How CAS Assesses a Relative Before Placing a Child in Ontario

If a children's aid society (CAS) has asked you to take in a child, or you have offered, you may be wondering what happens next. You are likely a grandparent, aunt, uncle or family friend, and you may have little time and many questions about what the society will look at in your home and in your life.

This article explains the steps Ontario's rules set out for assessing a relative or community member as a caregiver. It describes the general process only. How it plays out depends on your situation and your society, so a lawyer can help you with your own case.

Who counts as a relative, extended family or community member

The Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA) defines a "relative" as the child's grandparent, great-uncle, great-aunt, uncle or aunt, including those relationships formed through a spousal relationship or adoption.

"Extended family" is wider. It means people the child is related to, including through a spousal relationship or adoption. For a First Nations, Inuk or Métis child, it also includes members of the bands and communities the child belongs to or identifies with.

You do not have to be related at all. A person who shares ethnic, cultural or creedal ties with the child, or who has a beneficial and meaningful relationship with the child or a related person, such as a family friend, can count as a member of the child's community.

When the kin evaluation rules apply

Sections 38 to 44 of O. Reg. 156/18 (Family and Community Placement) apply when a society has found that a child needs protection and cannot be adequately protected with the current caregiver, and the society proposes, or is told of, a plan to place the child with a relative or a member of the extended family or community.

You may also hear two labels from an older ministry policy directive. It distinguished "kinship service", for children who are not in a society's formal care, from "kinship care", for children who are in the society's formal care, and it required societies to apply the Ontario Kinship Service Standards from December 31, 2006. That directive dates from before the current Act, and the current assessment rules are in O. Reg. 156/18, ss. 38 to 44.

How these labels apply to your situation depends on the facts, so ask the society to explain what it is proposing and consider confirming it with a lawyer.

What the society must assess

The central question is whether you are "capable of providing the child with a safe home environment". To answer it, the society must do several things:

• Identify every person 18 or older living in the home and how each is related to the child.
• Interview you as the proposed caregiver.
• Meet privately with the child.
• Assess the home, including its physical features.
• Review society records for every adult in the home.

Expect questions about who lives with you, your routines, your relationship with the child and the parents, and the space you have. Honest, direct answers usually serve everyone best.

Record checks and timelines

The society must tell you about the police record check and offence declaration requirements and get your consent to disclosure. Within seven days of your consent, it must search the Child Protection Fast Track Information System and ask other jurisdictions for their records. Which offences or histories lead to a concern depends on the society's assessment, so raise anything you are worried about early with a lawyer.

Special cases

• Child already living with you: if the child is already with you when the society learns of it, the society must decide within seven days whether you are "providing the child with a safe home environment", then carry out the same checks on every adult in the home.
• First Nations, Inuk or Métis child: the society must consult the child's bands and communities before the kin-placement procedures begin. If it cannot, it must use best efforts to consult them after the procedures begin.
• You live outside the society's area: the society may refer the assessment to another Ontario society or ask an out-of-province child welfare authority for help.

The court also has a role. Before placing a child in society care on a temporary basis, it must consider whether placing the child with a relative or a member of the extended family or community is in the child's best interests. Before ordering a child removed, it must consider placing the child, with consent, with a relative, neighbour or other member of the child's community under a supervision order.

What to do next

• Ask the society which process applies to you and who your worker is.
• List every adult living in your home, with their relationship to the child.
• Be ready to consent to the record checks and to show the whole home, especially where the child would sleep.
• Keep notes of visits, dates and what you were told.
• If you are unsure about agreeing to anything, get independent advice first, because a consent is valid only if you are reasonably informed and have had a chance to get independent advice.
• Speak to a family lawyer if the society raises concerns, or if you want to understand your options such as custody.

Frequently asked questions