Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

First, if I may raise a point of order.

Mr. Parsa moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 188, An Act to amend the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and various other Acts / Projet de loi 188, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2017 sur les services à l’enfance, à la jeunesse et à la famille et diverses autres lois.

Thank you very much, Speaker, and good morning, colleagues.

I am proud to rise in the House today to begin third reading of Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. Before I begin, I’d like to note that I’ll be sharing my speaking time today with my colleagues: the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity and parliamentary assistants the member for Markham–Thornhill and the member for Thornhill. You’ll hear from them, Mr. Speaker, the important foundational work that we’ve done in recent years.

We’re focused on delivering better outcomes for children and youth across the province, including those in the child and youth services sector who are some of the most vulnerable individuals in our province. We’ve committed to ensuring that they are safe and supported in childhood and have the right foundations as they transition into adulthood.

Speaker, we’re here today because we will not leave any child or youth behind, and we’re committed to ensuring that they have every chance to thrive and succeed regardless of their circumstance or history. I say that because while our past is important, it’s even more important to focus on where we’re going.

We listened when sector partners spoke about the need to implement measures that will better protect the rights of children and youth, that will enhance the quality of out-of-home-care services and improve the accountability of service providers. That’s why this bill includes a broad range of legislative proposals supported by important regulatory and policy changes.

Before I review these proposals in more detail, I’d like to share some of the feedback that we’ve heard since Bill 188 was introduced last month. Let me start with Carly Kalish, the executive director of Victim Services Toronto. This is what Carly had to say. She says:

“We commend ... the government for their commitment to improving the safety, well-being and privacy of children and youth in care through the introduction of the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. Every child deserves a safe and supportive environment to thrive, and these changes mark a significant step toward achieving that goal.... We look forward to seeing the positive impact of these measures on the lives of Ontario’s children and families.”

Building on that, Leena Augimeri, the director of the Child Development Institute, said, “I applaud our Ontario government.... They introduced legislation that shows they do care by enhancing protections and accountability for children and youth in care and helping to strengthen the systems that are designed to help them.”

It’s so special to hear such strong support from voices from within the system. We’ll keep working with them so that every child and youth has an opportunity to succeed.

Our government will continue to work towards a province where all children, youth and families are empowered with the resources and supports they need. Our proposals would, if passed:

(1) Modernize and standardize important safeguards throughout the child and youth services sector. This includes stronger enforcement tools to hold licensed out-of-home care operators accountable, and to keep children and youth safe and healthy.

(2) Create a framework that would enhance privacy protections for those individuals who were formerly involved in the child welfare system. This will be done by further restricting access to records comprised of their personal childhood histories once regulations are developed.

(3) Enable individuals to speak freely about their lived experience and give them more control over what they want to share publicly. These circumstances will be outlined in regulations following further consultations with the sector.

(4) Provide authority to expand the information that individuals working with vulnerable children and youth can be required to provide. This would go beyond formal police record checks, such as offence declarations.

(5) Reinforce the requirement for children’s aid societies and out-of-home care licensees to explain the role of the Ombudsman and how children and youth can contact their office.

(6) And finally, the bill clarifies that early childhood educators can be subject to an offence for failing to report child protection concerns to a children’s aid society. This would be in line with requirements for other professionals, like teachers and social workers.

This bill encompasses a suite of changes that can be grouped into three themes. The first is strengthening oversight and enforcement of licensed out-of-home care. The second is establishing clear and consistent practices, and the third theme is supporting stable transitions.

I’d like to describe the specific actions we’re proposing to take under each theme and how they will foster better outcomes for children and youth. First, by strengthening the oversight and enforcement of licensed out-of-home care, we’re working to enhance the safety of children and youth. I want to be clear that there are many hard-working people in the out-of-home care sector, such as foster and group homes, who dedicate themselves to the children and youth that they serve. Many strive to provide the best possible support to vulnerable young people who are experiencing some of life’s most difficult circumstances. This is hard work, but it’s important work, and they have my profound gratitude for the commitment of supporting those that they care for.

However, not all service providers achieve that standard, and some don’t always operate in compliance with licensing requirements. To us, this is simply unacceptable. Let me be clear: The changes that we’re proposing in this part of the legislation will have little or no impact on the operators who are already complying with the licensing requirements, but in cases where operators are knowingly or repeatedly contravening licensing requirements and putting children and youth at risk, the proposed changes will establish new and enhanced enforcement tools to allow the ministry to take action, and our commitment to young people demands nothing less.

The legislative changes in this bill will modernize and standardize important safeguards in the licensed out-of-home care sector. The amendments would strengthen the ministry’s oversight of foster care and group homes, improve the quality of care for children and youth and introduce additional or strengthened enforcement tools.

These proposals are aimed at enhancing compliance with licensing requirements. They would help ensure that everyone receives high-quality care that supports their health and safety, as well as empowering them to reach their full potential.

I’d like to share a few additional comments that we’ve received since this bill was introduced which relate directly to these proposals. First, from Susan Somogyi Wells, CEO of Family Service Ontario, who says, “[We] strongly support this legislation for its commitment to safeguarding the well-being of our children and youth, mitigating the risks of developmental trauma.”

Julie Despaties, the executive director and founder of Adopt4Life, says, “We’re encouraged to see this recognition of the need for improved safeguards for vulnerable children and youth.... These children and youth deserve our highest commitments, collectively, to supporting their safety and well-being, their healthy development and long-term successful outcomes, including the protection of their privacy and personal information after they have left the child welfare system.”

