MEDIA ADVISORY: CUPE Ontario to hold press conference on crisis in the child welfare sector

Event Information

Begins: 14 May 2024
Location: Toronto, ON

TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– Tomorrow marks the 10th annual Children and Youth in Care Day – but far too many young people are not receiving adequate care and are being failed by Ontario’s child welfare system.

Children’s Aid Society (CAS) agencies have long relied on unlicensed placements as last resorts when foster homes and treatment facilities cannot be found. A new survey conducted by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has revealed that the practice has become commonplace, with children as young as two living in motels, hotels, short-term rentals, and in the most extreme examples, CAS offices.

CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn, NDP MCCSS Critic Monique Taylor, former Child Advocate Irwin Elman, and frontline child protection worker Lorrie Peppin will hold a press conference to discuss the impact of warehousing children and the growing crisis in the sector.

SPEAKERS:
Fred Hahn, President, CUPE Ontario
Monique Taylor, NDP MCCSS Critic
Irwin Elman, Former Child Advocate
Lorrie Peppin, Child Protection Worker

WHEN:
May 14, 2024 9 a.m.

WHERE:
Queen’s Park Media Studio

-30-

Statistics at a Glance

With data from 20 out of 27 CUPE locals representing CAS workers:

• 100 per cent of agencies have placed a child or youth in an unlicensed home
• One agency currently has eight children and youth in unlicensed homes, with one young person with autism living in the CAS office
• Three agencies have placed children as young as 5 in hotels or motels
• Three agencies have placed children or youth in CAS offices
• Workers in 9 agencies said that children placed in unlicensed homes do not receive necessary mental health treatment or social support

For more information, contact:

Jesse Mintz, CUPE Communications Representative
416-704-9642
jmintz@cupe.ca