HRS@ccas.toronto.on.ca - this seems to be HR's e-mail, so maybe better to fax or write to them with the specific person's name on the envelope
The fax # is (416) 395-0583.
26 Maitland Street,
Toronto, Ontario,
M4Y 1C6
Tel: 416-395-1500
(main) Fax: 416-395-1581
Board of Directors
Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, Honorary President 2005/2006 CCAS Board of Directors President: John Cressatti1st
Vice-President: Stephen Grant2nd
Vice-President: Michele Fordyce
Treasurer: Joseph Fanutti
Secretary: Eleanor Shannon
Past President: Tom Donovan
Angelo Cristofaro
Steve De Quintal
Mary DiFrancesco
Michael Fullan
The Honourable Joseph James
Carolyn Lockett
Dorothy McGuigan
Hugh O'Reilly
John Spekkens
Larry Talbot
Dr. Joanne Turner
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
Letter to United Nations:
To Whom it May Concern;
I am a self proclaimed child advocate. Everything I do is on my own time; I am not paid by anyone. I research child death cases and then write to all levels of government asking why the death occurred, why no consequences were sufferedby the perpetrator, etc.
There is currently a case in trial about a little boy named Jeffrey Baldwin. He was betrayed by the Catholic Children's Aid Society and as a result endured torture and severe malnutrition and starvation. One medical professional said his case is one of the worst he has ever seen and he does extensive volunteer work with children in under developed and third world countries.
The Canadian government is turning it's back both financially and lawfully on these children and the people and agencies who have caused their deaths.
I would like to make a formal complaint to the United Nations against my country and various specific agencies withinCanada.I would like to know how to do this. Please take me seriously; Canada is a criminal when it comes to children.
Sincerely,
Amanda Reed Canada
Response from UN:
Thank you for the work you are doing on children's rights. We're very sorry to hear about Jeffrey and the sufferings he injured.
In the website, https://webmail.cogeco.ca/webmail.cgi?cmd=url&url=http!3A!2F!2Fwww.ohchr.org!2Fenglish!2Fcontact!2Findex.htm, you will find a model complaint form which you can fill out and send to the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
either through their fax hotline, + 41 22 917 9022,
or their e-mail address, tb-petitions@ohchr.org.
You can also contact non-governmental organizations in Canada engaged in activities concerning children. You will find a directory of NGOs associated with the UN on-line at https://webmail.cogeco.ca/webmail.cgi?cmd=url&url=http!3A!2F!2Fwww.un.org!2Fdpi!2Fngosection!2Fasp!2Fform.asp
Once again, thank you for sharing your concerns and taking the time to write to the United Nations. Public Inquiries UnitPublic Relations SectionDepartment of Public InformationUnited Nationshttps://webmail.cogeco.ca/webmail.cgi?cmd=msg_new&h_from=inquiries2@un.org&utoken=jeffreyslaw!40cogeco.ca!40pop.cogeco.ca!3A110_!7E2-ef9f0df6ab332c2409e200_0
I am a self proclaimed child advocate. Everything I do is on my own time; I am not paid by anyone. I research child death cases and then write to all levels of government asking why the death occurred, why no consequences were sufferedby the perpetrator, etc.
There is currently a case in trial about a little boy named Jeffrey Baldwin. He was betrayed by the Catholic Children's Aid Society and as a result endured torture and severe malnutrition and starvation. One medical professional said his case is one of the worst he has ever seen and he does extensive volunteer work with children in under developed and third world countries.
The Canadian government is turning it's back both financially and lawfully on these children and the people and agencies who have caused their deaths.
I would like to make a formal complaint to the United Nations against my country and various specific agencies withinCanada.I would like to know how to do this. Please take me seriously; Canada is a criminal when it comes to children.
Sincerely,
Amanda Reed Canada
Response from UN:
Thank you for the work you are doing on children's rights. We're very sorry to hear about Jeffrey and the sufferings he injured.
In the website, https://webmail.cogeco.ca/webmail.cgi?cmd=url&url=http!3A!2F!2Fwww.ohchr.org!2Fenglish!2Fcontact!2Findex.htm, you will find a model complaint form which you can fill out and send to the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
either through their fax hotline, + 41 22 917 9022,
or their e-mail address, tb-petitions@ohchr.org.
You can also contact non-governmental organizations in Canada engaged in activities concerning children. You will find a directory of NGOs associated with the UN on-line at https://webmail.cogeco.ca/webmail.cgi?cmd=url&url=http!3A!2F!2Fwww.un.org!2Fdpi!2Fngosection!2Fasp!2Fform.asp
Once again, thank you for sharing your concerns and taking the time to write to the United Nations. Public Inquiries UnitPublic Relations SectionDepartment of Public InformationUnited Nationshttps://webmail.cogeco.ca/webmail.cgi?cmd=msg_new&h_from=inquiries2@un.org&utoken=jeffreyslaw!40cogeco.ca!40pop.cogeco.ca!3A110_!7E2-ef9f0df6ab332c2409e200_0
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Quilt 3 is finished!
