Children's Aid Society of London & Middlesex ends its family visitation program

The president of the union representing workers for the Children's Aid Society for London & Middlesex (CASLM) is decrying a recent decision to end a family visiting program and eliminate 23 staff members. 

The family visiting program offered a space where families could come to visit with their children, either at the agency or out in the community, following court orders to see them in supervised settings. Ending it will be emotionally traumatizing to many children, said Bruce Fleming, a child protection worker of 20 years, and newly elected president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) local 116.

"The funding cuts are really going to hurt children in general," Fleming said. "We work with very vulnerable populations, and there's going to be more people falling through the cracks. These workers that work with our families directly are their lifeline." 

The changes impact 19 unionized positions and four management positions at CASLM. 

The cuts will also see the termination of kinship support workers. They work with parents and other family members who care for the kids when the parents are not able. 

Having less support for families will have a trickle-down effect on everyone the agency serves, said Fleming, adding that he's calling on the province to step up and help, especially as more families contend with the cost of living crisis. 

"There's been a steady decrease in funds in our sector overall," said Fleming. "Our agency has been running at a deficit for some time. The bottom line is that we need the government to support us and support more funding for our families and the agencies that support families." 

Changes made as cost-saving measure, says CAS 

In a statement emailed to CBC News, CASLM said it is facing a projected $9.1 million deficit for the 2024-25 year, and it concluded the program in response to the deficit.

The deficit includes $6.5 million to provide care for children and youth with complex needs who are not able to be supported by the children's mental health or licensed care settings in Ontario. The organization said $2.6 million from the deficit is due to increasing costs for residential care, Bill 124 remediation and service models that have not evolved to meet the needs of families in 2024. 

"The long-running Family Visiting program and Family Support positions will be concluded in their current format," reads the statement. "Services will be redesigned to continue to support families with new Family Connection Workers who will support family visiting, family reintegration work, and admission prevention activities. Visits for families with children in care will not be impacted during the transition and families will receive detailed information on the changes to the program in mid July." 

It added it is changing the service delivery model for kinship support with a newly created position that integrates assessments and support to potential kin providers. Kin families may experience a change in staff supporting them. 

The changes are projected to save CASLM $2.1 million on an annualized basis.  Provincially, more than 23 agencies are facing deficits, to the tune of $53 million.

Demand for services continues to rise. As of March, London's CAS had opened three two-bedroom homes, with plans to open another, where kids can get around-the-clock supervision and services. The agency has struggled to find beds for the city's most vulnerable youth, and previously resorted to placing some in homes as far away as Ottawa, or in local hotels or motels.