Our Service Delivery
Male Engagement Workers In the fall of 2024 the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services approved a two-year grant for our Agency to partner with Catholic Family Services, Catholic Children’s Aid Society, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, and Jewish Family and Child Service to expand engagement with male caregivers in Intimate Partner Violence and Gender-Based Violence related child welfare cases through the addition of three Male Engagement Workers (MEWs). MEWs will work alongside our staff to support safe father-child engagement, enhance accountability, and promote positive behavioural change through direct support, counselling, group facilitation, staff training, and collaboration with protection teams. The initiative aims to build staff capacity, increase early engagement with male-identifying caregivers, and help create safer, more supportive outcomes for children, youth and families. Bill 188 Implementation Bill 188, Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, came into effect on January 1, 2025, and introduced key amendments to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and related regulations. The legislation is intended to enhance the safety, well-being and privacy of children and youth in care, while strengthening oversight and accountability within the child welfare system. In the lead-up to implementation and throughout the rollout of Bill 188, our Agency has undertaken a coordinated approach to ensure compliance across all areas of Service. This has included developing and implementing updated policies and procedures, engaging both staff and external stakeholders, and ensuring the consistent application of new standards. Ongoing communication, training and the provision of materials and resources have supported staff in adapting to the legislative changes. We remain committed to meeting the requirements of the Act and to upholding the highest standards of practice and accountability in our work.
French Language Services As part of our ongoing commitment to equitable and accessible services, we continue to advance the implementation of French Language Services (FLS) to ensure French-speaking children, youth and families have full and meaningful access to services in their preferred language. Over the past year our efforts have focused on translating key public-facing documents, increasing French-language content on our website, and strengthening internal capacity to provide services in French. We are also working to embed FLS into our broader Service delivery frameworks, with staff, caregiver, volunteer and Board training as a key focus in the year ahead. community outreach, this past year we relaunched our Speakers Bureau as part of our ongoing commitment to community engagement and education around Duty to Report. The refreshed initiative ensures we can accommodate the high volume of requests from organizations seeking to understand how and when to involve a child welfare agency. Through this offering, we provide organizations with valuable insight into our work, vision and how we can best work in partnership, Speakers Bureau In response to growing interest and continued while providing staff with opportunities to act as ambassadors to evolve our working relationships with professionals across the health care, childcare, education, community safety sectors, law enforcement, and more.
Community Engagement As part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening relationships with local organizations and co-creating pathways that support families’ access to culturally relevant services, networks, and well-being, we continued to deepen our community engagement over the past year. This includes, but is not limited to:
Victim Services and the City of Toronto’s Central Family Intake We’ve strengthened our partnership with Victim Services and the City of Toronto’s Central Family Intake to better support families navigating increasingly complex challenges. Together, we’ve clarified our shared mission and streamlined referrals to vital services amid rising housing instability, inflation and long waitlists. These collaborations have fostered stronger relationships, creative problem-solving, and a shared commitment to responsive, coordinated support that promotes safety, stability and well-being. Yonge Street Mission We continue to partner with Yonge Street Mission (YSM) through a collaborative initiative funded by the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, which supports the hiring of a dedicated YSM Intake Coordinator. Together, we’ve implemented a specialized, multi disciplinary service model to better support Black families involved with our Agency. This partnership enables timely referrals to YSM’s wraparound supports, while offering families access visits in a neutral setting and opportunities to build their own community networks. Through this partnership, our shared goal is to support better outcomes for Black children, youth, and families while working with families toward the earliest possible reunification when children and youth have been admitted into care.
Surrey Place Our collaboration with Surrey Place continues to evolve as we explore how our shared sectors can better respond to the needs of children, youth and families navigating developmental and behavioural challenges. This ongoing partnership has included ongoing dialogue and engagement to deepen our understanding of service gaps, share expertise, and explore ways to improve coordination between systems. Through this work, our goal has been to identify and streamline opportunities to connect children and youth with complex needs to timely, accessible and appropriate services. By strengthening this collaboration, we aim to reduce barriers, improve continuity of care, and support better outcomes for the families we serve.
There to Care - GTA Recruitment Campaign
In the winter of 2025, our Agency led There to Care - GTA, a united campaign and call for new Foster Caregivers in partnership with Children’s Aid Societies and Indigenous Well-Being Agencies across the Greater Toronto Area. The campaign aimed to increase awareness of the need for supportive, temporary homes for children and youth with diverse identities and needs. As an extension of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies’ There to Care initiative, the GTA campaign launched a shared public website and generated media coverage across major digital, television, and broadcast outlets. Featuring agency leaders and Foster Caregivers with lived experience, the campaign encouraged community members to reach out and learn more about how to get involved as Foster Caregivers.
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