Complaints, Compliments & Feedback
Providing quality service for children, youth, and families is very important to us. If you have a concern or complaint about the services you have received from the Children’s Aid Society, we want to hear about them. Our hope is to work together with you to resolve concerns and improve our service.
If you have a complaint, concern, question or feedback about services you have received from the Children’s Aid Society, there are several ways to be heard. Talk to the caseworker who is helping you or the caseworker’s supervisor. They have the most in-depth knowledge to answer your questions about the service and can work with you to find a resolution. If the concern is not resolved with the caseworker and/or supervisor, you can ask to involve a manager.
If your concern has not been resolved to your satisfaction, or if you do not want to first speak to a staff member involved with your or your family, you can request a formal review of your complaint using the following options:
The York Region Children’s Aid Society welcomes, values, and encourages feedback from children, youth, and families regarding the care that children and youth are receiving while in an out-of-home placement. If you have a concern or complaint, we want to hear from you so that we can work to find a solution.
Who can make a complaint?
The child or youth themselves.
The parent of a child or youth or other person representing them.
Anyone affected by conditions, limitations, or suspension of visitors to a child in a place of temporary detention, open or secure custody.
How do I complain?
Complaints can be made verbally or in writing to:
- A foster parent or resource home staff member, either privately or in the presence of other children or youth.
- To any Society staff member.
What happens after I make a complaint?
You will be supported by a member of our staff who is not the subject of the complaint. This may be your Worker, but it may also be their Supervisor or another staff member if they’re unable to support. Once they have received a complaint about your care/treatment or a violation of your rights, they will contact you within 24 hours to determine whether there are any immediate steps that can be taken and how to support you through the complaint process.
After receiving your complaint, your Worker will take the following steps:
- Listen to you and document your complaint
- Understand if your complaint is related to your rights
- Meet with you and anyone else who is involved
- Develop a plan to address your complaint
- After a plan is developed, your Worker will hold meetings with:
- The person who is the subject of the complaint
- You and your support person
- Anyone else involved, if necessary
- The plan and next steps will be shared with you and your placement and documented in your case file. Our role is to ensure that everyone involved understands the next steps.
- Once the plan is in place, your Worker will speak with you to see how it is working.
We will provide you or the person who made the complaint on your behalf with an update every 15 days or when requested until the complaint is resolved.
If it is determined that your rights were violated, we will take steps to prevent this from happening again.
If the complaint is about a placement that is not managed by the York Region Children’s Aid Society, the complaint will be shared with the service provider providing out-of-home care to the child or youth. The service provider will be required to complete the complaint review process and notify the Society of the outcome(s) when completed.
Write a letter to the Children’s Aid Society that includes details of your concerns or complete the Formal Complaint to a Society’s Internal Complaints Review Panel (ICRP) form.
Send your concerns to:
York Region Children’s Aid Society
Internal Complaints Review Panel
16915 Leslie Street
Newmarket, ON L3Y 9A1
Fax: (905) 895-2113
Email: feedback@yorkcas.org
We know that it can be difficult to put your concerns in writing and the Children’s Aid Society can provide you with help to write the letter or complete the form. Email us at feedback@yorkcas.org.
Within 7 days of receiving your letter or form, you will be contacted and advised if the Children’s Aid Society’s Internal Complaint Review Panel will be reviewing your concerns.
If the Internal Complaint Review Panel will be reviewing your concerns, you will be invited to a meeting to share your concerns with the Panel. The meeting will be held within 14 days of your letter or form being received. You are welcome to bring support persons with your, as well as a representative of your Band or Indigenous community.
Within 10 days of the meeting with the panel, a letter will be sent to you with the review panel’s decision.
You can also make a complaint to the Child and Family Services Review Board at any time. This means that a complaint can be made directly to the Child and Family Services Review Board either before or during involvement with the Children’s Aid Society’s Internal Complaint Review Panel.
To submit an application to the Child and Family Services Review Board, complete Form 2: Application about Complaints Against a Children’s Aid Society (available here CFSRB: Forms & Filing | Tribunals Ontario) and send to:
Child and Family Services Review Board
15 Grosvenor Street, Ground Floor
Toronto, ON M7A 2G6
Toronto Area: 416-327-0111
Long Distance: 1-888-777-3616
TDD/TTY: Call the Bell Relay Service at 1-800-855-0511
Email: cfsrb@ontario.ca
Website: tribunalsontario.ca/cfsrb/
York Region Children’s Aid Society is committed to promoting privacy and protecting the confidentiality of the personal information we hold about the children, youth, and families we work with.
For more information about how York Region Children’s Aid Society protects your privacy, refer to our Notice of Information Practices. If you have any questions or concerns about our information practices, we encourage you to ask your case worker to find out more about privacy and your family.
If your privacy questions have not been answered or issues not resolved to your satisfaction, you have the right to make a formal privacy complaint in writing to our Privacy Officer at privacy.officer@yorkcas.org.
If, after contacting us, you feel that your concerns have not been addressed to your satisfaction, you have the right to complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, who is responsible for making sure that privacy laws are followed in Ontario:
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8
Phone: 416-326-3333 or 1-800-387-0073
TDD/TTY: 416-325-7539
Fax: 1-416-325-9195
E-mail: info@ipc.on.ca
Website: ipc.on.ca
The Ontario Ombudsman’s Office can also take complaints about services received from a Children’s Aid Society. The Ombudsman has created dedicated units of specialized staff to answer questions, address concerns, conduct investigations, and review complaints:
Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario
483 Bay Street
10th floor, South Tower
Toronto, ON M5G 2C9
Toll-free (inside Ontario only): 1-800-263-1830
Outside Ontario: 416-586-3300
TTY (teletypewriter): 1-866-411-4211
Fax: 416-586-3485
Email: info@ombudsman.on.ca
Website: ombudsman.on.ca
Learn more about your right to complain to a Children’s Aid Society at Submit a complaint about child welfare services | Ontario.ca.
