A Day in the Life

Direction 4 of our Strategic Plan – Train and Equip all staff, foster parents and volunteers to deliver exceptional service.

The first person clients meet when they come to our Kingston or Napanee offices are our highly skilled reception workers. They perform a variety of tasks from answering phone calls and booking meeting rooms to arranging taxis for families who need them and finding someone to answer a client’s question. In this case, its parents who have come for a court ordered supervised visit while their child is in our care. Our reception worker notifies the staff member managing the access visit that the family has arrived. They are soon in one of our access rooms with their child or outside on our enclosed playground. Our lobbies are very busy places, but our reception staff always give each person the respect they deserve and the help they need.

Direction 3 of our Strategic Plan – In the role of the parent we are committed to every child in our care experiencing family based care.

A child has to come into our care. There’s a crisis at home and they can’t stay there. A worker who is responsible for finding them a foster home is now matching them to one of our foster families. Matching is critical to every placement. The better the match, the better the outcome. We take great care in trying to find the right home for each child, even if, as in many cases, the home is a temporary one before the child returns home, goes to extended family or is adopted. The worker reviews the child’s information – everything from their history and needs to their age and preferences. She then reviews available approved foster homes to find the right fit, including the foster family’s experience, skills and training. She then contacts the foster family to discuss the placement. Then the placement is made. But the work doesn’t end there. In the days ahead, the worker will follow up with the foster family with ongoing support. Agency staff, foster parents and other supports – we’re all on the same team to help this child find a safe and permanent home.

Direction 2 of our Strategic Plan – Find timely alternative permanent families for children that cannot stay in their family.

18 month old Henry is about to be adopted. He was born to two young parents with chronic drug addictions and a history of domestic violence. We placed him with a couple who were part of the mother’s extended family. They cared for Henry and did their best to maintain contact with the parents. At Family Court, a judge ruled that there would be too much risk for Henry to go back to the care of his parents. He became a Crown Ward. The couple that were taking care of him decided to adopt him. Now, with extended family and Agency staff looking on, a Family Court judge signs the papers giving Henry a new permanent home that he deserves. In court, the adoptive parents read a statement thanking the parents for bringing Henry into the world. They pledge that Henry will always know who his parents are and the story of how his extended family and our Agency helped him find a new place to call home.

Direction 4 of our Strategic Plan – Train and equip all staff to deliver exceptional service

The data we keep is important. It helps with our investigations and ongoing services. We’ve made great strides in our 122 year history converting to a digital platform, including recent changes to how we digitally store documents and the new Child Protection Information Network – an initiative to replace the separate information systems by the province’s 47 Children’s Aid Societies with a new, single system. Right now, one of our skilled IT staff is helping a new worker access a critical file that they need for a case. Our IT teams keeps our computers, networks and systems going round the clock so that when a worker needs something they get it as soon as possible – files, computers, software, telecommunications and more. The world is increasing becoming more connected, and so are we thanks to our IT team.

Direction 1 of Strategic Plan – Strengthening Families

A worker is meeting with a family in Sharbot Lake to create safety goals for their children. We serve two counties the size of Prince Edward Island. We have workers located in Sharbot Lake and Northbrook and others assigned to other rural areas. They drive thousands of kilometres every year to meet with families with diverse needs. Their job is more than just investigating. They’re there to strengthen that family. They listen, question and plan with families to create strategies that will keep their children safe. They also work with families to create a network of support – extended family, partner agencies and more – who can help them. Our workers are sharing ideas, making referrals and bringing everyone together to partner with the family to create a safe place for their children. Wherever you are in Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, we’re there, too, with services like these for families that need them.

Direction 1 of Strategic Plan – Strengthening Families

Every parent needs help, but some of the families we see need more help than others. Right now, a worker from our Enhanced Support Services team is meeting with parents in their home to help them learn skills to keep their kids safe. Team members provide a wide range of services to families including crisis support, helping parents and kids improve their relationships, assist teens in life skills development and more. They meet with families at their home or our offices, sometimes two or three times a week. In this case, the worker is teaching parents about how to better deal with the behavioural and emotional needs of their kids. This is important work that’s part of a bigger picture. Families like these receive help from a variety of Agency staff and volunteers as well as community partner agencies and their own network of extended family and friends. Together, they will help strengthen this family so that their challenges don’t turn into a crisis.

