service director for the Children’s Aid Society of the County of Lanark. “We certainly have no issue with that.” Stanfield said the local CAS has an internal complaint review panel. “There are times when issues arise because of our role as Children’s Aid Society workers, which is a difficult one,” she said. Complaints first go to the internal complain review panel. The panel consists of three people, one of which has to be a person who is not a CAS worker and has no specific knowledge about or involvement in the case. The panel’s role, said Stanfield, is to determine whether the CAS has followed the policies, procedures and regulations “we’re bound by under the Child and Family Services Act.” The panel cannot review an matters which are currently before the courts. If the complainant is not satisfied with the review panel’s decision, he or she has the right to ask the Child and Family Services Review Board, which oversees all Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario, for a hearing. Laurin said the fact the CAS is overseen by and accountable to a private board is a situation that lends itself to secrecy. “Secrecy is insidious,” she said. “At the end of the day, CAS workers are people first and people make mistakes.” The local advocate’s personal interest in the issue stems from her own battle with the local agency. The CAS, she said, has been “involved with my family on numerous occasions over the years.” The series of events which prompted her to found an advocacy group began in 2009 when her daughter was removed from her care. Although the removal was intended to be temporary, Laurin’s daughter has still not returned home. According to Laurin, her difficulties began because “there was a lady down the road who took a disliking to me and made an anonymous complaint.” Although she acknowledges that there are cases in which parents should not have custody of their children and that the CAS should certainly be involved, there are many other cases where the issues are not so clear cut. “What’s left in most cases is a bigger problem than what they went in there for in the first place,” said Laurin. “It’s a system that needs to be fixed.” “It just amazes me how they can tear these families apart,” said Jewel Purdon, a Perth resident who is also a member of FAILSAFE. “These families have nowhere to go.” Purdon said when agencies intervene in family situations, one parent – usually the husband – is forced to leave the home, which leaves a single mother without the financial resources to cope. Laurin said she has tried to learn more about the agency by applying for a $10 membership, “but they won’t let me become a member.” She added that she has received no response to a request she made in early February to review meeting minutes. Laurin said agencies like the CAS need to understand the dynamics of the community they’re dealing with. “What we have now is a one size fits all system, and it’s not a one size fits all scenario.” She also believes that families in trouble need more guidance about community resources that could help them with their problems. Laurin said her own case has been resolved, but she wants to ensure that what happened to her doesn’t happen to others. “They’re out of my hair but that doesn’t mean I’m going away,” said Laurin. “There are too many people who need my help.” FAILSAFE meets every second Tuesday at the Salvation Army Family Centre at 40 North St. in Perth at 7 p.m. The group also has a new website at www.fairsafelanark.org, and will be posting relevant media articles on a weekly basis. “It will be a safe forum where people can give their views,” said Laurin. “It’s not always about slamming the CAS; it’s about overseeing it.” The group also hopes to raise funds for a benevolent fund that can provide donations to help families. Sarah Laurin can be contacted at slaurin2009@gmail.com.