This is for Jeffrey's oldest sister. If you remember that she once sat outside his door describing the July 1st fireworks she had seen. It was a good memory she had of her and her brother, so I found fireworks material just for her quilt.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Ombudsman
This is going to make you all fall off your chairs...
I just spoke to the office of the Ontario Ombudsman. I had written him a letter asking for his help to ensure a public inquiry is called after the trial and to help us in general.
Here's a shock: The CCAS is NOT a public agency! They are NOT public servants so the Ombudsman CAN NOT investigate or question them about anything. They are publicly funded, but are a private organization!
Who are they responsible to?? ONLY their Board of Directors... that's IT! They CAN NOT be held accountable, sued or 'made' to do anything except by their Board. I will post the letters I write to my pal Mary McConville and her Board tonight!!
I am SO mad! They don't answer to ANYONE!!
Write to Mary, write to the Board of Directors, the e-mail address is below as is Mary's address...
What a JOKE!
I just spoke to the office of the Ontario Ombudsman. I had written him a letter asking for his help to ensure a public inquiry is called after the trial and to help us in general.
Here's a shock: The CCAS is NOT a public agency! They are NOT public servants so the Ombudsman CAN NOT investigate or question them about anything. They are publicly funded, but are a private organization!
Who are they responsible to?? ONLY their Board of Directors... that's IT! They CAN NOT be held accountable, sued or 'made' to do anything except by their Board. I will post the letters I write to my pal Mary McConville and her Board tonight!!
I am SO mad! They don't answer to ANYONE!!
Write to Mary, write to the Board of Directors, the e-mail address is below as is Mary's address...
What a JOKE!
Friday, November 18, 2005
Archives
Infamous kitchen mat.
Because of all the posts, some are getting put into archives. Scrool down to the bottom of the page and click on 'archives' on the right hand side bar. I am putting this post back on so it stays on the first page.
Because of all the posts, some are getting put into archives. Scrool down to the bottom of the page and click on 'archives' on the right hand side bar. I am putting this post back on so it stays on the first page.Believe it or not!
... the CCAS got back to me on where we should send our letters to their Board of Directors!
HRS@ccas.toronto.on.ca
The fax # is (416) 395-0583.
I actually think it's the Human Resource Service (?) but in any case, tons of letters would be good!
HRS@ccas.toronto.on.ca
The fax # is (416) 395-0583.
I actually think it's the Human Resource Service (?) but in any case, tons of letters would be good!
One quilt is finished!
front_______________ backThis is the quilt for the sister locked in the room with Jeffrey. It's not a great pic, but all the fabric on the back is velvet, flannel, etc. That's a pic of Jeffrey in the middle. The flowers on the front are shiny and I embroidered a little bee. Hope you all like it. I've started his brothers now and should have it finished by Monday. Will post pictures when they're finished.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Letters to Mary McConville
Dear all,
I am putting the letters I have written to Mary McConvill, Executive Director of CCAS. They are controversial and I debated about whether I should post them or not, but I want you all to know how this case has effected me and how angry I am at this woman. She is the Exec. Director and she did not monitor her agents or ensure anyone was doing their job. In my opinion, if there is a house cleaning, she should be the absolute first to go. I welcome comments and I hope no one is too offended, but if you should know that with all her experience, she should have known that something wasn't right and I don't buy over worked... she's not in the field, she is supposed to be guiding her agents and being their boss, making sure they are doing their jobs, and she didn't. Please notice the dates of the letters as some things have changed since they were written...
Amanda
Here goes....
Amanda Reed
jeffreyslaw@cogeco.ca
October 24, 2005
Mary McConville
Catholic Children’s Aid Society
26 Maitland Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: 416-395-1581
Re: Jeffrey Baldwin Tree and Memorial Ceremony
Dear Ms. McConville,
I would like to once again extend my invitation to you and all Toronto Catholic Children’s Aid Society staff to the Jeffrey Baldwin Tree and Memorial ceremony on Sunday, October 30th at 2 o’clock p.m. in Greenwood Park. The address is 150 Greenwood Avenue if you need to do a Map Quest. It’s only about two streets over from 354 Woodfield Road; that’s where Jeffrey Baldwin lived in torture and died alone. You may not be familiar with this address as neither you, nor any of your agents ever visited there.
I chose this park because had Jeffrey or his sister ever been allowed out of their hellhole, this would most likely have been the park they would have played in. But then what’s playing? They never even got a chance to do that at ‘home’, unless you can call a child banging his head on the walls and floor amusement; if that is the case, then I correct myself, Jeffrey had tons of fun.
I have had numerous e-mails from people who are so grateful that a memorial is being installed, people who have sent donations to ensure it is a success. People who think there are more parties responsible for this child’s death than Bottineau / Kidman clan.
