Our foremost priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of every child. Our team is mandated to respond to concerns about a child’s safety, working in a manner that is culturally grounded, respectful, and compassionate.
We are committed to working collaboratively with families to build on their strengths and find solutions that keep children safe, supported, and connected to their family, community, and culture.
Kunuwanimano Child and Family Services (KCFS) is a Child and Family Well-being Society mandated through the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA) of the Province of Ontario. We are required by law to observe the procedures, regulations, and standards consistent with the legislation as directed by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS). We work towards positive outcomes that result in Indigenous children’s safety, permanency, and well-being. Child Protection Workers are a family’s first point of contact when concerns are made that a child or youth is at risk of harm. Workers walk beside families throughout the service continuum to build good relations and provide consistent support, leading to better service and outcomes for families until their involvement is no longer needed. Our primary goal is to achieve the reunification of children with their families. If this is not possible, we seek the repatriation of children to their home territories through alternative care arrangements, including Customary Care and Kin Care. The practice is grounded in a holistic service model that promotes children’s and caregivers’ spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental well-being while respecting traditional practices and wisdom from diverse First Nation communities. We aim to promote high-quality, accountable, culturally grounded services that improve the outcomes for the Indigenous families and children we engage with.
Engagement with a family begins with a report by a person who has concerns that a child or youth is or may be at risk of neglect or abuse. A Screener or Child Protection Worker will record the information and determine with their supervisor if the concerns meet eligibility for direct involvement. If concerns do not meet the threshold for direct involvement, the family will be notified of the concerns and offered links to community-based support to relevant Indigenous or mainstream service providers, and the file will be closed.
When it is determined that the information meets the threshold for an assessment, a Child Protection Worker will be assigned to engage with a family. KCFS believes it is important to keep families together and Child Protection Workers will seek to take the least intrusive measures first involving extended family and community to assist in their assessment and to offer services and supports to improve the situation to decrease the risk of harm to the children. Examples of support may include counseling, parenting programs, traditional healing methods, and basic needs assistance. In situations where severe harm or risk of harm to a child exists and a safety plan is unavailable or cannot address the severe and immediate safety concerns, action may be taken to ensure safety. It may involve bringing a child to a place of safety and placing within the kin, customary or foster care arrangements. As the Child Protection Worker continues to meet with the family and children and gather information from service providers involved with the family, a decision will be made whether or not there are child protection concerns and if there is a need for further support and involvement.
Sometimes, the risk to a child and the services required to strengthen the family and resolve the concerns will require more time. If a child is determined to be in need of protection, the Child Protection Worker will work with the family to create and review an ongoing service plan that seeks to resolve the concerns. If a child has had to leave the home and be brought to a place of safety through kin, customary or foster care arrangements, all efforts will be made to reunite the family when safety has been achieved and the risk to the child has been reduced. During this phase of service, all efforts will be made to work voluntarily and collaboratively with the family until the concerns are resolved. If a family is unwilling or unable to engage in voluntary service or if a child is brought into care, court proceedings may be initiated further to ensure the safety and well-being of the child until the concerns are mitigated and service can be concluded.
