Cooper: Why Children's Aid Society workers deserve support on the picket line

Premier Doug Ford should spend less time thinking about “buck a beer” schemes and more time learning about what it takes to keep children safe.

Published Jul 13, 2024 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 3 minute read

Children’s Aid Society workers picket at 1602 Telesat Court in Ottawa earlier this week. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA

I went to my first-ever picket line on Tuesday, determined to support my former colleagues at the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa who are on strike trying to stop more cuts, fix a crisis, and keep children safe.

I have worked in child welfare for the last 17 years, 11 of those in child protection with the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa. I know all too well what these workers face, day in and day out.

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Child protection workers work in high-stress, often dangerous conditions trying to keep children safe, and keep families together. They spend their days trying to keep up with desperate calls for help from families in crisis, and on the road and in the homes of these families who are in deep, emotional distress and trying to survive trauma, violence, mental-health challenges and addiction.

The job very often puts the workers themselves in dangerous situations — at times facing violent, aggressive behaviour and navigating conflict, all the while making very difficult choices about how best to protect the children caught in the middle.

The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services makes the job so much harder, drowning workers in bureaucratic red tape: the never-ending and ever-increasing box-ticking demanded by the ministry has workers recording every minute of their day, every phone call, every home visit and every meeting. None of this helps provide real, on-the-ground safety for children. And it all gets in the way of the follow-up work that does: writing multiple assessments, safety plans, case notes and lengthy referrals to request help from outside agencies, and advocating to multiple community partners to support these families’ complex needs. And these partners all face the same challenges in a lack of funding to provide the services needed in our community.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s callous approach to the entire care sector — whether it’s child protection, home care, child care, or health care — is perpetuating a crisis that is putting everyone at risk. I dare him to spend just one day in the shoes of a child protection worker. I doubt he could make it through one family visit.

The ministry says it’s spending millions of dollars on Children’s Aid Societies but fails to explain to the public how and where this money is spent. Workers on the ground know from experience that the poor, archaic funding model does not reflect any understanding of how Children’s Aid Societies actually work. The funding is not going where it needs to go: supporting the workers who are working to keep children with their families and in their communities.

Cutting funding and jobs will just make this crisis worse.

As for Ford’s cheerleaders, who blame the strike for putting children at risk, you can’t imagine the reality of this crisis. Ford should spend less time thinking about “buck a beer” schemes and more time learning about what it takes to keep children safe.

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I suspect this government thinks it can starve these workers back to work, and if it succeeds, it won’t be good for our children or society. So I encourage you to do what I did: show support and attend the picket lines, and do what Ford seems so reluctant to do: listen to the workers so you really understand what their jobs entail.

Natalie Cooper worked as a front-line child protection worker for the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa from 2012 to 2023.

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