Resolving concerns and complaints
We take pride in our ability to work with the families and children we serve to find shared resolutions to concerns and complaints. If you are not satisfied with the service you have received from us, we encourage you to discuss your concerns with your worker. If you have done this and remain unsatisfied, there are a number of ways you can continue to seek resolution.
To download a brochure with all the information you need, click on either of the links below. Or you can read the information on this webpage.
Download Here: Making a Complaint
Download Here: Making a Complaint as a Child or Youth in Care
Informal Complaint Review
Follow these steps to submit an informal complaint.
1. Talk Directly with your Worker
This is potentially the fastest and easiest way to resolve your concerns.
2. Speak with your Worker’s Supervisor
If you are not satisfied with the answers you get from your worker or your complaint is about the worker, talk to your worker’s supervisor either in person or on the phone.
3. Speak with the Director of Services
If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Director of Service to request a conversation or meeting. The Director of Service will work with you and staff to resolve your concerns. If you wish, you may bring someone to support you during this or any future discussion of your concerns.
Formal Internal Complaint Review
If the informal review process has not resolved your concerns, or if you chose not to pursue the informal review process, you can launch a formal complaint.
At any time during the formal Internal Complaint and Review Process, you may bring another person with you for support or to help interpret your concern if you are more comfortable communicating in a language other than English or French.
Internal Complaint Review Panel (ICRP)
To begin a review of your concern or complaint with the Internal Complaint and Review Panel (ICRP), you must submit a Formal Complaint Form to the Complaint’s Officer at CCASH. The complaint will be reviewed by the Society within 7 days to determine whether it is eligible for review. The Society is required to provide you with a written response to notify you that either:
- Your complaint is not eligible for review and the reasons why
- Your complaint is eligible and will be reviewed by the ICRP, and you will be provided with a date and time for a meeting
If your complaint is eligible for review, within 14 days (or later if you request it), the ICRP will meet with you in person at a time that is convenient for you and the members of the panel. The panel is chosen by the Executive Director of the agency and comprised of senior Agency staff not involved with your case and a person not employed by the Agency (this could be a member of the Board of Directors of CCASH). If you are French speaking, the ICRP will be conducted in French. You may bring a representative with you to this meeting. If you are a member of a band or a First Nation, Inuit or Métis community, a representative of your band or First Nation, Inuit or Métis community can also attend. The panel will review your concerns and discuss them with you at the meeting.
Within 14 days after the meeting, the ICRP will send you a written summary of the meeting, including any recommended steps to resolve the complaint. Please note, the ICRP cannot be used for issues which are currently before the court or matters that are subject to another decision-making process under the Child, Youth and Family Service Act or the Labour Relations Act.
For more information on this process, please contact CCASH at 905-525-2012. Click here to access the Formal Complaint Form.
Child and Family Services Review Board
You may ask the Child and Family Services Review Board (CFSRB) to review your complaint. In order to do so, your complaint must meet one of the following criteria.
You claim that CCASH has:
- refused to proceed with a complaint
- failed to respond to your complaint within the required time frame
- failed to comply with the complaint procedure outlined above
- not given you an opportunity to be heard regarding a decision affecting your interest or concerns about the service you received
- failed to provide you with the reasons for a decision that affects your interests.
You may contact the Child and Family Services Review Board if you claim inaccuracy in your file at CCASH. This complaint about file accuracy can only be made after it has been heard by CCASH’s Internal Complaint Review Panel.
Your request for a review at the Child and Family Services Review Board must be in writing on a prescribed form available through the Child and Family Services Review Board. This website provides information about the CFSRB process with a link to download the form: CFSRB: Complain about services of a children’s aid society | Tribunals Ontario
Decisions of the CFSRB cannot be appealed. However, if you have concerns about the CFSRB, the Ontario Ombudsman may investigate complaints and may report and make recommendations arising from such reviews.
Contact the Child and Family Services Review Board:
655 Bay Street, 14th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M7A 2A3
(416) 327‐0111 or 1‐888‐777-3616
Fax: (416) 327‐0558
www.cfsrb.ca
[email protected]
The Ontario Ombudsman
The Ontario Ombudsman can receive and respond to complaints from children and youth. If you are a child or youth, you may complain directly to the Ombudsman about any matter, without beginning or completing a process to complain to a society’s Internal Complaints Review Panel.
The Ombudsman can also conduct investigations. You can ask for an investigation once you have tried to resolve your complaint through the steps listed above.
The Ombudsman is also able to receive and respond to complaints regarding the provision of French language services.
Contact the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office:
Bell Trinity Square
483 Bay Street, 10th Floor, South Tower
Toronto, ON
M5G 2C9
Phone: 1-800-263-1830
Outside Ontario: 416-586-3300
Fax: 416-586-3485
TTY (Teletypewriter): 1-866-411-4211
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: https://www.ombudsman.on.ca
Complaint provisions of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act
This document provides an overview of the complaints provisions in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act and its regulations.