Child Welfare in Nova Scotia
What is child
welfare?
How many
child welfare cases are there in Nova Scotia?
What kinds
of services are provided?
Who provides
child welfare services?
Why are some
children removed from the home?
What is the
role of the courts in child welfare cases?
What rights
do families have?
Why are child
welfare matters confidential?
How can I
report suspected child abuse or neglect?
What is
child abuse?
The Child
Welfare Process: How it Works
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First a Report is Made
-
A Priority Response Time is Determined
-
Are There Grounds to Substantiate the Referral Information?
-
Assessing Risk
-
Developing a Case Plan
-
Woking Towards Solutions
-
If the Risk to the Child Remains High
-
A Judge Makes the Final Determination
-
Families' Rights in Child Welfare
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Child Welfare: Quick Facts
What
is child welfare?
Child welfare services are about protecting children from abuse
or neglect, while making every effort to keep families together.
Child welfare services include child protection services and supports
for children in care, including foster care and adoption.
How many child welfare cases are
there in Nova Scotia?
• In 2004, there were approximately 11,500 child welfare cases
in Nova Scotia.
• About 840 of those involved court proceeding.
• Less than 1% of all cases involved apprehending a child
from the home.
What kinds of services are provided?
Social workers make every effort to keep children at home, while
working with parents to provide skills and supports.
Families often enter into voluntary arrangements to receive support.
Through these voluntary agreements, families may participate in
mediation, parenting skills, anger management, addictions treatment,
or other kinds of counselling programs as needed. These kind of
services help to keep families together while attempting to ensure
the safety of the child.
The vast majority of court cases involve asking the court to order
mandatory supervision and support while the child remains at home.
Who provides child welfare services?
In Nova Scotia, child welfare services are provided through both
provincial government offices and community agencies. All child
welfare services are provided under the legislation and regulations
of the provincial Child and Family Services Act.
People providing child welfare services are registered social workers
with specialized training and a bachelor or master's degree in social
work. These may include child protection social workers, child-in-care
social workers, foster care social workers adoption social workers,
and others in the community. They are accountable to their professional
association and must follow standards of practice and the social
work code of ethics.
Why are some children removed from the home?
Taking a child from the home without the parent’s consent,
either temporarily or permanently, is unusual and only done when
a child is in imminent danger of abuse or neglect.
What is the role of the courts in child welfare
cases?
A hearing must be held in Family Court or Superior Court, Family
Division, within five days if the child is removed by a social worker
in an emergency situation. In all cases, the decision to remove
a child from the home on an extended or permanent basis is made
by the judge.
What rights do families have?
Child protection services are very open to families. Parents have
access to case files and notes, under the standards of freedom of
information and protection of privacy (FOIPOP) legislation. Families
who cannot afford a lawyer are provided with one through legal aid
services.
Why are child welfare matters confidential?
The Children and Family Services Act makes it illegal to publish
any information that would identify a child involved in a child
welfare matter. Information about specific child welfare investigations
is only available to the family, social work officials and the court.
Keeping this information confidential is meant to protect the child
and family from stigma that might be harmful to them. Research demonstrates
that a family's ability to improve its situation and overcome problems
that led to their involvement in child welfare services is much
greater when information about the case is kept confidential.
How can I report suspected child abuse or
neglect?
Everyone has the duty to immediately report even a suspicion that
a child may be in need of protective services to a Child Welfare
Agency . Under the Children and Family Services Act, designated
social workers in child welfare agencies are required to assess
reports of alleged child abuse and neglect.
Please contact the Agency
or District Office of the Department
of Community Services nearest you for more information.
What is child abuse?
Child abuse can take many forms and pose varying degrees of risk
to the child. All of the forms below can pose an imminent and significant
danger to a child.
•
Emotional Abuse
Anything that causes serious mental or emotional harm to a child,
which the parent does not attempt to prevent or address. |
•
Physical Abuse
The intentional use of force on any part of a child's body that
results in injury. |
•
Sexual Abuse
The improper exposure of a child to sexual contact, activity
or behaviour. |
•
Neglect
Any lack of care that may cause significant harm to a child's
development or endangers the child in any way. |
The Child Welfare
Process: How it Works
Child welfare services are about protecting children from immediate
harm while making every effort to keep families together.
First
a Report is Made
Everyone has the duty to immediately report even a suspicion that
a child may be in need of protective services to a child welfare
agency . Reports may be made anonymously. Once a report is made,
child protection staff consider the information provided to determine
whether an investigation into the matter is necessary. Child welfare
professionals are trained to assess reports to make this determination
based on specific child protection criteria. Decisions about a course
of action – whether the report requires an investigation –
are made by child welfare caseworker in consultation with a child
welfare supervisor within 24 hours of the report.
