Status Review in an Ontario CAS Case: Changing a Protection Order

If a court has found that your child needs protection and made a supervision order or an interim society care order, that order is not necessarily the last word. Ontario law has a process, called a status review, that lets the court look at the order again and decide whether it should change.

This article explains in plain terms who can start a status review, when the Children's Aid Society must do it, the deadlines for a parent's response, and what the court can decide. It is general information, not advice about your case, and a lawyer can tell you how it applies to your facts.

What a status review is and who can bring one

A status review is a court hearing under section 113 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA). It happens while a child is under a supervision order or an interim society care order. The society must apply before one of those orders expires.

Others can also apply, on notice to the society. These are a parent, the child if the child is 12 or older, and the person the child was placed with under a supervision order.

• The society: must apply before the order expires.
• A parent: can apply on notice to the society.
• The child: can apply if 12 or older.
• The person the child was placed with under supervision: can apply on notice to the society.

The six-month wait and its exception

A parent, the child (if 12 or older) and the supervision caregiver who apply must wait six months after the latest order or disposition. The wait does not apply to the society, which must apply before the order runs out.

There is an exception for parents. The six-month wait does not apply if the court is satisfied that a major element of the plan of care it relied on is not being carried out. If you think that is happening, for example because a service the court expected to be provided has not been, talk to a lawyer promptly about whether to ask the court to hear the review earlier.

Deadlines when the society brings the review

The Children's Aid Society must serve a status review at least 30 days before the supervision order or interim society care order expires. If you are a parent and you receive it, you must file and serve Form 33B.1 (Answer and plan of care) within 30 days of receiving it.

Your plan of care is your chance to explain what you propose for your child and how you will carry it out. Because the deadline is short, start gathering information as soon as the papers arrive.

• Note the date you received the status review papers.
• Calculate your 30-day deadline for Form 33B.1 and put it in your calendar.
• Write down the plan you propose for your child's care, housing and supports.
• Collect documents that show steps you have taken, such as program attendance or service records.
• Contact a lawyer before the deadline arrives.

What the court can decide

On a status review, the court can vary or end the original order, make a new order under section 101, or make a custody order under section 102.

A section 102 custody order ends the child protection case, and any later request to change it must be made under different legislation. That order is treated as a parenting order or contact order under the Children's Law Reform Act. It cannot go to a foster parent, and it cannot be made if a Divorce Act decision-making order exists or if it would conflict with a superior court order.

Time limits on society care and how the court chooses

There is a ceiling on how long a child can be in society care under interim orders. The total cannot go beyond 12 months if the child was under 6 on the day the order is made, or 24 months if the child was 6 or older. Time under a temporary care agreement or a temporary order during an adjournment counts, and earlier periods in care count too, unless the child then spent five continuous years or more out of society care.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario has held that the 12-month limit for children under six is mandatory and cannot be set aside on a best-interests argument, subject only to the statutory extensions. Those extensions are up to six months if in the child's best interests, and an automatic extension while an appeal is pending or while a status review hearing is adjourned.

When choosing an order, the court must ask what efforts the society or others have made to assist the child, and it cannot remove a child from the person who had charge of them unless less disruptive alternatives would be inadequate. It must also consider placing the child with a relative or community member, under supervision and with that person's consent.

What to do next

• Check the dates on your current order and work out when it expires.
• Ask whether the six-month wait has passed, or whether the exception for an unfulfilled plan of care might apply.
• Think about relatives or community members who could care for your child, since the court must consider that option.
• Get advice from a lawyer before signing a Statement of Agreed Facts (Form 33C).
• If you have concerns about how the society has acted, you can make a written complaint to it, or ask the Child and Family Services Review Board to review a decision.

Every case turns on its own facts, so a lawyer can confirm your deadlines and options.

Frequently asked questions