I have mentioned to them in my responses that I have invited the CCAS staff, including you, the Executive Director to the memorial ceremony. Everyone is anxious to meet you and I have told them that your picture is on the internet; included on the sites that praise your accomplishments so they will be able to pick you out in the crowd. In fact, would you be interested in saying a few words? I have asked all speakers not to mention God. He was never in that house or in those people’s hearts, He’s not welcome at Jeffrey’s memorial.
Looking forward to seeing you this weekend, take care.
Sincerely,
Amanda Reed
Amanda Reed
jeffreyslaw@cogeco.ca
November 2, 2005
Mary McConville
Catholic Children’s Aid Society
26 Maitland Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: 416-395-1581
Dear Ms. McConville,
I was very disappointed not to make your acquaintance this past weekend at Jeffrey Baldwin’s memorial. A lot of people, almost 200, were also upset that you did not take time out of your busy weekend to attend. I thought you cared about Jeffrey, apparently not. Did you know that Ms. Mary Anne Chambers came? She brought beautiful yellow roses to lay at the base of the tree.
I was hoping to use the left over donations (and they keep coming in daily) to set up a trust fund for Jeffrey’s siblings. After the trial, I will ask Ms. Chambers how I can go about accomplishing this. I know your agency will dispose of them as soon as they are no longer useful in covering your collective asses, which will inevitably leave them unable to fend for themselves in this cruel world. Have they not aged enough? I hope they will have the chance to achieve post secondary education and I know your agency, nor the government will not help them, so once again, public generosity is a child’s only chance. You use these children up, burn them out, break their souls and then say ‘have a nice life.’ You should be so ashamed of yourselves, I hope you can not sleep at night. To be honest, you ain’t seen nothing of me yet…
These children have nothing, and even less now that you have torn them out of the only safe, sane environment they have ever known, and the Tuesday before the Thanksgiving long weekend? Are you all insane? It astounds me that you actually think that separating the children, and taking away the only family they have now, is actually beneficial to their psyche’s! You have now permanently lost probably one of your best foster homes which is shameful. But then, your agency is a disgrace, so why should you change now?
I can not stress enough how angry people are with the CCAS. Your agency has completely lost all public faith, we don’t ‘trust you now’ and I don’t think anyone should. Besides the fact that you inadvertently approved and conceded to the torture and death of Jeffrey Baldwin, (because no one was sharp enough to check the histories of Kidman or Bottineau; the information was in your OWN files and you were too goddamn lazy to read it!) you betrayed his surviving siblings by ripping them out of their loving foster home. You are not doing a very good job at convincing anyone that you have changed or care about children. Enough is more than enough…
I sincerely look forward to meeting you as I am sure we will eventually. Contact me anytime to go for lunch; it will be my treat as I know how minimally funded and underpaid you are.
Regards,
Amanda Reed
Amanda Reed
jeffreyslaw@cogeco.ca
November 7, 2005
Mary McConville
Catholic Children’s Aid Society
26 Maitland Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: 416-395-1581
Dear Ms. McConville,
I read your letter to the editor dated November 2nd, 2005. If you aren’t going to say anything the public wants to hear, why do you waste your time even writing a letter? You are accountable to us, the public, your employers, not solely to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. They only give out funding, they don’t provide it; we do. You are also accountable to the countless children you betray and hurt everyday, they are your clients. Telling us exactly why you tore those three children from a loving foster home after three years of love and stability should be mandatory. Divulging the reasons why you separated and ripped them from their family would not give away the current whereabouts of the kids and so, should be public knowledge. I imagine that your agency being terrified of what the foster mother would say on the stand and the possibility the children would be asked to testify in the murder trial was enough for you to tear them apart, to confuse and hurt them.
No, I suppose those aren’t frivolous reasons, you should be really scared of what secrets those kids can give up.
I honestly don’t believe any of you understand the importance of stability and love in a child’s life or you would not have done what you did the Tuesday before the Thanksgiving long weekend. I’m very surprised you did not wait until Christmas Eve because only that date would have been more damaging than Thanksgiving. Once again, you should be ashamed of yourselves for your selfishness. No one believes you have the siblings’ best interests at heart so stop letting all this garbage and these lies come out of your mouth, it makes you look silly. You are consistently assuming we are all stupid and ignorant to your big policies and procedures. We are not.
The circumstances that led to Jeffrey Baldwin’s death are indeed very tragic and unacceptable, but not once have I heard you publicly apologize to your employers or to the children you have let become so badly damaged. I have not once heard of you taking the responsibility for being so lazy and unorganized, the public has not heard of your incredible life-saving changes to policy following his death. Surely you aren’t going to hide behind the very weak and transparent Bill 210 are you? We can see you hiding behind there grasping on to it for dear life. But let me tell you Ms. McConville, if you ever, ever want to gain back any inkling of public trust, you must admit that this child’s blood is on your hands.
