Child and Family Services

I have had concerns about Child and Family Services for as long as I’ve been in social services. I have met some great and dedicated people doing wonderful work within the field, but I’ve also seen a lot that concerns me. About a year and a half ago I wrote the Minister of Family Services and Housing to advocate for changes. I did not receive a reply. Here is the letter with some minor changes for readability:

September 2, 2008

Gord Mackintosh, Minister of Family Services and Housing

357 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB  R3C 0V8

Dear Mr. Mackintosh,

I am writing to you about my concerns about various Child and Family Services Agencies. I am a social worker and work in a community program. Many of the children I work with are wards of CFS agencies.

For the sake of brevity, I will list my concerns in point form.

1. Feedback on the performance of workers and agencies is rarely, if ever, sought from the people most affected by their work: children and youth in care and foster parents. I think that the reviews planned should include the feedback of those parties, and that annual feedback should be sought to inform agencies and social workers about their own performance and be used to set objectives.
2. I have heard of children who could potentially be released for adoption but their agencies refuse to do this. This prevents children from having a place of permanency. It also does not make sense financially, as our province struggles to finance all the children in care. More resources would be available for children in care if the foster parents who want to adopt the children in their care were allowed to do so.
3. I hear reports of social workers who treat families with disrespect and distrust. This has been especially surprising as some of the foster parents who have reported this to me are some of the most competent caregivers in my caseload. Foster parents are sometimes rudely reminded that the children are not “their” children but “our children”. Their input is not valued or received. Sometimes they are treated as servants who are to do the bidding of the worker rather than partners enlisted in caring form the child. I believe training needs to be available on forming good relationship with foster parents. Feedback as identified in #1 could target this training to the workers who most need it.
4. Other concerns with some social workers are that they do not take notes at visits, do not return phone calls, do not do necessary follow up, and do not visit regularly.
5. A CFS social worker recently told me that when files are transferred, there is no standard information that is passed on. They could get many pages of useful information or they may get only the sketchiest details and have to start from scratch gathering information. I would suggest there be one file per child, and that the entire file follow the child. Very necessary information could be lost without some standards.
6. I find that social workers and agencies also vary greatly in how much information they share with foster parents. Some foster parents, in my opinion, do not get the information that need to properly care for the children. For example, they may not receive copies of medical reports that contain recommendations that the foster parents should follow, or information about the child’s past that may help them to understand the children’s emotions and behavior. This seems to stem from misunderstandings of FIPPA as well as the distrust referred to in #3. I would like to see standards established in sharing information with caregivers.
7. I am concerned that the best interests of the child as defined in the Child and Family Services Act are not being taken into account in decisions about children. I am especially concerned that the attachment relationships that children form with their foster parents are not valued or respected. Attachment is a developmental necessity and breaking it should happen in only the rarest of circumstances or we risk harming children’s development. The opinions of children are rarely taken into account although this is specifically mentioned as an element of best interests.
8. There are often problems with finances: children do not receive the leveling designation appropriate for their degree of need, foster parents will go weeks or months without being paid the basic rates and run into difficulty providing for the children, workers refuse to pay for necessary expenses or promise to pay but do not follow through.
9. The Children’s Advocate has no real authority. They can make recommendations but authorities and agencies can completely ignore them. This offers little protection for children.

I hope you find this feedback helpful.

Sincerely,

Judi Heppner