Media Advisory - Children's Aid Society Ottawa Leadership Joins Workers in Sounding the Alarm on Crisis in CAS

OTTAWA, ON, June 14, 2024 /CNW/ - The children's aid crisis in the Ottawa region is at a breaking point, endangering workers alongside the children and families they support. For the first time in the capital's history, the Executive Director of the Children's Aid Society (CAS) Ottawa will join Michele Thorn, the President of the Union representing CAS Ottawa workers – OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454 – in calling for desperate action by provincial actors after decades of chronic underfunding.

A record number of children in the last year alone have slipped through the cracks created by resource pressures flowing from chronic financial deficits, soaring inflation, and a provincial government failing to act. Over the last two fiscal years, CAS Ottawa has been forced to operate at a deficit, a figure of $3.3 million in 2024. The agency is not alone: more than half of all Children's Aid Societies in Ontario are in deficit. As critical needs in the community continue to rise and cases grow more complex, agencies are stretched thin trying to adapt to evolving staffing and care needs.

"We're working harder than ever with less and less resources available. It's like wringing milk from stone – the funding isn't there to meet the demands," says Michele Thorn, President of Local 454. "For years, we have sounded the alarm. This is resource intensive work, particularly with preventative care that relies on building the relationships and safety plans that get ahead of crises and keep families together. The kids and families we work with need us — and we need government ministries to step up, from child welfare to justice, if they're serious about putting children first."

WHO: Kelly Raymond, Executive Director of the Children's Aid Society Ottawa (CASO); Michele Thorn, President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454, representing CASO workers; Arlette Carrier, President of CUPE 2577, representing workers at Family & Children's Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville; Sean McKenny, President of the Ottawa and District Labour Council (ODLC.)

WHAT: Press conference calling for urgent interministerial action on funding for children's aid.

WHERE: ODLC office, 280 Metcalfe St., Ottawa, ON

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. – Tuesday, June 18th, 2024

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO)

For more information, please contact: Michele Thorn, President, OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454: 613-220-7979, [email protected]