I hope you are shaking in your boots, I hope you and your agency will be found partially responsible for Jeffrey’s death and be severely reprimanded. I hope you can’t sleep or eat or have a day pass by that you do not think of this child; we have all paid numerous precious hours sleepless, crying and feeling helpless as a result of your mistake.
We are waiting for an apology.
Regards,
Amanda Reed
I am putting the letters I have written to Mary McConvill, Executive Director of CCAS. They are controversial and I debated about whether I should post them or not, but I want you all to know how this case has effected me and how angry I am at this woman. She is the Exec. Director and she did not monitor her agents or ensure anyone was doing their job. In my opinion, if there is a house cleaning, she should be the absolute first to go. I welcome comments and I hope no one is too offended, but if you should know that with all her experience, she should have known that something wasn't right and I don't buy over worked... she's not in the field, she is supposed to be guiding her agents and being their boss, making sure they are doing their jobs, and she didn't. Please notice the dates of the letters as some things have changed since they were written...
Amanda
Here goes....
Amanda Reed
jeffreyslaw@cogeco.ca
October 24, 2005
Mary McConville
Catholic Children’s Aid Society
26 Maitland Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: 416-395-1581
Re: Jeffrey Baldwin Tree and Memorial Ceremony
Dear Ms. McConville,
I would like to once again extend my invitation to you and all Toronto Catholic Children’s Aid Society staff to the Jeffrey Baldwin Tree and Memorial ceremony on Sunday, October 30th at 2 o’clock p.m. in Greenwood Park. The address is 150 Greenwood Avenue if you need to do a Map Quest. It’s only about two streets over from 354 Woodfield Road; that’s where Jeffrey Baldwin lived in torture and died alone. You may not be familiar with this address as neither you, nor any of your agents ever visited there.
I chose this park because had Jeffrey or his sister ever been allowed out of their hellhole, this would most likely have been the park they would have played in. But then what’s playing? They never even got a chance to do that at ‘home’, unless you can call a child banging his head on the walls and floor amusement; if that is the case, then I correct myself, Jeffrey had tons of fun.
I have had numerous e-mails from people who are so grateful that a memorial is being installed, people who have sent donations to ensure it is a success. People who think there are more parties responsible for this child’s death than Bottineau / Kidman clan.
I have mentioned to them in my responses that I have invited the CCAS staff, including you, the Executive Director to the memorial ceremony. Everyone is anxious to meet you and I have told them that your picture is on the internet; included on the sites that praise your accomplishments so they will be able to pick you out in the crowd. In fact, would you be interested in saying a few words? I have asked all speakers not to mention God. He was never in that house or in those people’s hearts, He’s not welcome at Jeffrey’s memorial.
Looking forward to seeing you this weekend, take care.
Sincerely,
Amanda Reed
Amanda Reed
jeffreyslaw@cogeco.ca
November 2, 2005
Mary McConville
Catholic Children’s Aid Society
26 Maitland Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: 416-395-1581
Dear Ms. McConville,
I was very disappointed not to make your acquaintance this past weekend at Jeffrey Baldwin’s memorial. A lot of people, almost 200, were also upset that you did not take time out of your busy weekend to attend. I thought you cared about Jeffrey, apparently not. Did you know that Ms. Mary Anne Chambers came? She brought beautiful yellow roses to lay at the base of the tree.
I was hoping to use the left over donations (and they keep coming in daily) to set up a trust fund for Jeffrey’s siblings. After the trial, I will ask Ms. Chambers how I can go about accomplishing this. I know your agency will dispose of them as soon as they are no longer useful in covering your collective asses, which will inevitably leave them unable to fend for themselves in this cruel world. Have they not aged enough? I hope they will have the chance to achieve post secondary education and I know your agency, nor the government will not help them, so once again, public generosity is a child’s only chance. You use these children up, burn them out, break their souls and then say ‘have a nice life.’ You should be so ashamed of yourselves, I hope you can not sleep at night. To be honest, you ain’t seen nothing of me yet…
These children have nothing, and even less now that you have torn them out of the only safe, sane environment they have ever known, and the Tuesday before the Thanksgiving long weekend? Are you all insane? It astounds me that you actually think that separating the children, and taking away the only family they have now, is actually beneficial to their psyche’s! You have now permanently lost probably one of your best foster homes which is shameful. But then, your agency is a disgrace, so why should you change now?
I can not stress enough how angry people are with the CCAS. Your agency has completely lost all public faith, we don’t ‘trust you now’ and I don’t think anyone should. Besides the fact that you inadvertently approved and conceded to the torture and death of Jeffrey Baldwin, (because no one was sharp enough to check the histories of Kidman or Bottineau; the information was in your OWN files and you were too goddamn lazy to read it!) you betrayed his surviving siblings by ripping them out of their loving foster home. You are not doing a very good job at convincing anyone that you have changed or care about children. Enough is more than enough…
I sincerely look forward to meeting you as I am sure we will eventually. Contact me anytime to go for lunch; it will be my treat as I know how minimally funded and underpaid you are.