Direction 5 of Strategic Plan – Be Accountable and Efficient

A worker just gave a new client a copy of our complaint brochure. With the powers we have to keep kids safe comes a responsibility to be accountable. That starts with the brochure workers give to clients or that anyone can download from our website. Every Children’s Aid Society has a complaint system like ours. Clients start by talking to their workers. If they’re not satisfied, they can talk to a manager and so on until they reach an Internal Disputes Panel. At any time, they can go to the Child & Family Services Review Board, an independent tribunal, to file a complaint about the service they received. They also can contact the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, which has the legislative authority to conduct investigations into matters concerning a CAS. More information about the Child & Family Services Review Board and the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, as well as legal information our clients can use in dealing with us or with Family Court, is also available at our website.

Direction 1 of Strategic Plan – Make Client Engagement a core principle and activity in service delivery

We have a new way of thinking about the work we do. It’s our new service model framework, called Signs of Safety. It’s one of the world leading child welfare service model. It focusses on working with families to plan what needs to be done to keep kids safe. Right now, a worker is using Signs of Safety to map out a family’s strengths and goals. He’s using a whiteboard and a marker to list out what everyone is worried about, what is working well in that family and what needs to happen to keep kids safe. Later, he’ll share the map with the family and community partner agencies for their input. In some cases, there’s also a version that the kids can use to get their input as well. Together, they’ll build a roadmap to safety that everyone will understand and agree on. It’s a different way of thinking that engages and empowers families. And it works.

Direction 4 of our Strategic Plan – Train and equip all staff to deliver exceptional service

worker is using the new Child Protection Information Network System (CPIN) to identify a family receiving services. CPIN is a new single information network system designed to replace the separate systems operated by Children’s Aid Societies across Ontario. The system is being rolled out across the province, and our Agency was an early adopter when it switched over to CPIN in April. The change was more than just a new piece of software. It involved major changes to operating practices. We had to hire extra people while we trained staff – nearly 900 hours of training across 15 weeks. The simple search our worker is doing right now is the culmination of the work of hundreds of people across our Agency, other CAS’s and the Government of Ontario to build the best child welfare information network we can make. It will create better outcomes for families, better reporting and ultimately, more accountability.

Direction 3 of our Strategic Plan – In the role of the parent we are committed to every child in our care experiencing transition to independence

Abby is a Crown Ward who has been living in foster care since she was 11. She’s just about to turn 18, when she will begin the process of aging out of our care. Her worker and the supportive adults in her life have been discussing the day she will turn 18 with Abby for some time. They’ve been setting goals and making plans. Abby has had to do a lot of thinking. Her worker has been there supporting her along the way. Today, they’re signing an agreement for Abby to go to the Continued Care and Supports for Youth program. It provides financial and service supports through our Agency until Abby turns 21. More than a contract, it’s a plan that sets out Abby’s goals as she transitions to independence and includes everything from independent living to attending college to starting a job. It’s a lot to take in for someone who is just turning 18, but with her worker and her other supports helping her Abby will get where she needs to be.

Direction 5 of Strategic Plan – Be Accountable and Efficient - Enhanced fundraising capacity

Our college and university bursary program relies on fundraising. The government supports youth in our foster care system who want to get a post-secondary education, but it’s not enough. Without the bursaries we provide, many of them wouldn’t be able to go. The youth we serve have many strengths, but also many challenges that make them unique. They need our help. That’s why we actively seek donations to support our bursary fund. Earlier this year, we awarded $50,000 in bursaries to 23 youth – the most we’ve ever awarded in our 122 year history. While it seems like a lot, we know we need could do so much more if we had support from people like you. Go to our website for more information on how you can make a donation to bursaries or our other charitable programs.