I figure this is a good place to clear the air as to why I am still posting about the CAS and group homes after being out of the system for a little more then 6 years. Make sure there is no confusing of my reasons. I am not seeking sympathy from anyone. I am seeking positive changes. Let me share with you some of the positive changes I would like to see happen in the government foster care system in Ontario and please feel free to comment and share your views or the positive changes you too would like to see. I am sharing with you some (I will probably add more tomorrow or the next day) of the positive changes I would like to see happen to the CAS in Ontario.
Not in any order of importance...
- Shut it down, and rebuild it from scratch. Using the many of us who were lucky enough to survive and learn what is actually going on in the system.
- Ontario CAS needs Ombudsman Oversight
- All CAS and social workers required to be registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers
- The RCMP should investigate allegations of child abuse or neglect and the CAS should only deal with social work and only social work
- Mandatory that all workers working with children and youth receive training on LGBTQ issues
- The CAS should not be able to apprehend children based not on abuse or neglect but simply because the mom is young or poor or because the child was once in foster care themselves
- Group home workers need more training on mental health
- The Family Courts should be public and NOT SECRET
- Children's Aid Society and its funding formula needs to be changed IMMEDIATELY
- Shut down all group homes immediately
- Reduce the case load workers have
- Hire more staff. I lived in a NLP group home when I was a kid and the staff had 1 staff for almost 7 kids late at night and thats just not safe for the staff and kids! Think about it. The group home worker needs to to resident ratio needs to be raised....like 2 workers to 3 kids.
- If a child or youth sues CAS or a group home, require that the responding party can't ask for a gag order.
- CAS and group home owners should hire more LGBTQ people
- CAS should get a financial bonus when ever they help a family be stronger and together NOT when they apprehend a child
- Foster homes and group home owners should not allow their homes to be dirty with holes in the walls
- CAS should start measuring how kids are doing in the care of the CAS. We have hospitals measuring outcomes and schools are measuring how students are doing. CAS should be doing the same! (Mr. Harold Cleary agrees)
- HOMES specifically for LGBTQ youth and children
- If a child dies in government foster care, don't put a gag order on the family (So many cases, Velvet Martin and Jamie Sullivan and many, many other cases too)
- Stop over medicating children. Stop drugging children for profit
- CAS not be allowed to interview the children at school
- CAS should give aging out of youth their full unedited file. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO HIDE??
- All group homes should post a rainbow LGBTQ flag in the common area. Visibly display posters and signage to educate and raise awareness about LGBTQ children and youth struggles
- Foster parents and group home workers should really be put through a more gruelling screening process
- Foster homes and group homes and should room kids based on their gender identity not on their sex. Trans children and youth should be addressed in the name they self - identify with, regardless of what name may appear on their identification.
- Trans children and youth should be addressed by the pronoun they prefer, regardless if the child or youth had a complete sex change or not. Consistently using the wrong name or gender pronoun should be considered a form of harassment.