Regards,
Amanda Reed
Amanda Reed
jeffreyslaw@cogeco.ca
November 7, 2005
Mary McConville
Catholic Children’s Aid Society
26 Maitland Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: 416-395-1581
Dear Ms. McConville,
I read your letter to the editor dated November 2nd, 2005. If you aren’t going to say anything the public wants to hear, why do you waste your time even writing a letter? You are accountable to us, the public, your employers, not solely to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. They only give out funding, they don’t provide it; we do. You are also accountable to the countless children you betray and hurt everyday, they are your clients. Telling us exactly why you tore those three children from a loving foster home after three years of love and stability should be mandatory. Divulging the reasons why you separated and ripped them from their family would not give away the current whereabouts of the kids and so, should be public knowledge. I imagine that your agency being terrified of what the foster mother would say on the stand and the possibility the children would be asked to testify in the murder trial was enough for you to tear them apart, to confuse and hurt them.
No, I suppose those aren’t frivolous reasons, you should be really scared of what secrets those kids can give up.
I honestly don’t believe any of you understand the importance of stability and love in a child’s life or you would not have done what you did the Tuesday before the Thanksgiving long weekend. I’m very surprised you did not wait until Christmas Eve because only that date would have been more damaging than Thanksgiving. Once again, you should be ashamed of yourselves for your selfishness. No one believes you have the siblings’ best interests at heart so stop letting all this garbage and these lies come out of your mouth, it makes you look silly. You are consistently assuming we are all stupid and ignorant to your big policies and procedures. We are not.
The circumstances that led to Jeffrey Baldwin’s death are indeed very tragic and unacceptable, but not once have I heard you publicly apologize to your employers or to the children you have let become so badly damaged. I have not once heard of you taking the responsibility for being so lazy and unorganized, the public has not heard of your incredible life-saving changes to policy following his death. Surely you aren’t going to hide behind the very weak and transparent Bill 210 are you? We can see you hiding behind there grasping on to it for dear life. But let me tell you Ms. McConville, if you ever, ever want to gain back any inkling of public trust, you must admit that this child’s blood is on your hands.
I hope you are shaking in your boots, I hope you and your agency will be found partially responsible for Jeffrey’s death and be severely reprimanded. I hope you can’t sleep or eat or have a day pass by that you do not think of this child; we have all paid numerous precious hours sleepless, crying and feeling helpless as a result of your mistake.
We are waiting for an apology.
Regards,
Amanda Reed
Friday, November 11, 2005
Memorial Pics
I wonder what this child is thinking... I hope he never fully understands why he was there
Toronto City Councillor Paula Fletcher... an incredible woman!
Memorial plaque
My son Reed and I laying a rose...
The EMS workers, some were at the dreadful scene November 30th, 2002...
Giving my speech in front of the tree, bench and plaque... beautiful day, glorious colours on the tree!
The crowd...-all pictures courtesy of Kris Harper
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Monday, November 07, 2005
'Letters To' Information
Betsworth, Linda
Phone: 416-325-0661 Fax: 416-325-5735
Program Supervisor - CHILDREN'S SERVICES
3rd Flr477 Mount Pleasant Rd
Toronto, ON M7A 1G1
Prime Minister Paul Martin
You can send your comments by e-mail to pm@pm.gc.ca
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
Don Guy
Chief of Staff
Office of the Premier
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Hon Irwin Cotler
MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
312 West Block House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 990-7255
Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario
Legislative BuildingQueen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Fax: (416) 325-3745
