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Family feud

Issues: Group home; Rights (Good care) A 16-year-old youth living in a group home complained to our Office that staff at the home were not allowing him to contact certain members of his family because his mother – his legal guardian – did not want him speaking to them. Our Children and Youth Unit …
A 16-year-old youth living in a group home complained to our Office that staff at the home were not allowing him to contact certain members of his family because his mother – his legal guardian – did not want him speaking to them.

Safe slumber

Issues: Children’s aid society; Rights (Get help) A 16-year-old living in a foster home sought our help when she was invited to spend the night at a friend’s house, but her foster care agency denied her request, citing COVID-19 restrictions. She told us her children’s aid society worker was not …
A 16-year-old living in a foster home sought our help when she was invited to spend the night at a friend’s house, but her foster care agency denied her request, citing COVID-19 restrictions.

A cry for help

Issue: Children’s aid society A 15-year-old emailed us that she was being physically and verbally abused by her mother, and had started to self-harm and even attempted suicide as a result. Our Children and Youth Unit connected her to a children’s aid society and the Kids Help Phone crisis line. We …
A 15-year-old emailed us that she was being physically and verbally abused by her mother, and had started to self-harm and even attempted suicide as a result.

Help with the bill

A recipient of Ontario Disability Support Program benefits contacted us when he discovered his monthly natural gas and water tank rental fees had not been paid since 2016 and he owed $2,000 in outstanding fees. ODSP officials told us that although they paid rent and hydro bills, the man was …
A recipient of Ontario Disability Support Program benefits contacted us when he discovered his monthly natural gas and water tank rental fees had not been paid since 2016 and he owed $2,000 in outstanding fees.

Long overdue

A man with significant medical issues contacted us with the help of his social worker because he was experiencing financial hardship due to the Family Responsibility Office garnishing his Canada Pension Plan benefits for past child support arrears – although his children were now in their 30s. Our …
A man with significant medical issues contacted us with the help of his social worker because he was experiencing financial hardship due to the Family Responsibility Office garnishing his Canada Pension Plan benefits for past child support arrears – although his children were now in their 30s.

Address unknown

A woman complained to us that she had not received any family support payments in over a year, despite submitting paperwork to the Family Responsibility Office asking that she receive them via direct deposit rather than by mailed cheque. Our inquiries revealed that FRO officials never received her …
A woman complained to us that she had not received any family support payments in over a year, despite submitting paperwork to the Family Responsibility Office asking that she receive them via direct deposit rather than by mailed cheque.

Right to safety

Issues: Group home; Rights (Safety) An 11-year-old told us she felt unsafe in her group home after another resident threatened her with a knife. The Ombudsman’s Children and Youth Unit informed her of her right to have her placement reviewed by the Residential Placement Advisory Committee, and …
An 11-year-old told us she felt unsafe in her group home after another resident threatened her with a knife.

Not as planned

Issues: Children’s aid society; Rights (Good care) A young person who was serving a youth sentence at an adult correctional facility complained to us that he was not being provided CAS access to services required by his court-ordered plan. He was under an Intensive Rehabilitation Custody and …
A young person who was serving a youth sentence at an adult correctional facility complained to us that he was not being provided CAS access to services required by his court-ordered plan.

Broken telephone

Our staff helped a woman who was having trouble reaching a manager at the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), due to recent changes to its phone system. We spoke with FRO officials and they committed to getting in touch with her, but there was a substantial delay before the woman was able to …
Our staff helped a woman who was having trouble reaching a manager at the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), due to recent changes to its phone system.

Paid upfront

A cancer patient who is an Ontario Disability Support Program recipient told us she was about to have surgery and urgently needed funds to pay for transportation, but could not reach her caseworker. We spoke with ODSP officials, who explained that caseworkers are rotating in and out of the office …
A cancer patient who is an Ontario Disability Support Program recipient told us she was about to have surgery and urgently needed funds to pay for transportation, but could not reach her caseworker.

A cut above

Issues: Group home; Black youth; Rights (Identity) A Black youth living in a rural group home with little access to public transit complained to us that staff would not drive him to get a haircut. Our staff suggested that he speak to his caseworker about the matter, and we followed up with the …
A Black youth living in a rural group home with little access to public transit complained to us that staff would not drive him to get a haircut.

Left out in the cold

Issues: Group home; Police involvement; Disability The mother of a teenager with developmental disability complained to us about an incident involving her daughter at a group home, after the daughter left the home at midnight and was outside in the cold for more than 30 minutes before she was found …
The mother of a teenager with developmental disability complained to us about an incident involving her daughter at a group home.

The right process

Issue: Children’s aid society A mother called our Children and Youth Unit after her local children’s aid society told her it would not review her complaint due to a lack of information. The agency had a policy that stated a complaint must first be filed with a caseworker, then a supervisor, before …
A mother called our Children and Youth Unit after her local children’s aid society told her it would not review her complaint due to a lack of information.

On her own

Issues: Children’s aid society; Voluntary Youth Services Agreement (VYSA); Rights (Good care); Rights (Get help) A 16-year-old youth in care of a children’s aid society felt that her needs were not being met since she had a change in caseworkers.  She told our Children and Youth staff she recently …
A 16-year-old youth in care of a children’s aid society felt that her needs were not being met since she had a change in caseworkers.

Right to complain

Issues: Children’s aid society; Rights (Get help) When a woman complained to us about how she and her family were treated by a children’s aid society, we first advised her to contact her caseworker and raise the issue through the society’s internal process. She returned in frustration, saying the …
When a woman complained to us about how she and her family were treated by a children’s aid society, we first advised her to contact her caseworker and raise the issue through the society’s internal process.

That's the place

Issues: Children’s aid society; Rights (Get help); Rights (Fairness) Unhappy with his placement at a foster home, a 17-year-old asked his children’s aid society caseworker for a placement change, only to be told the home he was staying in was best for him.   Feeling unheard, the young person …
Unhappy with his placement at a foster home, a 17-year-old asked his children’s aid society caseworker for a placement change, only to be told the home he was staying in was best for him.

Review askew

Issues: Children’s aid society; ; Group home; Rights (Safety); Rights (Get help) A 16-year-old girl living in a group home told us she had asked her children’s aid society worker to initiate a review of her placement because she felt unsafe, but the caseworker didn't follow up with her. We …
A 16-year-old girl living in a group home told us she had asked her children’s aid society worker to initiate a review of her placement because she felt unsafe, but the caseworker didn't follow up with her.

A parent error

A father complained to us that FRO had collected thousands of dollars of support payments from him for 14 years, even though his daughter was no longer in the care of her mother but had been made a Crown ward. FRO officials confirmed to us that they had received information in 2004 indicating that …
A father complained to us that FRO had collected thousands of dollars of support payments from him for 14 years, even though his daughter was no longer in the care of her mother but had been made a Crown ward.

Credit undo

A mother who receives support for her adult child with disabilities sought our help after she inadvertently provided inaccurate information to FRO, resulting in the termination of her support and a $21,000 credit to the payor. Ombudsman staff inquired with FRO officials, who agreed to review the …
A mother who receives support for her adult child with disabilities sought our help after she inadvertently provided inaccurate information to FRO, resulting in the termination of her support and a $21,000 credit to the payor.

Auto-threat

A pensioner who had a longstanding agreement to pay her family support arrears off at $50/month complained to us that the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) sent her a letter threatening to garnish half of her monthly income, which would leave her with no money to pay her utility bills. When our …
A pensioner who had a longstanding agreement to pay her family support arrears off at $50/month complained to us that the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) sent her a letter threatening to garnish half of her monthly income, which would leave her with no money to pay her utility bills.