Again, Speaker, such strong support means a lot, and our government is committed to seeing these changes come to fruition.

I’ll now turn to the second theme that I mentioned earlier, which is clear and consistent practices. By establishing practices that are clear and consistent, we aim to improve the safety and quality of services delivered by all providers. We’re proposing six actions in this area.

First, to improve the safety of all children and youth, we propose to clarify that service providers, such as children’s aid societies, can share personal information with the College of Early Childhood Educators and the Ontario College of Teachers. Service providers are already authorized to share personal information with colleges of regulated health professions and social work colleges. This simply clarifies and spells out that these two colleges are also included. This will better support the safety of children and youth by reducing potential delays in sharing information that could be used to support proceedings such as investigations, hearings and new registrations. This could apply in cases where a college requires information from a society about a verified allegation against an early childhood educator or teacher.

For our second action, we propose to enable the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers to share information in particular circumstances with governing bodies and others, including children’s aid societies. Several professional colleges already have this authority in their governing legislation, including the College of Early Childhood Educators, the Ontario College of Teachers and other regulated health professionals. To improve the safety and well-being of children and youth, we want to make this authority consistent across the board.

During an investigation, this reform would help enable timely information sharing about a member to support responsive action. Currently, if a person engaged in the administration of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers Act believes that a member poses a risk to others, they would be prohibited by the act from sharing their concerns with anyone without the member’s consent or until after the college has investigated and the results of the investigation are made public.

A practical example of this was when a social worker had their membership revoked by the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers in February 2023, for professional misconduct involving sexual abuse and sexual misconduct with a student. Now, Mr. Speaker, this is important: The college opened their investigation in August 2019, but the legislation prevented them from sharing their concerns with others, such as new employers or other professional colleges, for four years. Unacceptable situations like this are why we are proposing these amendments, and if passed, they’d help us ensure that scenarios like this never happens again.

Again, I want to be very clear that our commitment is to young people. We want to make sure that they succeed and thrive, and young people demand nothing less. That’s why our third action, in order to support the long-term success of adoptions and to keep children safe, is to bring forward future regulations that would require children’s aid societies to do the following for children in adoption-placement settings: conduct safety assessments, create safety plans as needed and create plans of care. Right now, children’s aid societies are required to take these steps for children in care when they’re in other types of placement settings. Our goal is to include similar requirements for adoption-placement settings as well.

The fourth action we’re taking is to strengthen existing requirements for children and youth to know and exercise their rights. This includes additional clarity proposed in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, to ensure that children and youth are informed about the Office of the Ombudsman. This change would help clarify the requirement for children’s aid societies and licensed out-of-home-care providers to notify children and youth that they have the right to be informed about the Ombudsman and their role. Vulnerable youth and children deserve to have private and frank conversations about the care that they’re receiving. We want all children and youth receiving services to understand their rights under the act, because the legislation’s paramount purpose is to promote their best interests, their protection and their well-being.

Further, for our fifth action, we propose to clarify that early childhood educators would be subject to an offence for failing to report a child protection concern to a children’s aid society. This proposal would make it clear that all early childhood educators can be subject to the same offence as other individuals who perform professional or official duties with children, such as teachers and social workers, if they fail to report a child protection concern.

Finally, to further improve the safety of those who are in care or receiving services, we are proposing to provide the Lieutenant Governor in Council with the authority to make regulations for information other than formal police record checks, such as an offence declaration, to be required for individuals who are working or providing services within the sector. In addition, our government intends to bring forward future regulations to standardize police record check requirements for the child and youth services sector.

Those are the six key actions we propose taking to establish clear and consistent practices.

Madam Speaker, I’ll now turn to the third theme that I mentioned earlier, and that’s supporting stable transitions. Under this theme, we’re proposing two actions which aim to support children and youth as they transition to adulthood. First, we propose to enhance privacy protections for individuals with previous involvement in the child welfare system. We’ve heard concerns from former children and youth in care about their personal information being held in perpetuity and accessible in society databases. There are many examples when this information has been used negatively to impact their futures. Individuals involved in the child welfare system as children have many details recorded about themselves over the course of service, much in the same way that any parent would observe their own children’s experiences growing up. However, parents don’t permanently record this information, nor do they use it to prevent their children’s ability to succeed in the future. Children raised in care deserve the same respect. Restricting access to and disclosure of these records would create a framework that would protect the private details of the childhood experiences of these children and youth and allow them to regain control over their own information.

I’d like to share some of the public feedback that directly relates to this third theme.

From Carina Chan: “As a former youth in care and a lawyer who practises family law and child protection law, I support the proposed amendments set out in Bill 188.... I have seen first-hand how childhood histories and records can be used as ammunition when former youth in care become parents themselves or seek employment in the child welfare sector, even though they were in care due to circumstances entirely outside of their control. Individuals who were involved with the child welfare system as children deserve to have their personal information kept confidential so they can have a fresh start as they transition to adulthood.”

Likewise, from Nadia George, a volunteer at the Child Welfare Political Action Committee: “A new era is marked! One that could give those who have lived experience in the child welfare system the much-needed privacy and protection rights we deserve. This is something myself and others at the Child Welfare PAC have been advocating for since 2016. Thank you ... for letting current and former foster kids know we matter.”

