|
Oct. 26, 2001 DRAFT speaking notes for OPSEU president Leah Casselman
Greetings!
I want to just start out by saying that I’m pleased to be able to join with Sid Ryan and CUPE, and with people across Ontario on an issue as important as the welfare of Ontario’s children.
I’d also like to thank the many NDP and Liberal MPPs that are participating in events today, and for showing an understanding of the problems faced by child protection workers.
OPSEU represents the front line and support staff in a number of Children’s Aid Societies across Ontario.
Our members know how difficult these jobs really are and I’m here today to tell you what I am hearing from these workers.
First of all, I want to say that working in this field is an incredible calling. It is a difficult, and sometimes frustrating profession. It takes a lot out of people, emotionally, to deal with helping children at risk and their families on a daily basis.
That’s why these workers are very special people. They need our support, and they need to be able to do their jobs.
As I see it, their job is to protect our children from abuse and neglect.
The Tory government sees it differently. They have significantly increased the red tape and paperwork these workers must deal with.
What we mean is that every single move, every step a worker takes; there is a form to be filled out, and a check-in to be made with a supervisor. This takes precious time away from the actual work of helping children.
Our members tell us that up to 70 per cent of their work time is tied up by filling in forms and pushing paper, because of the changes this government has made.
Maybe the government should have its Red Tape Commission look at this.
The CAS workers’ level of stress and frustration has risen, as important work can no longer be done.
They want to get out there and see the children, but the workload is overwhelming. They just can’t do their real jobs.
In this situation, people are leaving the field of child protection. And although new people are coming in, it takes a lot of time to learn the job – you can’t pick it up overnight.
Today many agencies have more than 50 per cent of their front line staff with less than 2 years of experience.
We’re losing many of our best, most experienced people, and it takes time to build up that kind of expertise in an organization.
We’re seeing this right across the public sector, with a government that has denigrated and frankly, insulted people who choose to make their careers by helping people and serving the public.
In this case, by helping children. And what could be a higher calling?
Our OPSEU members working in this field feel a strong commitment to the work they do. They have a strong commitment to the children, and to the public they serve.
Our workers in this sector are like public sector workers across North America who have been the scapegoats for right wing governments who have said that the public sector does not matter.
Well, September 11th changed all that. If Walkerton hadn’t already changed it.
The heroes at Walkerton and in New York on September 11th were public sector workers. The public knows that and everyone seems to have realized that except this Tory government, who continues to act as if nothing has changed.
What does September 11th or Walkerton have to do with it, you ask?
It’s about protection of the public, in this case our children.
Child protection workers are heroes too.
They enforce the Child and Family Services Act which is the backbone of child protection in Ontario. Children are safe because child protection workers are on the job. They go into dangerous situations to provide protection for some of the most vulnerable people in our society – our children.
Another similarity with Walkerton comes to mind.
It’s about the government’s dereliction of its responsibilities to provide quality public services to the people who need these services.
The Tory government has a plan. Create a crisis, they say, and then ask our friends in the private sector to come and fix it. But they don’t fix it – they make it worse. And we all pay and pay, like we did with the Accenture contract in social services which cost us more than 180 million dollars.
In this case, it’s the children who are paying the price. That’s not fair.
Creating a crisis is what this government is good at.
Well, we’ve sure got a crisis here.
Our government will tell you that they’ve increased funding to the Children’s Aid Societies and they have. This is not only about money. It’s about workload. It’s about making it possible for a committed and caring worker to do a good job, and so that at the end of the day, the worker can go home and say “I made a
difference today.”
Ask the employer, which in this case is the network of CAS agencies across the province, the OACAS (Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies).
The OACAS reports that investigations are up by 13 per cent since 1998-1999. As well, the number of children in care has increased by 26 per cent since 1997. That’s a huge increase.
Our problem is not currently with the employer.
The employer knows that the real work is done out there with children and their families, not with computers and paperwork.
Peoplework is what our members want to do. Paperwork is what they are being forced to do.
Our members want the Children’s Aid Societies to do the job they were intended to do – to protect our children.
We want to get out there and help the children, but we can’t. In one case that was reported in the community’s newspaper, there were 200 uninvestigated reports of abuse at the beginning of May. At the end of May they had 400 cases.
This is a waiting list for cases of children at risk of abuse, and this is unacceptable.
We as a society have to address this. We have to make the CAS better.
And to make the CAS better, the first thing we need to do is make it a better place to work.
There is a direct link between the quality of service the public receives and the quality of our jobs – this goes for the public service, the broader public service, hospitals – all public employees.
When public employees are valued and respected, the public service will keep its dedicated, experienced people and it will attract energetic new ones.
When staffing levels are reasonable and workloads are manageable, service will be better because we will actually be able to do the work.
Right now, the only thing holding the Children’s Aid Societies together is the incredible commitment of the dedicated staff.
Unfortunately, Ministry officials seem more interested in forcing agencies to hold the line on spending.
They have a funding formula that is completely out of line. For instance, it takes 19 hours to do an investigation, plus court work which is incredibly time consuming. The Ministry budgets for 12.5 hours.
The projected deficit for societies is about 50 million dollars for the fiscal year 2000-2001. Some agencies will have gone over their budgets for the year by January. And if this government has its way, they will be forced to get loans at the bank to meet their payrolls and place children in foster homes.
They have been told not to expect any additional funds even though their deficits are the result of not mismanagement, not overspending but -- protecting children.
They have also been told to plan for a cut in their budgets for 2002-03 because of the government’s anti-deficit law.
These are our children we’re talking about here.
Our workers will be out there today to try and draw attention to these problems and what the government can do to fix them. We’ll be talking to the media, talking to MPPs, and holding public rallies and other events in communities across Ontario.
What are our workers asking for?
Three things.
We’re asking that the government:
Re-Instate the Comprehensive Review of the Funding Formula that was promised three years ago when the Tories brought it in; this funding formula is not working and it’s not realistic.
Second that they:
Work with the Employers and the Unions to develop realistic workload guidelines, as was recommended by the Coroners’ Inquests;
and Third that they:
Fund existing CAS deficits for 2001 – 2002 and withdraw the threat of anti-deficit legislation claw backs for 2002 –2003.
This is how we’re going to keep our children safe, not by giving the workers an impossible workload and chasing them out of the profession.
Thank you for coming out today to support the front line and support workers who protect our children.
Download and print this file 96.57KB 
.gif) If Acrobat Reader is not already installed on your PC, please click on
the icon.
|