Mary Anne Chambers
Minister of Children and Youth Services
56 Wellesley Street West, 14th Floor
Toronto, M4S 2S3
Fax: (416) 212-7431
Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies
75 Front Street East, 2nd floor
Toronto, Ontario M5E 1V9
fax (416) 366-8317
Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto
Mary McConville, Executive Director
Toronto Catholic Children's Aid Society
26 Maitland St,
Toronto ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: (416) 395-1581
Please write to this woman for sure
Michael Bryant
Ministry of the Attorney General
720 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, ON M5G 2K1
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/comments.asp
Andre Marin
Ombudsman Ontario
125 Queen's Park
Toronto ON M5G 2C7
Dr. Barry A. McLellan
Chief Coroner
Coroners Building
26 Grenville St., 2nd Floor
Toronto ON M7A 2G9
Mr. John Tory
Leader- Official Opposition
Conservative Party
Rm. 381
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A8
Ms. Marilyn Churley, MPP
Toronto – Danforth
Rm. 116
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A5
Jack Layton
1506 Danforth Ave.
Toronto, ON M4J 1N4
Fax: (416) 405-8918
laytoj1@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. James K. Bartleman
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Queen's Park Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1
Fax: 416-325-7787
E-mail: ltgov@gov.on.ca
Phone: 416-325-0661 Fax: 416-325-5735
Program Supervisor - CHILDREN'S SERVICES
3rd Flr477 Mount Pleasant Rd
Toronto, ON M7A 1G1
Prime Minister Paul Martin
You can send your comments by e-mail to pm@pm.gc.ca
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
Don Guy
Chief of Staff
Office of the Premier
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Hon Irwin Cotler
MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
312 West Block House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 990-7255
Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario
Legislative BuildingQueen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Fax: (416) 325-3745
Mary Anne Chambers
Minister of Children and Youth Services
56 Wellesley Street West, 14th Floor
Toronto, M4S 2S3
Fax: (416) 212-7431
Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies
75 Front Street East, 2nd floor
Toronto, Ontario M5E 1V9
fax (416) 366-8317
Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto
Mary McConville, Executive Director
Toronto Catholic Children's Aid Society
26 Maitland St,
Toronto ON M4Y 1C6
Fax: (416) 395-1581
Please write to this woman for sure
Michael Bryant
Ministry of the Attorney General
720 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, ON M5G 2K1
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/comments.asp
Andre Marin
Ombudsman Ontario
125 Queen's Park
Toronto ON M5G 2C7
Dr. Barry A. McLellan
Chief Coroner
Coroners Building
26 Grenville St., 2nd Floor
Toronto ON M7A 2G9
Mr. John Tory
Leader- Official Opposition
Conservative Party
Rm. 381
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A8
Ms. Marilyn Churley, MPP
Toronto – Danforth
Rm. 116
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A5
Jack Layton
1506 Danforth Ave.
Toronto, ON M4J 1N4
Fax: (416) 405-8918
laytoj1@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. James K. Bartleman
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Queen's Park Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1
Fax: 416-325-7787
E-mail: ltgov@gov.on.ca
Three Step Proposal- Jeffrey's Law
Three Step Proposal- Jeffrey's Law
1. Agencies need to be held accountable for their actions:
a) if a child dies in care, an agent should be required to prove before a committee that they did everything in their power to protect the child including:
- a thorough check of the child’s family for a history of abuse
- a thorough check of child’s foster family regardless of blood ties
- saw the child face to face at every home visit which is currently every 90 days- and should remain every 90 days regardless of ‘kinship’ care
- ensured all appointments were kept if parents or children are receiving social services
- if allegations were made after placement or initial intervention, they are followed up closely
Failing to do any of the above, and found guilty, the agent would not only be dismissed, but they could face criminal charges of negligence causing death. Hopefully this would encourage more concise, thorough investigations and documentation being done.
Currently, all the CCAS agents involved in the Jordan Heikamp, Sara Podniewicz and Jeffrey Baldwin cases are either still actively employed or are on long term disability paid with Ontario public’s taxes- they should be in jail.
b) Agencies need to be responsible for hiring qualified agents who have university or college education to work in the field. Agents should be trained by all levels of professionals including pediatricians, coroners, homicide detectives, sexual abuse workers, and highly experienced social workers so they can be better equipped to notice red flags. More funding definitely needs to be concentrated on children to ensure agents are qualified professionals.
c) These agencies should have to function like a business. Without divulging confidential information about children or families, they should have to publish an in depth annual report available to anyone on their web site that states budget, spending, the number of children placed in foster homes or adopted as well as any deaths and their causes. The agency should have to divulge the details surrounding any deaths and why they were not prevented.
They should have to be accountable to their four stakeholders;
a) their customers- the children,
b) their shareholders- Ontario tax payers;
c) their community- doing fundraising, awareness campaigns, benefits of adoption/ fostering/ volunteering campaigns, etc.,
d) and finally to their employee’s- adequate benefits, salaries and vacation time.
Instead of a monetary bottom line, they will have a ‘successful placement’ bottom line.
They should have goals, budgets and forecasts just like a corporation and should strive to meet these objectives.
e) Agencies must take every call seriously and have someone personally visit the household and see the children face to face before they consult their ‘Risk Assessment Module’. Agents should legally be allowed into any home when an accusation of abuse has been made or if they fear for their safety, an officer go with them. The visit should be a surprise and at the initial meeting, the caller should not be identified. Agents would note various aspects such as the condition of the home, the demeanor of the parents and the condition of the child relative to its age. If the claim is substantiated by the agent, the child be taken immediately and put into emergency foster care. If not, the agent then visits the caller to determine whether or not revenge or malicious intent was the motive for the call. I use the example of the Toronto woman who cut off the hands of her neighbour because she thought the neighbour called the CAS on her.
f) Abuse repeats itself, so family histories should be researched and examined before a child is placed with a relative or back with their parents.
This is all regurgitated information. It’s the same issue over and over again. It is past due time that the Provincial and Federal government step in with more funding and provide more resources to agencies. I’m convinced that the general public wants our future generation to be properly protected. Having said that, agents must be held responsible for their judgement calls and have known and severe consequences for failing to research properly.