Speaker, we agree with the Child Welfare Political Action Committee, which is why our government is pro-posing to make changes that would, once regulations are developed, enable individuals who have a history in child protection involvement to publicly identify themselves and speak about their own experiences with child protection, if they choose to do so. This would help clarify the rules for publishing this type of information and give individuals more control and ownership over their own personal stories and experiences.

To all members: The Supporting Children’s Futures Act is not the first step that we have taken to improve child welfare, nor will it be the last. It is simply another important step towards a brighter future for some of the most vulnerable children in youth in our province. The proposed legislative changes, as well as the regulatory and policy changes that I’ve just outlined, move us closer to achieving our government’s vision where no child or youth is ever left behind.

This bill is the result of the collaboration and the valued input of children, youth and families with lived experience in the child and youth services sector. I’d like to thank many individuals who have shared their feedback with us over the past six weeks and those who have attended and presented their perspectives to the committee at public hearings, and we will continue to hear from you as we build a province where everyone has the resources and supports they need to succeed.

I would like to take a moment to thank several people who have made all of this possible. I want to start off with:

—the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, Denise Cole, for her leadership;

—our many amazing ADMs, but I want to name in particular ADM Linda Chihab and ADM Rupert Gordon;

—from my own team, Sean Forsyth, Kimiya Zamani, Gregory Smith and Chris Clarke;

—of course, the amazing parliamentary assistants Laura Smith, Logan Kanapathi and Nolan Quinn; and

—last, but certainly not least, my chief of staff, a strong voice for the youth and children in care who had so much to contribute to this bill. Thank you so much to Jane Kovarikova for all her leadership and support.

Madam Speaker, with that, I’d like to turn things over to the amazing colleague I have here, the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, Minister Williams.

Good morning, colleagues. It’s a pleasure and an honour to rise on behalf of Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, now under consideration by this House for third reading.

Thank you and congratulations to my colleagues and to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services for his comments today. This minister has really just been such a voice for so many children who felt like they were forgotten, making sure that we are not leaving any child behind. And also, thank you to all of the people who worked on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I used to work in the sector for a long time and have worked with many children who have been really hard struck by some of the things experienced in their lives. Knowing that we are making the changes and making it possible for them not to feel like they are condemned to details written in a file; that their lives are not going to be hindered by the things they experienced when they were growing up in such a challenging time, where their parents have had to make difficult decisions to release them to the care of children’s aid, where they felt lost, where they felt like everyone has abandoned them—this is such a great change, and I’m just very thankful to see that we are making these changes. Thank to all of you who have been able to do this.

Speaker, we are here today because of our government’s vision to ensure that no child is left behind and that they have every chance to thrive, to succeed, regardless of their circumstances. At its heart, that’s really what Bill 188 is about, and I must say that it resonates with me deeply, not only in my role as Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, but because of the experience I’ve had working in children’s mental health for almost 20 years as a behavioural consultant, multisystemic therapist and counsellor. Working with families, especially when I was working with families who were being supported by children’s aid to manage and understand the aggressive behaviour in the homes, knowing that they are going to try to do everything they can to keep the families together but understanding that sometimes that decision or that possibility can’t happen. And when a child would be in care, especially now with the licensing requirements and also making sure that we are holding bad actors accountable, it’s going to make such an impact to those families who have to relinquish their child in care. To know that their child is still going to be taken care of is so important.

Bill 188 is just one of the ways we’re working to ensure that all children, youth and families, including those getting support through the youth services sector, get the resources and supports they need. The children and youth services sector supports a wide range of individuals with diverse needs, as well as their families and caregivers, in every corner of our province.

For example, the sector supports children and youth in need of protection who may have experienced trauma or have been or are at risk of being abused or neglect. The sector supports children with complex needs, as well as children who may be medically fragile. And I’m also talking about youth who are involved in the youth justice system, including those admitted to custody or detention, who also need support to walk a better path in life and to make sure their future, again, is not condemned to their past.

Ensuring timely support, care and intervention can also mean supporting the family or protecting a child from an abusive caregiver. It can mean encouraging a child to break through barriers to their future goals. And it can mean helping a youth involved in the justice system find their way so that they can engage with their families, friends and community in a positive way.

Bill 188 includes reforms to the child welfare system that aim to deliver better outcomes for young people and their families and caregivers who are receiving support from the children and youth services sector. A critical part of this work is collaboration, which is a theme I’d like to pick up. I listened to the minister’s remarks with great interest and noted his comments on noted his comments on collaboration and valued input of those with lived experience with the children’s aid sector. This work builds on collaboration with children’s aid societies and other service providers, as well as First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities from across the province.

I too pass on my sincere thanks and appreciation to the many individuals, stakeholders and partners who have taken time to share their feedback and their experiences. If I may, I’d like to share some of the public feedback we’ve received since Bill 188 was introduced.

From Mohamed Firin, Ontario’s advocate for community opportunities, ACO: “I want to applaud the government for introducing the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. This legislation will complement the mission of the ACO to empower young Ontarians by ensuring that all young people, in particular those in foster and group homes, receive the safest and highest quality of care so they can succeed and unlock their full potential.”

From Ingrid Palmer of the Child Welfare Political Action Committee: “The Supporting Children’s Futures Act is a significant move in the direction of enhancing the well-being of children and youth with child welfare experience. One’s time in care should never be a source of harm or discrimination years afterwards. Protecting the personal histories of this vulnerable community must be a high ... priority.”

