LK
Please post this. I had to remove the name of the advocate from the e-mail.
Below, is an email I received from the Ontario Provincial Advocates Office, today December 27, 2010.
All this time we thought that the Advocate wants and needs mandate over CAS and then this advocate from the Provincial Advocates office sends me this e-mail after speaking to her supervisor about my question.
My question was: can the advocates office help me get back a program that was canceled while my son was in care of CAS when CAS are no longer involved and my son is back in our care?
The advocate's office has told me for the past year and a half, that they can not help or advocate for my severely autistic son while he is in the care of CAS because my son can not speak "ask for help" from them. Now, their telling me that I have to file a complaint against CAS through CFSRB even when CAS is no longer involved.
Under what grounds would I file a complaint against CAS if they are no longer involved?
AND
Since when does the advocate not provide advocate services for special needs children and their families who are trying to access services and programs?
Perhaps someone out there can assist..... make sense of this.
It makes no sense to start a second war with CAS by filing a complaint against them through FCSRB when it is clearly the mandate and job of the provincial advocate to advocate for services and programs.....especially for special needs children.
_________________________________________
Good Afternoon,
I am writing to follow-up on our telephone conversation from Dec 21st. You had called our offices enquiring about getting help for your son when he comes back into your care in Feb 2011.
You will need to contact the Waterloo CAS for any services that Gordon requires at that time. If you are not happy with the services that you are receiving from the CAS, you have the option to contact the Child and Family Service Review Board to make a complaint. I have attached a link to their website: http://cfsrb.ca/en/cfsrb/your-rights/scenario-two
I agree with LK, the response falls short of any real substance. Similarly, when I sought help for our daughter, Samantha (years PRIOR to her death as well as in years following her passing), I would write to each of the outlets that are suppose to be available to assist the Public with concerns - from Ethics Commissioner to Governor General of Canada - and every single time, I would be referred back to the child services agency who did nothing... In fact, the Child & Youth Services Office would not even respond. It is an extreme circular deflection of responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI suspect - as the poster notes - it would be unwise to re-involve CAS. Stirring the pot, so to speak, could be dangerous when they have ability to create havoc so easily within lives of families.
Repeatedly, this is the issue that I take with Ministries: Families of children with disabilities accessing government services are completely distinct from individuals requiring services under the Child Intervention Model!! God, why is it so difficult for agencies to comprehend that this is an obstruction of basic human rights and an ethical issue that cannot be lawfully tolerated?
I would enlist the Office of the Ombudsman and carbon copy correspondence to the Office of the Child Advocate. Thousands of other families under similar circumstances of duress and the government need be shamed into acting appropriately if it refuses to listen to reason. Turn to the Media and bring forward Public awareness.
Cite "Samantha's Law" under the Family Support for Children with Disabilities Act as grounds to move forward. The Courts do have the ability to adopt Legislation from other locales where none currently exists to protect and promote the rights of familes. This is a great travesty that is needlessly affecting numerous families across the globe.
http://www.child.alberta.ca/home/527.cfm
Section 2-3, Manual Amendments: Policy and Procedures in Family Centred Supports and Services: "The Family Support for Children with Disabilities Program to have separate legislation from that of child protection services."
Samantha's Law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha%27s_Law
Samantha's Law is a Canadian child protection law. The life and circumstances surrounding Samantha Lauren Martin, a child with a rare chromosome disorder, Tetrasomy 18p, led her mother, Velvet Martin, to challenge archaic laws inhibiting the rights of persons with disability and their families. On December 3 2009 (the same date marks the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities being tabled in the House of Commons of Canada), Velvet Martin's persistence resulted in the establishment of "Samantha's Law." The Amendment to the Alberta Family Support for Children with Disabilities Act, became effective retroactive to December 2006. Section 2-3, Manual Amendments: Policy and Procedures in Family Centred Supports and Services: "The Family Support for Children with Disabilities Program to have separate legislation from that of child protection services."