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Any person who has reasonable grounds to suspect
that a child is or may be in need of protection
must promptly report the suspicion and the information
upon which it is based to a Children's Aid Society.The
following is an excerpt from the Child and Family
Services Act regarding the reporting of abuse
and neglect. For the complete Act please visit
The Government of Ontario's e-laws website.
Despite the provisions of any other Act, if a
person, including a person who performs professional
or official duties with respect to children, has
reasonable grounds to suspect one of the following,
the person shall forthwith report the suspicion
and the information on which it is based to the
children's aid society:
1. The child had suffered physical harm inflicted
by the person having charge of the child or caused
by or resulting from that person's,
- Failure to adequately care for, provide for,
supervise or protect the child, or
- Pattern of neglect in caring for, providing
for, supervising or protecting the child.
2. There is a risk that the child is likely
to suffer physical harm inflicted by the person
having charge of the child or caused by or resulting
from that person's,
- Failure to adequately care for, provide for,
supervise or protect the child, or
- Pattern of neglect in caring for, providing
for, supervising or protecting the child.
3. The child has been sexually molested or sexually
exploited, by the person having charge of the
child or by another person where the person having
charge of the child knows or should know of the
possibility of sexual molestation or sexual exploitation
and fails to protect the child.
4. There is a risk that the child is likely
to be sexually molested or sexually exploited
as described in paragraph 3.
5. The child requires medical treatment to cure,
prevent or alleviate physical harm or suffering
and the child's parent or the person having charge
of the child does not provide, or refuses or is
unavailable or unable to consent to, the treatment.
6. The child has suffered emotional harm, demonstrated
by serious,
- anxiety
- depression
- withdrawal
- self-destructive or aggressive behaviour
- delayed development
and there are reasonable grounds to believe
that the emotional harm suffered by the child
results from the actions, failure to act or pattern
of neglect on the part of the child's parent or
the person having charge of the child.
7. The child has suffered emotional harm of
the kind described in subparagraph a), b), c)
d) or e) of paragraph 6 and the child's parent
or the person having charge of the child does
not provide, or refuses or is unavailable or unable
to consent to, services or treatment to remedy
or alleviate the harm.
8. There is a risk that the child is likely
to suffer emotional harm of the kind described
in subparagraph a) b), c), d) or e) of paragraph
6 resulting from the actions, failure to act or
pattern of neglect on the part of the child's
parent or the person having charge of the child.
9. There is a risk that the child is likely
to suffer emotional harm of the kind described
in subparagraph a) b), c), d) or e) of paragraph
6 and that the child's parent or the person having
charge of the child does not provide or refuses
or is unavailable or unable to consent to, services
or treatment to prevent the harm.
10. The child suffers from a mental, emotional
or developmental condition that, if not remedied,
could seriously impair the child's development
and the child's parent or the person having charge
of the child does not provide, or refuses or is
unavailable or unable to consent to, treatment
to remedy or alleviate the condition.
11. The child has been abandoned, the child's
parent has died or is unavailable to exercise
his or her custodial rights over the child and
has not made adequate provision for the child's
care and custody, or the child is in a residential
placement and the parent refuses or is unable
or unwilling to resume the child's care and custody.
12. The child is less than 12 years old and
has killed or seriously injured another person
or caused serious damage to another person's property,
services or treatment are necessary to prevent
a recurrence and the child's parent or the person
having charge of the child does not provide or
refuses or is unavailable or unable to consent
to, those services or treatment.
13. The child is less than 12 years old and
has on more than one occasion injured another
person or caused loss or damage to another person's
property, with the encouragement of the person
having charge of the child or because of that
person's failure or inability to supervise the
child adequately.
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The duty to report is an ongoing obligation.
If a person has made a previous report about a
child, and has additional reasonable grounds to
suspect that a child is or may be in need of protection,
that person must make a further report to a Children's
Aid Society.
The person who has the reasonable grounds to
suspect that a child is or may be in need of protection
must make the report directly to a Children's
Aid Society. The person must not rely on anyone
else to report on his or her behalf.
You do not need to be sure that a child is or
may be in need of protection to make a report
to a Children's Aid Society. "Reasonable
grounds" are what an average person given
his or her training, background and experience,
exercising normal and honest judgement, would
suspect.
Professional persons and officials have the same
duty as any member of the public to report a suspicion
that a child is in need of protection. The Act
recognizes, however, that persons working closely
with children have a special awareness of the
signs of child abuse and neglect, and a particular
responsibility to report their suspicions, and
so makes it an offence to fail to report.
Any professional or official who fails to report
a suspicion that a child is or may be in need
of protection, where the information on which
that suspicion is based was obtained in the course
of his or her professional or official duties,
is liable on conviction to a fine of up to $1,000.
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Persons who perform professional or official
duties with respect to children include the following:
Health care professionals, including physicians,
nurses, dentists, pharmacists and psychologists;
- Teachers, and school principals;
- Social workers and family counsellors;
- Priests, rabbis and other members of the
clergy;
- Operators or employees of day nurseries;
- Youth and recreation workers not volunteers;
- Peace officers and coroners;
- Solicitors;
- Service providers and employees of service
providers; and
- Any other person who performs professional
or official duties with respect to a child.
The professionals listed are examples only and
this not an all-inclusive list. If your work involves
children but is not listed above, you may still
be considered to be a professional for purposes
of the duty to report. If you are not sure whether
you may be considered to be a professional for
purposes of the duty to report, you should contact
your local Children's Aid Society, professional
association or regulatory body.
The professional's duty to report overrides the
provisions of any other provincial statute, specifically,
those provisions that would otherwise prohibit
disclosure by the professional or official.
Thereby, the professional must report that a
child is or may be in need of protection even
when the information is supposed to be confidential
or privileged. (The only exception for "privileged"
information is in the relationship between a solicitor
and a client.)
If a civil action is brought against a person
who made a report, that person will be protected
unless he or she acted maliciously or without
reasonable grounds for his or her suspicion.
Children's Aid Society workers have the responsibility
and the authority to investigate allegations and
to provide services to protect children.
A Children's Aid Society worker may, as part
of the investigation and plan to protect the child,
involve the police and other community agencies.
Durham CAS strives to provide the highest quality service to families and children. If you haveconcerns about our services, we want to work together with you to resolve them. Please discuss your concern with your worker or his/her supervisor.
Additional information is available from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. There are two pamphlets which may be helpful:
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