Now, of course, feedback like this is great for us to hear, not just because it makes us feel good, but because it confirms that our proposed legislation is hitting the mark. And in that same spirit of continuing collaboration, our ministry is working with First Nations, Inuit Métis and urban Indigenous communities to help reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care. We recognize that the approach to supporting Indigenous children and families must reflect the primacy of First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities in the well-being of their children and families. That’s why supporting services that integrate Indigenous cultures, heritage and traditions is central to our work to achieve better opportunities and outcomes for children, youth and their families.

To support these goals, in March 2022, the Legislature passed amendments to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017. The amendments, once in force, are intended to:

—increase access to customary care, helping Indigenous children and youth to remain connected to their culture and traditions;

—establish circles of supportive persons;

—improve access to updated complementary services; and

—strengthen the role of prevention-focused Indigenous service providers.

We carried out engagements on the draft regulatory proposals for the prevention-focused regulations in early 2024, and we continue to engage with Indigenous representatives to further this process.

Madam Speaker, another part of this work involves important discussions and negotiations with Indigenous communities pursuing models of child and family services under Indigenous laws.

For example, Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, Ontario and Canada signed a trilateral coordination agreement regarding child and family services. That was the first coordination agreement signed in the province and the second in Canada since the federal legislation, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families came into force in 2020. The agreement supports the implementation of the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations’ Customary Care Code, which acquired the force of federal law in January 2021.

On March 31, 2023, a coordination agreement between KI, Ontario and Canada was executed to support the implementation of KI’s child and family services law, which came into force the following day—the second such agreement in Ontario and the first in Treaty 9 territory.

And just last month, the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation became the third Indigenous governing body in Ontario to have its own child and family services law take effect. Their new child and family well-being law provides a foundation for a system specifically designed to meet the needs of the children, youth and families of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. We’re incredibly excited to keep continuing to work with the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and Canada to support the implementation of the new child and family well-being law.

These are important accomplishments, and it’s reflective of our government’s approach and our commitment to ensuring we’re communicating with and making sure that we are having their voices in every step of the decision-making process—something that I feel very strongly about.

It was just last term that our government created the Indigenous Women’s Advisory Council, and it has been an honour to work with the many women of our First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities around the table to discuss the challenges and to discuss and come up with solutions with Indigenous women. This has been important—being able to say, “I’m not going to speak. I’m going to let you speak because you can communicate the needs that you have better than I can.” Having IWAC represented at the federal-provincial-territories meeting and—it’s Ontario. We advocated to make sure the women who are around that table are the ones communicating the needs, and we’re here to support and implement the strategies that they’re putting in place.

Bill 188 is another important step towards achieving our government’s vision where no child or youth will be left behind in Ontario. We’re building a province where all children, youth and families have the resources and supports they need to succeed and thrive. These new proposals build on the work the government has undertaken over the past several years, but there’s no way we’re going to stop there. We can never rest. We have to keep moving forward, and we have to keep making sure that we’re making improvements and committing to our ongoing collaboration with individuals, advocates, stakeholders and partners. Healthy parents raise healthy children who become healthy adults, and again, those healthy adults become healthy parents who raise children to become healthy adults. That’s cycle that we are working to establish here in Ontario, and that should not be any different for children who are being raised in the system of care through children’s aid.

I’m really honoured to be working with this government to make these changes. It’s one of the reasons why I made the shift from working in children’s mental health to becoming a parliamentarian and getting involved in this electoral system, because I’ve worked very intimately with families who’ve been stuck in a system that wasn’t working for them, and knowing that there are changes we can be making to make lives better, and again, making sure that children are not being condemned to the things written in a file—that shouldn’t be the determination of their future. That’s why we’re making these changes.

I encourage many to read and look at what our government is doing because we are making things better for a system that needed support and changes for many years.

I want to again thank everyone who took the time to share their insights and their experiences with us. As we continue to take steps forward together, we will strengthen families and communities across the province, and I will continue in my role to work with women and the girls who have been impacted by a life that has been filled with trauma, making sure that they have opportunities and pathways to their success.

With that, I would now like to turn things to over to my colleague the member for Markham–Thornhill to continue on the remarks.

I recognize the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity.

Further debate?

It is a pleasure to rise today and speak again on Bill 188, Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. First, I’d to thank my colleague the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services for his hard work, dedication and passion in getting the legislation through. I would also like to thank the staff at the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services for their important work. They are a wonderful team up there. Thank you. I would also like to thank the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity for her support and comments.

Speaker, if passed, this bill would improve the safety, security and well-being of children and youth in the child and youth services sector in our wonderful province.

We are proposing changes that would include new and enhanced enforcement tools. These changes would support better compliance with licensing requirements designed to protect the safety and security of children and youth in licensed out-of-home care.

We are proposing changes that aim to better protect the privacy of individuals with a history in the child welfare system, that would further restrict access by others to their child welfare records once regulations are developed.

We are also proposing changes that would enable these individuals to speak freely about their lived experiences. This would give them more control over what they want to share publicly about their involvement in the child welfare system, in circumstances to be prescribed following consultations.

Speaker, the proposed changes within Bill 188 are another way we are working to better support children, youth and their families across Ontario. Transforming services for children, youth and their families is a significant undertaking and takes time. That’s why many of the reforms proposed in this bill further strengthen measures that are already in place.

