Child welfare agencies say shortage of foster families in Ontario 'deeply concerning'

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.

Child welfare agencies are making a plea to Ontarians to open their hearts — and their homes — to help address the "critical shortage" of foster families across the province.

Meanwhile, the plea to the government from these agencies is to tackle the housing crisis and a lack of community supports and services — issues the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) says are contributing to the shortage. 

"Children’s aid societies and Indigenous Child and Family Well-Being Agencies (child welfare agencies) across the province are struggling to find foster caregivers and secure family- and community-based placements," OACAS told The Trillium in a statement this week.

"The challenges child welfare agencies are facing in the recruitment and retention of alternative caregivers, including foster caregivers, is deeply concerning. Family- and community-based placements are a critical part of the work to deliver improved, equitable outcomes for children and youth, particularly for young people overrepresented in the Ontario child welfare system (that is, Indigenous, Black, racialized, 2SLGBTQ+)," the OACAS said. 

This followed the launch of the association's "There to Care" campaign last month to recruit foster caregivers and highlight their "vital role" and "profound impact" on youth, families and communities. 

According to the association, there's been a nearly 34 per cent decline in available foster homes since 2020, putting at risk the safety and well-being of youth and families.

"The demand for these compassionate individuals and families has never been higher," OACAS said in a news release when it launched the campaign. 

In response to questions from The Trillium about what is contributing to the shortage, OACAS said foster caregivers are "grappling with the cost-of-living crisis, high inflation, and continue to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Caregivers are also facing challenges in accessing and maintaining secure, affordable and accessible housing. Canada’s housing crisis is acutely felt in Ontario, where house prices have almost tripled in the past 10 years, dramatically outpacing incomes. This has made home ownership beyond the reach of many. Rental units are also far from affordable, particularly units with multiple bedrooms.

"Quite simply, there are less and less families with the financial capacity and physical space to support a child or youth in need," the association said. 

OACAS called on all levels of government to address the housing and cost-of-living crises, while also strengthening "social infrastructure" so that foster caregivers can access the services they might need to support the youth staying in their homes, including health, mental health, child care and education services. 

The Ford government has set a goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

Meanwhile, OACAS also pointed to regulatory requirements under the Child, Youth, and Family Services Act that it said have made it "challenging for potential caregivers to move forward with fostering."

"The legislative and regulatory framework treats all placement types and service providers the same. There is a need for a more nuanced, sophisticated legislative framework that is responsive to different licensed placement types and resonates with the realities of alternate caregivers. These requirements apply to kin and customary caregivers as well, making it equally challenging for them," the association said. 

Individual child welfare agencies have spoken out about their own needs. 

Hamilton Child and Family Supports said in a news release on Monday that it's looking for foster caregivers from all communities including Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ2S+ communities, and those flexible to care for children of any age and siblings. 

But there's also a high need in the community for foster homes for adolescents and youth with complex needs, the agency said. 

Peel Children’s Aid Society launched a recruitment campaign back in January, saying it "urgently needs foster homes for children with complex needs, teens, and sibling groups."

In May, the Ontario NDP and CUPE Ontario held a press conference at Queen's Park to raise the alarm about placement options for youth following a survey of Children's Aid Society workers. The workers shared stories of having to place kids in unlicensed locations, including hotel rooms and Airbnbs, because no foster homes or treatment centres were available. 

Irwin Elman, the province's former child and youth advocate, whose standalone office was shuttered by the Ford government and absorbed by the ombudsman's office, said the decrease in foster homes is a "symptom of a collapsing child protection system."

"The fact that there are no foster parents is not a surprise, because it's an impossible task we're asking people to do," said Elman. 

He said entering the child welfare system is traumatizing, coupled with the trauma youth might have experienced prior to coming into care. 

"So the children that are coming into care have needs," he said, adding that there are often long wait-lists for the supports families might need to turn to, such as mental health services. 

"Every service sector has been hollowed out, so we're now in ... perfect storm crisis," he said, laying blame on the government. 

This is concerning, he said.

"The system that we have now says to children: 'You cannot live in this home any longer ... we have decided that you're coming with us. And we tell them, we're going to love and care and support you,'" said Elman. "And we take them out of their home, often out of their community, and then where do we have them live? In a trailer in a parking lot. This is not okay and that's worrisome to me."

Elman said he thinks the province should consider takeaways from a report on "transformational change" in the child welfare system that British Columbia's representative for children and youth is set to release on July 16. 

He also called for the legislature to return and for lawmakers to hold an "urgent debate" about the well-being of families and children in the province and strike a standing committee to look into the deaths of youth connected to the child welfare system. 

The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said in response to questions that each child "deserves to have a safe and stable home regardless of their circumstances."

There's been a decline in the number of youth in care, the ministry said in a statement, but added that "for those who remain in care, the ministry is committed to prioritizing high-quality family-based placements, where appropriate." 

"That is why we have been engaging with the sector on how to best address the recruitment and retention of family-based caregivers. Ministry staff regularly meet with societies and listen to their concerns, including issues they are facing with recruitment of caregivers and funding pressures. This open dialogue allows us to learn about specific society needs and what role the ministry can play in supporting these issues at the local level," the statement said. 

"Provincially, we have been undertaking targeted engagements to determine what supports caregivers need to provide high-quality care. The ministry is also working with stakeholder associations and placing agencies to explore how we can drive recruitment efforts," the ministry added. 

The ministry said foster parents are required to undergo thorough assessments before being approved and that as of last July, new foster caregivers have to do training and "an Individualized Foster Parent Learning Plan to ensure foundational knowledge, skill development and consistency in care across the province."

"It is essential that service providers and foster parents deliver high-quality care that supports children’s health, safety and ability to reach their full potential," the ministry said.