Peggy Revell
At the same time Ontario legislators donned purple ribbons to mark Child Abuse Prevention Month, the McGuinty government has come under fire for the budget shortfalls facing various Children’s Aid Societies across the province, including Family and Children’s Services here in Rainy River District.
During question period at Queen’s Park last Thursday morning, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton demanded answers on the funding shortfall at FACS—a story first broken by the Times back on Sept. 25.
“The Family and Children’s Services of the District of Rainy River has had a balanced budget for the last three years, despite receiving a blended funding rate of only $39 per child in care, while the provincial blended funding rate is $79 per child in care,” Hampton stated.
“However, this agency has now been put in a very difficult financial situation because your ministry, mid-year, cut their budget by $400,000, on a full-year budget of only $3 million.
“This means they will not have the money to provide services for children in need over the last three months.
“My question is this: Why is the McGuinty government undermining this family and children’s services organization’s capacity to protect children in need?” Hampton asked.
Hampton also brought forth a recent letter sent from the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies to Premier Dalton McGuinty.
“Currently. . . the government’s . . . funding strategy for Children’s Aid Societies . . . threatens to undermine their capacity to protect children and to meet even the minimum standards of the Child and Family Services Act,” Hampton read.
“The negative impact of this funding strategy—cutting back money mid-year—on all CASs has been enormous. . . .
“It is estimated that one-fifth of the 53 CASs in Ontario will be insolvent by the end of this fiscal year,” the letter continued. “Operations at some may not be sustainable within the next few weeks.. . . .
“The government’s recent actions represent a significant and far-reaching funding strategy change. . . .”
Monday morning’s question period saw Conservative MPP for Dufferin-Caledon, Sylvia Jones, also demanding answers from Children and Youth Services minister Deborah Matthews, pointing out that 36 of the 51 Children’s Aid Societies across Ontario have filed Section 14 requests asking for a ministerial review of their budget.
“They know they cannot fulfill their legislated mandate with the budget cuts your ministry is forcing halfway through their fiscal year,” Jones stated. “Minister, in this National Family Week, how do you explain the fact that there have never, ever before been so many requests for Section 14 reviews?
Charging that the minister’s words do not match her action, Jones argued the budget cuts will mean reductions in front-line staff, and asked which services the minister recommends being cut.
In response to these questions, Matthews stressed there’s nothing more important to her and the Ontario government than the children who are in the care of the provincial Children’s Aid Societies.
“In this particular case, we’re working very closely with Family and Children’s Services of the District of Rainy River to find a solution to this particular situation,” Matthews said in response to Hampton.
“But let me assure you: there is no impending shutdown,” she stressed.
“We are looking to actually improve services to kids,” Matthews noted, pointing out the province has increased funding for child protection by $385 million since first elected, and that this year’s budget contains $30 million more for child protection than last year’s.
She also said the province’s “transformation” is working, with 41 percent fewer kids and fewer cases.
But Matthews also warned, “We are not—and we’ve been clear with the CASs—going back for year-end funding to fund those deficits. Those days are behind us.”
In response to Jones’ questions, Matthews stated “there has been unsustainable growth in spending at CASs”
“Over the last 10 years, spending has almost tripled. It’s gone from about $500 million to $1.4 billion,” she noted.
“We have been working with CASs for the past several years,” Matthews added. “Last year, we made it very clear that there would be no end-of-year funding for them. We’ve reiterated that this year.
“We actually have $30 million more in this year’s budget than in last year’s budget. The difference is that we are not going to be able to do the end-of-year top-ups.”
Matthews pointed to the Liberal government’s move to establish a “commission to promote sustainability in the child protection sector.”
“The question is about the mandate,” she stressed. “That’s why we’re moving forward with a commission that will actually look at what is driving the costs. Why is it costing so much more to deliver service?
“We know that this is a very important responsibility of government, but there are things that CASs do that are actually not part of their legislative mandate, Matthews argued.
“It’s very important that every CAS look very hard at the range of services they provide and make sure they can meet their budget this year.”
Since the funding shortfall at FACS here first was reported by the Times, “not much has changed” concerning the situation, said Bob McGreevy, president of the board of directors at FACS.
“We’re still hoping for a negotiated resolution. We’re confident that there will be one, but we’re not there quite yet,” he remarked, pegging the exact deficit FACS faces at $604,000.
“We’re continuing to look for cost-savings and that’s pretty much it,” he added.
Several factors are behind the budget shortfall at FACS, McGreevy had said, “most of all which essentially we feel are beyond our control,” including declining provincial revenues because of the economy, which has led to funding reductions to child welfare agencies across the province.
This has resulted in ministry-imposed caps on the amount that can be spent on infrastructure (i.e., building costs, telephone lines), which falls under administrative costs, McGreevy explained, noting that because FACS is a smaller board, it does not have the “economy of scale” that bigger agencies have.
Another factor in the budget shortfall also includes year having—for the first time in the history of FACS—two children in care who require “very expensive, intensive care in an institution” that the organization is paying for out of its existing budget.
In light of the budget crunch, FACS has been looking into what measures can be taken to reduce costs, including short-term elimination of training, travel, and a reduction of meetings, as well as considerations over staffing allocations.
FACS also has been providing services to other organizations for free, but will be looking at imposing fees and user fees to increase revenues.
Other Northwestern Ontario CASs also are being hit by funding shortfalls.
The province also has faced a backlash from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, with OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas accusing the McGuinty government of treating the lives of Northern Ontario children as “throwaways.”
“Services for children and families across Northern Ontario are about to collapse because the government is simply not providing enough money to fund them,” Thomas charged in a statement.
“In fact, this funding crisis has spread across the province, and soon the entire system will implode,” he warned.
“The government has basically said to the agency, ‘Too bad, deal with it, we aren’t giving you any extra money,’” Thomas added.
“They have put a price tag on these kids’ heads, and if it’s too expensive to care for them, then that’s not their problem.”
Thomas called for an immediate reassessment of how the province is funding children and family services across all of Ontario.
“The entire system is in crisis due to a severe lack of proper funding,” Thomas argued. “The Ontario government, a Liberal government, must put children and youth first, no matter where they live in the province.
“Premier McGuinty must address this immediately, before an irreversible tragedy occurs.”