The minister spoke about stronger enforcement tools—I want to touch on that—such as those intended to hold licensed out-of-home care operators accountable for the safeguards in place to keep children and youth safe and healthy.

To help members further their understanding of our proposed reforms, I would like to provide some insight into the oversight mechanisms that are currently in place to allow the ministry to hold licensed out-of-home care providers more accountable.

The ministry licenses out-of-home care service providers, which include foster care agencies and operators of group and staff model homes. Licensed out-of-home care providers for children and youth, such as group homes, must comply with the requirements set out in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, its regulations, licence conditions and ministry policies.

Ministry oversight and regulation of licensed out-of-home care settings currently includes:

—scheduled and unannounced inspections, which is very, very important;

—licence renewal inspections conducted, at minimum, on an annual basis, and monitoring visits may also be conducted throughout the licensing term;

—mandatory serious occurrence reporting; and

—monthly reporting of the use of mechanical restraints and complaints.

A progressive enforcement model is in place to hold licensed operators accountable. Depending on the circumstances, and under the current rules, the ministry may impose conditions on a licence; impose a maximum capacity on a licence or change that maximum capacity; suspend the licence where there are immediate safety concerns regarding the children and youth in care; and propose to revoke or refuse to issue or renew the licence.

These are the vital factors of this bill.

If this bill is passed, the ministry will be able to publish more details online, providing greater transparency and more information that placing agencies and persons can use.

Speaker, as is evident, there are many existing oversight mechanisms in place for the ministry to hold licensed out-of-home care providers accountable. However, when it comes to keeping children and youth safe and healthy, our government will never rest. We are always looking for ways to improve and strengthen measures to safeguard children and youth. An important part of this has been listening to feedback from stakeholders. The proposals in this bill stem from a broad range of feedback. For this, I would like to take this opportunity to thank individuals with lived experience, advocates, service providers, children’s aid societies, as well as First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities. Their input has been vital in supporting the government’s vision of leaving no child or youth behind in this wonderful province, and we tried to reflect their voices throughout this bill.

In developing these proposed changes, various recommendations were considered, including the lived experience of youth; investigations, inquests and recommendations from the Ombudsman of Ontario; and feedback from stakeholders, including from engagements with Indigenous communities, organizations providing services to Indigenous children and youth, service providers and children’s aid societies.

The ministry also held more than 30 virtual engagements with various stakeholder groups, including youth with lived experience.

As this clearly shows, the changes we are proposing in Bill 188 are a result of extensive consultation with many individuals and stakeholders. Our work has been and will continue to be responsive to their interests and feedback.

I would like to take this opportunity to share a couple of recent comments that we received.

From Nicole Bonnie, the principal consultant with Firma Strategy Group and the former CEO of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies: “The primary objective of any system serving children, youth, and families is to ensure sustainable outcomes that nurture every aspect of a child and youth’s identity. Drawing from 15 years in the child welfare system, I’ve witnessed ongoing endeavours to align various arms within the system for the betterment of children, youth and families. The recent policies and legislation bring us closer to this objective by prioritizing the needs of children and youth in alternative care placements.”

As you can see, Speaker, Bill 188 is part of our continued commitment to people across Ontario who depend on the child and youth services sector.

As I outlined for the House at second reading, the changes we are proposing in Bill 188 also build on the Ready, Set, Go Program we launched on April 1, 2023. This program represents another significant step in the Child Welfare Redesign Strategy. Ready, Set, Go connects youth in the child welfare system with additional services and supports earlier to better prepare them for life after leaving care. This includes the development of life skills such as financial management, incentives for pursuing post-secondary education and support finding pathways to employment. This program has a three-year, $170-million funding commitment from the ministry. This year, Ready, Set, Go is expected to support more than 4,000 youth as they prepare for adulthood.

To continue our work, the ministry has been hosting regular engagement sessions to gather feedback from key stakeholders. We also have been working collaboratively across ministries to implement Ready, Set, Go to better support youth and provide them with information and supports that will help them build a brighter future after leaving care.

On July 1, 2023, our government implemented key components of a comprehensive quality standards framework into regulations to help licensees, placing agencies and other service providers improve the quality of care in licensed out-of-home care settings. The framework is based on feedback from a panel of 12 youth with lived experience in out-of-home care. These youth told the ministry very clearly what quality of care means to them.

The framework provides guidance on how to better meet the needs of children and youth in licensed out-of-home care and to support them to thrive and achieve better outcomes. The framework also encourages care that is safe, strength-based, trauma-informed and culturally responsive and relevant. It also considers the unique needs and identities of children and youth.

The new requirements, embedded in regulation and policy directives to support the implementation of the framework, include front-line staff and supervisor qualifications, training requirements for foster parents and enhanced safety and service planning obligations. The ministry will continue to work with service providers on the implementation of these important changes. Our goal is to improve the quality of care and better hold licensees and placing agencies, including children’s aid societies, accountable for the care they provide.

All children and youth in Ontario deserve safety, stability and access to resources and supports to help them succeed and thrive. As the minister noted earlier, sector partners and communities have clearly articulated the need to implement measures that better protect children and youth rights, enhance the quality of services and improve the accountability of service providers.

Our government’s proposals in Bill 188 build on the work that we have undertaken over the past several years and are widely informed by partners in the children and youth services sector.

