ONTARIO TO CHANGE DOMESTIC ADOPTION LAW(April 7, 2004) The Ottawa Citizen reported April 2, 2004 that the Ontario government is planning to overhaul adoption laws and procedures to try to find families for more of the 8,864 children who are currently wards of the state. "We have hundreds of parents going and spending an awful lot of money and time to adopt a child overseas," said Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, minister of Children and Youth Services, www.children.gov.on.ca. "We ... think that is wonderful, but we would like to see an increase in domestic adoption." The Ottawa Citizen said that Dr. Bountrogianni would increase the number of adoptions of Crown wards at least 15% in the next year. The number of Crown wards in Ontario rose to 8,864 in December 2003, up from 7,935 a year earlier. (Crown wards don't return to their families; they live in foster homes.) Crown ward adoptions, however, average 650 annually, according to ministry statistics. This compares with about 700 international adoptions each year to Ontario, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Children's Aid Societies in Ontario cared for 18,126 children as of March 31, 2003. 44% of them, or 7,975, were Crown wards in foster care. Many will be adopted eventually, but terminating the parents' rights is legally complicated, so children become available for adoption only slowly. For more statistics, see Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies, "CAS facts, April 1, 2002 - March 31, 2003, Revised July 2003". On March 22, 2004 minister Bountrogianni urged Children's Aid Societies to move more children out of state care and into adoptive homes. She wrote to the 52 CASs in Ontario, giving them targets to meet on the number of adoptions and the number of children placed in foster homes in their own community. The Toronto Star reported March 22 that the minister is asking children's aid societies to improve their performance by increasing adoption rates 10% to 20% over current levels, depending on the region and other factors affecting when children can be put up for adoption. The Toronto Star said that she is also asking that children be put in foster care closer to their home communities to provide easier access for family members and save money on transportation. The cost of housing children in care is to be reduced, as are legal fees paid by the societies and general operating costs. The Ottawa Citizen said April 2 that Dr. Bountrogianni would increase the number of adoptions of Crown wards at least 15% by:
In the next 12 months Dr. Bountrogianni would change CFSA so birth parents can keep in touch with their children after adoption (an "open" adoption). "There has been research done that shows children can grow up very healthy having their birth parents as part of their lives with the new adoptive parents," said Dr. Bountrogianni, a child psychologist by training. "The children don't feel abandoned, they realize that their birth parents are doing what's best for them." In February minister Bountrogianni started a round of public consultations on how to improve services for children. Pat Fenton of the Adoption Council of Ontario attended the Adoption Roundtable with the minister on Feb. 23. The 20 stakeholders around the table presented their ideas on improving the adoption system under five points: commitment, legislative change, a unified system, education and training, and services and support. Pat said, "Her background in psychology and child care gives her good insight into the needs of children, and she gave every reason to believe that she is planning to make a difference for Ontario children." Dr. Bountrogianni announced Feb. 20, 2004 that the Ontario government is looking at revamping Children's Aid Societies so that prospective parents can more easily adopt the province's Crown wards. She said she wanted to see CASs develop programs to find permanent families for more of the thousands of children who end up bouncing around the province between group homes, foster homes and their biological parents. The minister said 75% of the province's Crown wards are subject to orders allowing the parents access, and so are not eligible for adoption. She said she's heard that many access orders are used only every five years. "If a certain number of years go by and they're not using those access orders, one has to question whether those children really should remain with that family." On funding, she announced that Children's Aid Societies would get extra money totalling $84.8 million to balance their 2002/2003 budgets. This will pay off the CASs' deficits in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003. Ontario's 52 Children's Aid societies will spend over $1 billion in 2003/2004 on child-welfare services for the 19,000 children in state care because of parental abuse or neglect. The figures from Ontario reflect the state of children in care across Canada: the May 2002 "Report Card on Adoption" by the Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca, says that there are over 66,000 children in foster care. About 22,000 are permanent wards, and less than 1,700 of them are adopted annually across the country. The Ontario adoption community, led by the Adoption Council of Ontario (ACO, www.adoption.on.ca), has been calling for a change in Ontario law so that Crown wards with access can nonetheless be adopted. In the Fall 2003 Adoption Roundup, ACO wrote in the article, "Every Child Deserves a Permanent Loving Family", that Ontario, "once a leader in adoption legislation, policies and practices, is now far behind." ACO called for reforms which would provide:
ACO's position is that "it makes no sense emotionally and economically to keep children as Crown wards who could be adopted by loving families." Keeping a child in foster care for one year costs about $40,000; children suffer from having to move from one foster home to another about once every two years. Providing a permanent family through adoption would be a cost-saving measure in both fiscal and human terms. The Ontario ministry responsible for child welfare and adoption has changed its name again. As of March 19, 2004 it is Children and Youth Services. Three of its previous names were Children's Services; Community, Family and Children's Services; and Community and Social Services. Source: Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca Copyright 2004 Adoption Council of Canada. Reproduction permitted, if credited "Source: Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca". Please make a request to reprint, so we can track where ACC news items are used. Send your request to acc@adoption.ca. |
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