‘Just the next step’: Ontario launches financially focused audit of children’s aid
Global News
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services launched a request for service to complete an audit of the child welfare system.
Four years after announcing it was planning to overhaul the province’s child welfare system completely, the Ford government is launching a more financially focused audit of the system, hinting the original overhaul may now be part of general, ongoing efforts to improve.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services issued a request for service for a group to complete an audit of the current system and offered some new details of an audit plan first publicly mentioned by Premier Doug Ford at a news conference in the summer.
The minister in charge of the file said the audit is not a change of policy but the latest step in an ongoing project to improve and review the entire children’s aid sector.
“This is just the next step, the announcement today is just the next step in our ongoing efforts to improve the supports and services that are being provided to children and youth in our province,” Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, told Global News.
“We’re talking about the protection of children and youth in our province. We should always look at ways of improving supports and services that are being delivered for them.”
During a technical briefing, officials focused on the financial indicators in the province’s child welfare sector, including salaries, real estate portfolios and value for money.
Data presented showed over the past decade there has been a 49 per cent decrease in open protection cases, a 30 decrease in children in care and a 51 per cent decrease in investigations that get transferred to ongoing service.
Children’s aid societies are also reporting losses, according to the government, with $55 million in deficits recorded over the past five years, with further deficits projected for this year.
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