Our government is committed to continuing to collaborate with our stakeholders and sector partners on future regulation, policy and legislative proposals.

As I said at the top of my remarks, Speaker, we need to provide better support for our children and youth as they transition into adulthood. That includes giving these individuals more control over their past and more control over how they voice and reflect on their time in Ontario’s child welfare system.

Proceeding with these legislative proposals, in conjunction with other regulatory and policy changes, is our next step toward meeting these needs. These changes will help us achieve our government’s vision of an Ontario where all children, youth and families, including those getting support through the Ontario children and youth service sector, have access to resources and services they need to succeed and thrive.

Speaker, we are all in this together.

Now I would like to pass it to the hard-working PA, my colleague the member for Thornhill.

Further debate?

I am pleased to join my colleagues the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services; the Associate Minister of Women’ Social and Economic Opportunity; and fellow parliamentary assistant the MPP for Markham–Thornhill and rise on behalf of Bill 188, the Strengthening Children’s Futures Act, 2024, now under consideration by this House for third reading.

It has been truly a pleasure to work with the minister on this bill. We believe that all children and youth deserve safety, stability and access to resources and supports to help them succeed and thrive, and as the minister said before, children and youth may only be a portion of our population today, but they are 100% of our future. This is why our government is working to ensure that no child or young person is left behind in Ontario and that everyone has the best chance of success as they approach adulthood.

Speaker, I think we all want to see successful transitions for individuals as they leave Ontario’s child welfare system. I think we all want to see and we all need to see these children and youth becoming confident adults who can contribute to the success of our province, and this is the essence of Bill 188.

Speaker, as I outlined for the House at second reading, our government has worked diligently to introduce other reforms into the child welfare system that will deliver better outcomes for children and youth and their families and caregivers who are receiving support from the child and youth services sector.

But components of Bill 188 are an important part of the government’s ongoing redesign of the child welfare system, and I’d like to take this opportunity to speak to the connection between the proposed changes in child welfare design as it provides important context for the proposals in this bill.

Members of the House will recall that the ministry announced the Child Welfare Redesign Strategy in July of 2020. Through this strategy, our government has introduced new initiatives to improve the quality of services that children and youth receive in out-of-home care. Some of these initiatives have included developing a new framework for what quality of care looks like and feels like; increasing and enhancing oversight and accountability for out-of-home care; and adding 20 new positions across this province to support the management, inspection and oversight of out-of-home care for children and youth.

Speaker, every child and youth deserves a fair start and position in life, and our government is delivering on that. We hit the ground running by:

—consulting widely in the community and with service providers to better serve children and youth;

—increasing the numbers of inspections;

—increasing access to customary care, which helps children and youth remain connected to their culture and traditions—and this is very important. As somebody who worked within the child protection act, having that child touchstone with their community and their culture gives them the essence of the child and helps them really be a positive person for the future;

—bolstering family-based options like kinship and foster care to ensure children and youth and families have a voice and decisions about their care;

—improving the quality of child welfare data, as well as developing an outcomes-based performance measurement framework; and

—releasing the children and young persons’ rights resource to help children and youth understand their rights and use their voices.

Speaker, we have backed this important work with significant investments of more than $1.5 billion in the child welfare system. This investment supports Ontario’s 50 independent children’s aid societies, including 13 Indigenous children’s aid societies.

Since announcing the child welfare redesign in 2020, we’ve made several changes and investments to better support children, youth and families receiving child welfare services.

We have invested almost $3 million to help support kinship service and customary caregivers, adoptive parents, and caregivers who have obtained legal custody of a child in extended society care. I can’t stress the importance of kinship—I worked in that area, and I know the value of that work and putting the child in the right place.

We have annualized $800,000 in funding to One Vision One Voice, which supports culturally appropriate service delivery for Black and African Canadian children, youth and families in the child welfare system.

We’ve invested an additional $1.5 million annually in the Education Liaison Program to help children and youth in care across this province get the support they need to focus on their studies.

We are providing $5 million in annualized funding to enhance access to prevention-focused customary care for Indigenous children and youth, helping them remain closer to their homes, families and communities.

And we launched and invested $170 million in the Ready, Set, Go program which provides youth in the care of children’s aid societies and other eligible youth with the life skills they need, starting at age 13. This includes financial and other supports to those aged 18 to 23 so that they can focus on post-secondary education, skilled trades, or pursuing employment.

I’m so proud to add that youth and child welfare first-voice advocates were important contributors to the design of Ready, Set, Go and the new youth-leaving-care policy.

Aside from these investments, we’ve directed children’s aid societies to end the practice of using birth alerts, which we heard disproportionately affected Indigenous and racialized expectant parents and families.

As Associate Minister Williams outlined, we continue to work with Indigenous communities that are pursuing Indigenous-led models of child and family services.

Speaker, I believe all of this is a strong record of achievement, and the passage of Bill 188 would continue our efforts to improve the child and youth services sector.

Thank you to all the children and youth with lived experience—so important—families, children’s aid societies, service providers, as well as First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities, who have taken the time to share their insights with us through various engagements. Your input is vital to the success of our government’s work.

The Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, would, if passed, modernize and standardize important safeguards throughout the child and youth services sector. We are proposing changes that would provide new and enhanced enforcement tools. These changes would support better compliance with licensing requirements that are designed to protect the safety and security of children and youth in licensed out-of-home care, including foster care and group homes. In addition, these changes would hold service providers more accountable for the care they deliver. The proposed changes include amending the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, to strengthen ministry oversight, enforcement and licensing; mandating children’s aid societies to provide information about health and safety risks to the ministry’s licensing and enforcement staff; and enhancing information-sharing between stakeholders and the ministry’s licensing and enforcement staff.

