Make the
CAS a Budget priority
Now that we know the date of the next provincial budget
– March 25 – we can expect the pundits to weigh in with their views on
which direction the government should head as it manages the public
purse.
The Finance Minister is under enormous pressure to bring
down the provincial deficit, now estimated at about $25 billion. Egged
on by neo-conservative economists and commentators, the temptation will
be strong to cut public services. All too typically, their
short-sighted solutions amount to little more than hollowing out public
services that working families rely upon.
The problem with this approach is that too often it is
the most vulnerable that suffer the most. One needn’t look any further
for evidence of this than the funding crisis affecting many Children’s
Aids Societies in Ontario.
If there is one line in the provincial budget that cries
out for increased spending it is the CAS – a public agency that’s
mandated to protect children, investigate allegations of child abuse and
neglect, and provide guidance, care, prevention and adoption services.
The challenges facing too many CAS offices across the
province are all-too-familiar: layoffs, chronic operating deficits,
turmoil among board members in some communities and instances of
employees not being reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses.
Taken together, these issues amount to a profound
failure on the part of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services to
meet the pressing needs of its clients. Last month’s emergency funding
was welcomed, but it amounted to little more than a short-term fix to a
problem that demands long-term and sustainable remedies.
It’s no secret that the demand on social services grows
proportionately when the economy is suffering. CASs have found that in
cities and communities where the unemployment rate has increased, there
is a significant rise in the need for child protection services. The
longer the current economic crisis persists, the more complex and
demanding the workload will be in child welfare agencies.
For some time now OPSEU and other unions representing
workers in child welfare, including those in the CAS, have recognized
the crisis facing this sector. We mobilized around last year’s National
Child Day; we have submitted pre-budget submissions; and we have lobbied
key Ministers and MPPs. Locally, our members have done a successful job
drawing media and public attention to the shortfalls facing CASs in
their communities.
The temptation is to give ourselves a good pat on the
back. But the challenges are too great and the need is too urgent. These
are not days for celebration.
The March 25 budget will be a litmus test for Laurel
Broten, the minister responsible for children and youth services. What
the CAS needs more than ever is a funding formula that provides
long-term sustainable support for children and families. Band-aid,
emergency cash infusions of the kind we witnessed last month are no
solution.
Can Minister Broten deliver? Our members, and the
clients on whose behalf they work, will be watching to see whether she
managed to persuade Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan that it’s time to
treat child welfare as a priority in Ontario.
In Solidarity
Patty Rout
First Vice-President / Treasurer
