Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society laying off 26 staff, facing $10M shortfall
The organization says the deficit is driven by the increasing costs of caring for kids with complex needs
More than two dozen employees at the Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society (WECAS) have been laid off, their union said Friday, as the organization faces a $10-million budget deficit.
The move affects 26 workers, CUPE Local 2286 said Friday, or about 10 per cent of the organization's non-management staff.
"This is a betrayal of the community we serve and the CAS's mandate," Craig Hesman, president of CUPE Local 2286, said in a statement.
"This provincial government's continued underfunding and ignorance of the complex needs of youth coming into CAS care has created this horrifying crisis. With the loss of these dedicated workers, an already bad situation is going to get dangerously worse."
According to the union's statement, WECAS is facing a $10-million deficit — partially, the union says, because they have so many children in facilities like hotels and motels.
CUPE says some of the positions eliminated are in the organization's adoption department, as well as nine family service worker jobs. Also impacted is the organization's "family finder" position, which helps locate other relatives with whom to place children.
In its own statement, WECAS said the shortfall is driven by the "increasing demands and costs of supporting children and youth with complex needs."
"We are committed to providing the best care possible for children and families, particularly those with the most complex needs," said Derrick Drouillard, executive director of WECAS.
"However, the growing demand for these services has significantly outpaced our financial capacity, leading to this difficult but necessary realignment of our workforce."
CBC Windsor is attempting to reach the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services for comment.
WECAS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon, and did not include the impacted number of staff or total budget deficit in its statement.
The union says its calling for the cuts to be reversed and for the province to intervene with adequate funding.
Also impacted by the budget crunch is the organization's Leamington office, which the union said would be closing. While WECAS said it would be reducing satellite locations, it did not specify which.