These changes would help children and youth in three important ways.

First, they would supplement current ministry compliance and enforcement tools by enhancing the ministry’s progressive oversight model. This would better enable the ministry to choose and use the right tools to respond to instances of non-compliance. The proposed new tools include compliance orders, restraining orders, orders requiring management, orders for the return of funds, and notices of administrative penalties. In addition, we’re proposing enhancements to existing powers, including powers to refuse issuing, renewing or revoking a licence.

Second, these changes would enhance program administration and delivery by enhancing criteria to obtain a first licence, strengthening ministry staff’s oversight and enforcement powers, clarifying regulatory and administrative processes, and improving transparency and information-sharing.

And third, these changes supported by recent complementary regulatory amendments would enhance oversight of children in care by children’s aid societies by requiring societies to visit each child placed in out-of-home care more frequently and enhancing information-sharing and service coordination between societies.

We are proposing changes under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act that would restrict access to the records of individuals involved with the child welfare system, in certain circumstances, once regulations are developed. These changes aim to better protect the privacy of individuals who were formerly children or youth involved with the child welfare system. They would also enable individuals to speak freely—which is so important—about their lived experiences which would give them more say and control over what they want to share publicly about their time in the child welfare system in circumstances that would be prescribed at a later date.

Speaker, our government is working so very hard to ensure that individuals involved with the child and youth services sector receive high-quality care from service providers—care that supports their health, their safety and their ability to reach their full potential. We’re working to help ensure that all children and youth have access to the resources and supports they need to succeed and thrive.

I would like to just briefly provide a little bit of context for all of the wins that we’ve had in this, because this has been a positive time for the ministry. I’d like to share some important feedback that we’ve received.

From Valerie McMurtry, president and CEO of Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada:

“We commend the Ontario government for their work to increase clarity regarding the care of young people placed in out-of-home-settings through the Supporting Children’s Futures Act.... Our collective priority should be to ensure that young people remain in the care of their families and communities. However, when this isn’t feasible, it’s critical that young people have access to the high-quality supports they need, including understanding their rights and assistance available to them through” the “Ombudsman. We value the government’s commitment to making sure young people receive this information and ensuring their voices stay central in shaping this act and next steps with respect to child welfare redesign.”

Madam Speaker, it is so clearly apparent to me, as somebody who worked within the child protection act, that these proposed changes are a result of extensive and continuous consultation with so many valued stakeholders. Now that we’ve arrived at third reading, I owe it to our stakeholders and people across our great province, and in particular to the children and youths’ families, who will ultimately benefit from the proposals in this bill, to take the next steps and pass this bill.

I want to thank everyone in the House for listening to my statement, and I truly appreciate all of my colleagues within the ministry for their support on this bill.

I wanted to ask a question: In the debate on Bill 188, we heard how the staff at the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services has consulted widely to develop the proposals found in the Supporting Children’s Future Act. That consultation, I understand, was broad and included over 30 virtual engagements with various stakeholder groups, including youth with experience in the sector, and that included engaging stakeholders through the Ontario Regulatory Registry as well. And the ministry, I understand, received something like 35 written submissions to proposed changes.

I just wanted to ask the minister, because he is here: Why is that engagement so important? And will the minister continue to engage toward the goals of this bill and our child welfare redesign?

It is always a pleasure to be able to stand in my place as the official opposition critic for children, community and social services and to be able to lay out a few questions to the minister regarding the bill, as we’re now in third reading.

Through the committee process, we had several people who provided written submissions, who came and testified, who spoke to us, ensuring that their voices were heard and that their comments were heard. We heard from the Ombudsman, who had several requests and even provided the language of what the amendments could be for making Bill 188 better. Some of it was making sure that there was contact info provided in and out; digital; appropriate language; speaking to young people in their own terms—the government refused those amendments.

Could the minister please tell us why—

Signing a consent form is nothing new. That could have been put into place, but again, the government turned that down. Why did the government continue to once again turn down an independent officer of the Legislature?

I thank my colleague for the question. Quite the contrary, Madam Speaker—if you look at the bill, this bill was developed by sector partners. It was in my remarks. Both the IPC and the Ombudsman were involved, and they both had positive things to say about this bill and the member knows that.

As I said from day one, this isn’t the first and it won’t be the last initiative that we will put forward. We will continue to look at ways, talk to our stakeholders, talk to partners, talk to experts within the field and within the sector to make sure that we look at every single proposal to improve the lives of children and youth in care. Because I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again and again, we will do whatever it takes to make sure no child and youth is left behind. But this isn’t the first or last initiative. Bill 188, if passed, some of initiatives that were brought in by the opposition were—

We won’t stop that, even past this bill. As I said, this isn’t the first; it won’t be the last. We are going to continuously put initiatives forward to improve the lives of children and youth in care. Throughout the child welfare redesign, which was initiated a couple of years ago, that has been the theme. It’s paramount that we capture the views and input of everyone within the sector: service providers, those with lived experience. That’s the only way we’re going to get it right. We’re going to continue to listen to everybody who has an input that would help us improve the lives of children and youth in the province.

