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CAS Discourages Advocacy
June 1, 2005 permalink
Today the Ottawa Citizen publishes a letter from John Dunn suggesting that CAS discourages its clients from getting help from advocates. Based on our experience, Mr Dunn understates the problem. We have seen CAS respond to advocacy by calling for the family death penalty, crown-wardship.
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Assistance discouraged
June 1, 2005
Re: Many improvements at CAS, May 26.
Barbara MacKinnon, executive director of the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa, writes that it is "the community's responsibility as a whole to ensure the well-being" of its children. As a former foster child myself, and currently a child-welfare advocate who provides support and advocacy for clients of the Ottawa Children's Aid Society, I don't see the CAS acting this way.
I have seen the CAS actively advise clients not to use an advocate, and have also been told by staff within the agency that they have been told not to communicate with advocates. This type of conduct discourages people from getting involved in ensuring the well-being of children in the community.
John Dunn,
OttawaSource: Ottawa Citizen