‘Why should we cut more slack for professionals than we ever would with a parent? A parent screws up, their kids are taken. When an agency screws up, it’s an honest mistake and everyone has to be understanding.’ - Bruce Hardy
2. Various Laws and Legislation need to be changed as well as the Judicial System:
a) Parents should not have access to children taken and put into foster homes until they can convince the CAS that they are willing to learn how to be better parents. Children should be made crown wards more often than not and available for adoption rather than going from foster home to foster home, or worse, back to their parents
b) Children must come first. The clients of the Children’s Aid Society are the children! Too often the parents are forgiven for their behavior and the child’s best interest is not taken into account. The laws must be revised to state that the child’s welfare is the absolute most important factor the minute a call is placed to the society. The current child- protection legislation in Ontario states that children will benefit more from less intrusive alternative and no longer applies when statistics show that the most dangerous place for a child is in the home, and that abuse most of the time is inflicted by a known person. In a report done in 1998 called The Consequences of Child Maltreatment Canada, the Manitoba Family Services stated that ‘the fatality rate from physical abuse is estimated to be between 4% and 10 % if an injured child is placed back in the family home a second time.’ The rates are most certainly higher now. The system clearly puts the rights of adults before children.
c) A special charge of ‘death by child abuse’ must be included in the Criminal Code of Canada with a minimum sentence of ten years regardless of the child’s age. Currently the trend is that the younger the child, the less the sentence, sometimes parents getting no jail time at all. A year or two later they’re pregnant again and it starts all over.
d) Government has to start taking an interest in Child Welfare because although they can not vote right now, they will eventually. The price of properly caring for a child now is a lot less than the cost of dealing with potential juvenile delinquents
e) Neglect and failing to provide the necessities of life should be considered as significant as physical abuse to the judge
f) Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada states that any adult can use force to correct a child under his care as long as the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances. This is so out of date it shouldn’t need fighting to be changed, however, both the Provincial and Supreme Court of Canada believe it should still be in effect.
In all, there are too many loopholes in many aspects of both the Criminal Code and Child and Family Act of Canada to mention. Why haven’t the other four adults living in the house with Jeffrey been charged with Criminal Negligence causing death? Their actions, or rather lack thereof, clearly fall under that law. Why are some laws enforced while others are abandoned?
3. The public CAS and CCAS should be amalgamated:
a) Both agencies are competing for the same funding but if both agencies cleaned house so to speak and became one public agency, it would function much more effectively. The public CAS on a whole seems to performing much better than the CCAS
b) A single case manager for each child for the full duration of their lifetime in care would be beneficial and help prevent fatal miscommunication mistakes.
In conclusion, our current system is not working and requires a complete overhaul that I don’t believe would take millions of dollars to accomplish. It’s logic that should guide agencies, ministries, judges, and foster parents. Consulting some professionals on how the laws should be revised, what signs to look for when determining potential abuse and an agency set up to watch the Children’s Aid Society is all that should be required. It needs to happen now, too many silent victims have lived in torture and died alone and needlessly. Coroners inquests don’t carry much weight anymore, the recommendations aren’t implemented, it costs a lot of money and places empty blame. No one can be charged, fired or serve jail time as a result of the jury’s decision. We know what happened, we know who’s to blame, we know what should happen, there’s no point spending thousands or millions of dollars on finding that out. Use the money to overhaul the system, it would be much more beneficial.
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1. Agencies need to be held accountable for their actions:
a) if a child dies in care, an agent should be required to prove before a committee that they did everything in their power to protect the child including:
- a thorough check of the child’s family for a history of abuse
- a thorough check of child’s foster family regardless of blood ties
- saw the child face to face at every home visit which is currently every 90 days- and should remain every 90 days regardless of ‘kinship’ care
- ensured all appointments were kept if parents or children are receiving social services
- if allegations were made after placement or initial intervention, they are followed up closely
Failing to do any of the above, and found guilty, the agent would not only be dismissed, but they could face criminal charges of negligence causing death. Hopefully this would encourage more concise, thorough investigations and documentation being done.
Currently, all the CCAS agents involved in the Jordan Heikamp, Sara Podniewicz and Jeffrey Baldwin cases are either still actively employed or are on long term disability paid with Ontario public’s taxes- they should be in jail.
b) Agencies need to be responsible for hiring qualified agents who have university or college education to work in the field. Agents should be trained by all levels of professionals including pediatricians, coroners, homicide detectives, sexual abuse workers, and highly experienced social workers so they can be better equipped to notice red flags. More funding definitely needs to be concentrated on children to ensure agents are qualified professionals.
c) These agencies should have to function like a business. Without divulging confidential information about children or families, they should have to publish an in depth annual report available to anyone on their web site that states budget, spending, the number of children placed in foster homes or adopted as well as any deaths and their causes. The agency should have to divulge the details surrounding any deaths and why they were not prevented.