That’s not going to stop. We’re going to continue to listen to them. We’re going to continue making sure that we get the feedback, because in some cases—maybe other governments in the past had put one initiative forward and forgot about children and youth. It’s not going to happen under this Premier. It’s not going to happen under this government. This isn’t the first and it won’t be the last. We’re going to continue engaging with our partners. We’re going to continue listening to them to make sure that we get it right every single time.

That’s what’s driving the child welfare redesign in our province, Madam Speaker, because we are collaborating, because we are listening, because we are listening to those with lived experience, which is why we’re protecting the history of children and youth in care, something that—

We backed that up by investment and we’ll continue to support them to make sure no child and youth is ever left behind in this province.

I want to thank the minister for this initiative. I know that our plan to redesign child welfare began in 2020 and has taken action through many initiatives since then. Particularly we are looking at Ready, Set, Go, which has ensured for the first time that Ontario has a plan to support children and youth in care as they near adulthood and set them up for success.

Speaker, we’ve all heard many times that society has no greater responsibility than to those who are vulnerable and to our youth when they are not ready to look after themselves. So I do want to ask: Could the minister speak to how Bill 188 complements and builds on the work done by the child welfare redesign? Please and thank you.

It is now time for questions.

The children’s aid societies ran a $15.9-million deficit last year; this year, they’re forecasting a $50-million deficit. That, to me, is not protecting our most vulnerable children. How could you possibly expect the children’s aid societies to really be able to care for kids, keep kids home with their families where they want to be, if you are underfunding them and providing them one-time funding instead of consistent funding to ensure that they have a forecast and that they are able to properly take care of our most vulnerable children?

A $15.9-million deficit, Minister; a $50-million projected. It kind of counts. It’s facts.

You know what are facts, Madam Speaker? Let me actually talk about facts, okay? The facts are, Madam Speaker, that we have increased funding—I just mentioned that: $170 million over three years to support children and youth. Maybe that’s not important to the opposition; it is to us.

We want to make sure every child, every youth is set up for success, which is why we backed that up by investment. We wanted that support to start as early as 13 all the way up to their 23rd birthday with incentive and support so they can get post-secondary education, they can be connected to the trades, whatever it is they want to explore, because we want to make sure every child and youth in this province is set up for success.

Whether you’re in care or not, your circumstances matter. We’ll keep fighting for you to make sure you have a chance to succeed in your community.

Further questions?

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

There are more than 1.5 million Canadians who trace their origins to Italy, with most living here in Ontario. In fact, their contributions here and across the world stage are so numerous, we have dedicated June as Italian Heritage Month in Ontario.

Speaker, the Italian Canadian community is known and respected for their values and traditions of hard work, ingenuity and dedication to family life in their community. And, of course, Italians have a deep and proud history to draw upon, filling the shelves of libraries around the world. Their ancestors had an empire that spanned Europe and beyond, and their legacy has had a profound impact on all of humanity. Countless great Italian figures have shaped Western philosophy, law, culture, faith, science and so much more. To this very day, Italians continue to be a name on the world stage in science, engineering, sports, cuisine, fashion and much more.

Today in Ontario, there are almost one million Ontarians of Italian descent—Italian immigrants and their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who literally built so much of the province with their own hands, minds and hearts. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Italian Ontarians, and it is a real honour to recognize their great culture and identity today with all of you.

Happy Italian Heritage Month.

Last week, I had the privilege of joining several of my colleagues in representing our Ontario provincial government at the Ontario-Quebec Parliamentary Association 28th general assembly in Quebec. The theme of this year’s meeting was artificial intelligence.

Les objectifs de l’association sont de favoriser le développement de la coopération interparlementaire; de promouvoir la compréhension entre les deux Assemblées, en particulier dans les domaines de la législation, de la culture, de l’économie, de la science et de la technologie; et de renforcer notre amitié, la bonne volonté et la compréhension entre les peuples de l’Ontario et du Québec.

The topic of AI was timely, given the cross-partisan agreement moving my private member’s motion on the use of AI in government forward. Additionally, this week we had the second reading of Bill 194, Strengthening Cyber Security and Building Trust in the Public Sector Act, 2024. Artificial intelligence is already being used in many sectors. It was an interesting visit to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec to see how AI has been incorporated into the art-piece-viewing experience. It was a wonderful experience in Quebec; look forward to next year.

June 7 will mark the end of an era in nursing. The Mack school of nursing alumni association is closing with a 150-year history of advancing their profession in Niagara and beyond. Originally inspired by the techniques of Florence Nightingale, Mack nurses pioneered nursing standards that transcended the St. Catharines-based school itself.

During the school’s operation from 1874 to 1974, the Mack name was well known. When the school itself closed, Canada’s oldest alumni association decided to give back to their profession in a meaningful way. In partnership with Brock University and Niagara College, the nursing alumni started a scholarship fund to help aspiring nurses pay their tuitions. The money came from the alumni’s own membership fees and donations that they collected personally.

With the closure of the alumni association this year, Brock and Niagara College have agreed to enshrine the Mack name and offer their scholarship under the original title on an ongoing basis. As a former Niagara hospital worker, it fills my heart to see Mack nursing’s legacy carried on. At a time when we need nurses more than ever, they have helped the next generation to get their start. My sincere thanks to the Mack Alumni Association for 150 years of dedication to nursing. It is advocates like you who bring the term “health care heroes” to life.