What do consent forms allow the Children's Aid Society to do and why?

It's a funding strategy, a loophole, that lets the society go on a fishing expedition as long as the society's workers can trick, threaten and intimidate families into signing them:

 

A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Loopholes are searched for and used strategically in a variety of circumstances, including taxes, elections, politics, the criminal justice system, or in breaches of security, or a response to one's civil liberties.

 

Justice Slatter wrote:

 

"So-called fishing expeditions are not permitted. This rule is directed at situations where the person calling the witness does not have any idea whether the witness has anything to say, and cannot provide the court with any reasonable basis for believing that the witness will provide some useful testimony. Even where the witness is known to have information, the calling of witnesses for discovery purposes is not permitted.... Witnesses are to be called to prove things, not as a part of an investigatory process"

 

 

Also known as a "fishing trip." "The term fishing expedition has been generally used to describe an indiscriminate request for production, in the hope of uncovering helpful information."

 

#1 An investigation searching for evidence of wrongdoing, with no credible evidence of such wrongdoing available at the outset of the investigation, and often without specifying in advance the wrongdoing to be proven.

 

#2 The use of pretrial investigation discovery or witness questioning in an unfocused attempt to uncover damaging evidence to be used against an adversary.

 

#3 The loose, vague, unfocused questioning of a witness or the overly broad use of the discovery process. 

 

#4 Discovery sought on general, loose, and vague allegations, or on suspicion, surmise, or vague guesses.

 

2013

 

In a leaked memo, Peel CAS staff asked to keep cases open to retain funding. The memo notes that “our volumes continue to be lower than our projections and this will result in less funding for our organization which directly impacts our current deficit and could impact our funding in future years. Therefore the month of March is very important and we need to make a collective effort to meet our newly discussed targets.”

 

What caused the alleged deficit besides settling lawsuits and having to pay court costs and lawsuits?

 

Here's one of the many examples from 2015:

 

"Child welfare agency found to have wasted money on office renovations, consultants and bloated management."

 

London’s child welfare agency squandered money on costly office renovations and highly paid, bloated management ranks, a just-released report by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services states.

 

The ministry put the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex under review in late 2013 because the agency that cares for vulnerable children was running a deficit.

 

In a 25-page report kept under wraps for months, the ministry slams the CAS for budget deficits, having too many executives, paying them too much, its medical clinic and questionable expenses in its 2013-14 budget.

 

Highlights of the report, obtained by The Free Press after the paper filed a freedom-of-information request:

 

The CAS spent $300,000 to renovate a leased office at 685 Richmond St.

 

The agency shelled out $51,000 in parking fees.

 

22 executives were paid more than $100,000. The number at comparable agencies was 15.

 

The agency spent $50,000 in taxis, including $3,535 for one client during two months.

 

 The bill for technology was nearly $85,600.

 

Included in the tab were 23 iPads ($19,600), $26,000 for remote access to desktops and $40,000 in other costs.

 

“It appears the CAS could have taken steps to reduce or eliminate its deficit in 2013-14, had necessary measures been implemented in a timely manner,” the report said.

 

The CAS moved into leased space at 685 Richmond St. from an office on Dundas St., acting director Regina Bell said.

 

“They moved walls, installed electric blinds, there was all kinds of money wasted there,” said Karen Cudmore, president of Local 116 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union that represent CAS workers.

 

The CAS has scaled back the Richmond St. office, Bell said. Employees there will move back to the agency’s Oxford St. headquarters in about a year and the Richmond office will close, she said.

 

The agency trimmed "front line staff" and cut some programs and services, freeing up space at its headquarters. 

 

 

BACK TO THE PEEL MEMO LEAK

 

March is the end of the fiscal year for the agency and in the memo staff are instructed to complete as many investigations as possible (no fewer than 1,000), transfer as many cases as possible to “ongoing services,” and not close any ongoing cases during March.

 

“Wrongly opening or leaving these files open can have a damaging impact on parents and children's lives. For example, some parents are separated from their kids, some parents have to take time off work to meet with the CAS when their files should have been closed, and some parents are unable to return home because of a false abuse claim — and all of these cases leave these families in emotional limbo,” wrote the employee who would not reveal their identity for fear of retribution.

 

The employee said many workers are outraged over the memo, “because it is immoral and wrong to keep client cases open just to meet a quota. . . . There are far-reaching implications when you have a CAS record.”

 

 

Province in talks with Peel Children’s Aid Society over strategies in leaked memo.

 

Why do they need funding strategies, there is child abuse or there isn't.