Child Welfare in Ontario
In Canada, each province is responsible for its own child welfare system. So what makes Ontario's system different?
Most provinces operate their child welfare services through specific government departments. However, in Ontario, child welfare interests are rooted in philanthropic traditions of charity and guidance provided by private organizations.
These traditions began with the creation of child welfare organizations in Ontario in 1891 when crusading journalist and reformer J.J. Kelso, who became a leading figure in child welfare, established the first Children’s Aid Society in Toronto. Following its establishment, 52 other Children’s Aid Societies sprung across the province. The province gave these child welfare agencies extensive powers, including power over children’s safety.
Over the last few decades, Ontario’s Children’s Aid Society agencies have been partnering with organizations, service partners and the community – including hospitals, schools, police services and community service agencies – to prevent abuse and neglect, ensure the safety, well being and stability of children and youth, and strengthen families to better care for children.
This is where a non-profit organization like the Children’s Aid Foundation make a difference. For the past 30 years, the Foundation has been dedicated to raising additional funds for the Children’s Aid Societies for programs not subsidized by the provincial government. Since then, the Foundation has expanded to helping more than 100 other grassroots organizations across the province. Using a three-pronged approach, the Foundation works to fund programs for the province’s child welfare agencies in the areas of prevention, enrichment and education.
Outside of Ontario, the Children’s Aid Foundation funds programs which are not funded by the government to help create and maintain better resources for the children and youth who need them. Together with the various child welfare agencies, the Foundation is dedicated to changing the lives of children.
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