They should have to be accountable to their four stakeholders;
a) their customers- the children,
b) their shareholders- Ontario tax payers;
c) their community- doing fundraising, awareness campaigns, benefits of adoption/ fostering/ volunteering campaigns, etc.,
d) and finally to their employee’s- adequate benefits, salaries and vacation time.
Instead of a monetary bottom line, they will have a ‘successful placement’ bottom line.
They should have goals, budgets and forecasts just like a corporation and should strive to meet these objectives.
e) Agencies must take every call seriously and have someone personally visit the household and see the children face to face before they consult their ‘Risk Assessment Module’. Agents should legally be allowed into any home when an accusation of abuse has been made or if they fear for their safety, an officer go with them. The visit should be a surprise and at the initial meeting, the caller should not be identified. Agents would note various aspects such as the condition of the home, the demeanor of the parents and the condition of the child relative to its age. If the claim is substantiated by the agent, the child be taken immediately and put into emergency foster care. If not, the agent then visits the caller to determine whether or not revenge or malicious intent was the motive for the call. I use the example of the Toronto woman who cut off the hands of her neighbour because she thought the neighbour called the CAS on her.
f) Abuse repeats itself, so family histories should be researched and examined before a child is placed with a relative or back with their parents.
This is all regurgitated information. It’s the same issue over and over again. It is past due time that the Provincial and Federal government step in with more funding and provide more resources to agencies. I’m convinced that the general public wants our future generation to be properly protected. Having said that, agents must be held responsible for their judgement calls and have known and severe consequences for failing to research properly.
‘Why should we cut more slack for professionals than we ever would with a parent? A parent screws up, their kids are taken. When an agency screws up, it’s an honest mistake and everyone has to be understanding.’ - Bruce Hardy
2. Various Laws and Legislation need to be changed as well as the Judicial System:
a) Parents should not have access to children taken and put into foster homes until they can convince the CAS that they are willing to learn how to be better parents. Children should be made crown wards more often than not and available for adoption rather than going from foster home to foster home, or worse, back to their parents
b) Children must come first. The clients of the Children’s Aid Society are the children! Too often the parents are forgiven for their behavior and the child’s best interest is not taken into account. The laws must be revised to state that the child’s welfare is the absolute most important factor the minute a call is placed to the society. The current child- protection legislation in Ontario states that children will benefit more from less intrusive alternative and no longer applies when statistics show that the most dangerous place for a child is in the home, and that abuse most of the time is inflicted by a known person. In a report done in 1998 called The Consequences of Child Maltreatment Canada, the Manitoba Family Services stated that ‘the fatality rate from physical abuse is estimated to be between 4% and 10 % if an injured child is placed back in the family home a second time.’ The rates are most certainly higher now. The system clearly puts the rights of adults before children.
c) A special charge of ‘death by child abuse’ must be included in the Criminal Code of Canada with a minimum sentence of ten years regardless of the child’s age. Currently the trend is that the younger the child, the less the sentence, sometimes parents getting no jail time at all. A year or two later they’re pregnant again and it starts all over.
d) Government has to start taking an interest in Child Welfare because although they can not vote right now, they will eventually. The price of properly caring for a child now is a lot less than the cost of dealing with potential juvenile delinquents
e) Neglect and failing to provide the necessities of life should be considered as significant as physical abuse to the judge
f) Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada states that any adult can use force to correct a child under his care as long as the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances. This is so out of date it shouldn’t need fighting to be changed, however, both the Provincial and Supreme Court of Canada believe it should still be in effect.
In all, there are too many loopholes in many aspects of both the Criminal Code and Child and Family Act of Canada to mention. Why haven’t the other four adults living in the house with Jeffrey been charged with Criminal Negligence causing death? Their actions, or rather lack thereof, clearly fall under that law. Why are some laws enforced while others are abandoned?
3. The public CAS and CCAS should be amalgamated:
a) Both agencies are competing for the same funding but if both agencies cleaned house so to speak and became one public agency, it would function much more effectively. The public CAS on a whole seems to performing much better than the CCAS
b) A single case manager for each child for the full duration of their lifetime in care would be beneficial and help prevent fatal miscommunication mistakes.
In conclusion, our current system is not working and requires a complete overhaul that I don’t believe would take millions of dollars to accomplish. It’s logic that should guide agencies, ministries, judges, and foster parents. Consulting some professionals on how the laws should be revised, what signs to look for when determining potential abuse and an agency set up to watch the Children’s Aid Society is all that should be required. It needs to happen now, too many silent victims have lived in torture and died alone and needlessly. Coroners inquests don’t carry much weight anymore, the recommendations aren’t implemented, it costs a lot of money and places empty blame. No one can be charged, fired or serve jail time as a result of the jury’s decision. We know what happened, we know who’s to blame, we know what should happen, there’s no point spending thousands or millions of dollars on finding that out. Use the money to overhaul the system, it would be much more beneficial.
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