A Priority Response Time is Determined
Decisions about how soon it is necessary to respond to the information
are made based on the assessed level of risk by child welfare caseworker
in consultation with a child welfare supervisor within 24 hours
of the report.
Are There Grounds to Substantiate
the Referral Information?
Through the first stages of the investigation, the child welfare
caseworker must determine if there are grounds that substantiate
the concerns in the initial report. The caseworker now must gather
more information in order to either prove or to disprove the allegations.
The caseworker needs solid evidence that the child is in need of
protective services.
Assessing Risk
If the caseworker can prove that the child is at risk of abuse or
neglect, they must then assess the degree of risk of future harm
in order to determine an appropriate course of action. Once preliminary
information is collected, a meeting is held involving the child
protection worker, casework supervisor and at least one other person
who is not directly responsible for the case, to review the concerns
that have been raised and to explore the kinds of services that
may be helpful to the family.
Developing a Case Plan
Contact is made with the family to determine if there are ways we
can help. Within 30 days, the caseworker must prepare a case plan
that is agreed upon by the parents, the child welfare agency and,
if possible, the child. This plan will outline the roles and responsibilities
of the agency , parents and child in working toward agreed upon
goals.
Working Towards Solutions
If the parents and child are consistently working to meet the objectives
in the case plan and the situation in the family home improves,
child welfare staff are happy to see the family succeed. As long
as the environment is safe for the child, the child is able to remain
with the family, keeping the family unit together. Every effort
is made to keep the child at home, while working with parents to
provide skills and supports.
If the Risk to the Child Remains
High
However, if the risk to the child remains high, the child welfare
agency must make an application to a judge in order to impose services
to protect the child from abuse or neglect. Factors that contribute
to the decision to go to court include a serious incident involving
the child and his or her safety, or if the family is not following
the requirements set out in the case plan. In the vast majority
of court cases, the child welfare agency asks the court to order
mandatory supervision and support while the child remains in the
home.
A Judge Makes the Final Determination
A judge will hear the agency's court application and then will determine
what is in the best interests of the child. The judge has the ability
to make a variety of rulings. The judge could decide that the risks
to the child are significant enough that the child must be taken
into care, or he could decide that additional supervision is all
that is required. In all cases, the final decision to remove a child
from the home is made by a judge, and a child welfare agency is
only able to submit recommendations about the best course of action.
The judge has the final say – whether that is to agree with
the child welfare agency's recommendations, to amend the recommendations,
or to disregard the agency's recommendations and decide upon another
course of action.
If the child is removed by a social worker in an emergency situation,
a hearing in court must be held within five days so that the judge
may make a determination to ensure the child is protected from abuse
or neglect.
Taking a child from the home is unusual and is only done when the
child is in imminent danger. In fact, in approximately 11,500 child
welfare cases in Nova Scotia each year, less than 1% involve taking
a child into care.
Families' Rights in Child Welfare
Families are active participants in finding solutions to the difficulties
they face. Families are often successful at solving issues that
put a child at risk of abuse or neglect with supports from a child
welfare agency. Typically, families will enter into voluntary arrangements
to receive the kind of supports that will help their family stay
together. Kinds of supports can include parenting skills, anger
management, and drug and alcohol counselling.
Families are included in child welfare court proceedings, and are
encouraged to fully participate in finding solutions. Families that
can not afford a lawyer for court proceedings are provided with
one through legal aid. Child protection services are very open,
and parents have access to files and case notes.
Child Welfare: Quick Facts
• Child welfare services are about protecting children from
immediate harm while making every effort to keep families together.
• There are approximately 11,500 child welfare cases in Nova
Scotia each year. About 840 of those involved court proceedings.
• Less than 1% of child-welfare cases in Nova Scotia will
involve taking the child into care.
• Taking a child from the home is unusual and is only done
when the child is in imminent danger. Every effort is made to keep
the child at home, while working with parents to provide skills
and supports.
• The vast majority of court cases are to have the court order
mandatory supervision and support while the child remains in the
home.
• Typically, families enter into voluntary arrangements to
receive this kind of support (parenting skills, anger management,
drug and alcohol counseling, etc.).
• In all cases, the final decision to remove a child from
the home is made by a judge (a hearing is held within 5 days if
the child is removed by a social worker in an emergency situation).
• Parents have access to case files and notes, including any
information that would be routinely available under the standards
of freedom of information and protection of privacy (FOIPOP) legislation.
• Families that can not afford a lawyer are provided with
one.
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