CAS Annual Meeting

June 19, 2001 permalink

CAS held its annual meeting this evening. As expected, their candidates were elected to the board of directors. Dufferin VOCA requested a poll, and in that poll, the recorded vote was:

Accompanying the annual report, CAS handed out a copy of the Orangeville Banner Editorial of June 8, 2001, and a reply by Gary Putman. The Orangeville Banner printed the reply in the June 19, 2001 edition under the headline: Editorial Comments express dated values regarding abuse

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DUFFERIN

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Child and Family Services
(Incorporated as the Children's Aid Society of the County of Dufferin)

June 13, 2001

The Editor
Orangeville Banner
37 Mill Street
Orangeville, ON

Dear Editor:

We are writing regarding the Editorial Comment which appeared in your June 8th edition entitled "A tough balance". Thank you for your article on our urgent need for foster parents and we are pleased that forty eight families have responded to date.

This letter however is to respond to additional comments made in your editorial which we are very puzzled and disturbed over. Although we were left to believe that your inquiries to our staff were in respect to our need for foster homes, we are left wondering why you chose to spend the better part of your editorial criticizing the mandate of children's aid societies. My immediate response is to elaborate on all your ill informed comments, but I know I must be short. We are puzzled by the choice of such negative words as "horror stories", "police escorted agents", "without sufficient evidence of need", "unnecessary meddling", "interference in private lives", and "bulldoze". We are puzzled because these words remind us of opinions held many years ago when family life was so secret and private, it was no ones business if parents abused children or partners physically assaulted their spouse or girlfriend. So private that police were not to intervene or lay criminal charges because these matters were naturally private and were to be sorted out by family members. So private that children and women died at the hands of their parents or partners. We thought we had moved beyond that to understand that intervention into family lives and between adult partners was seen as in everyone's best interest. That children should be protected and women respected and treated as equals rather than treated as a possession to do with whatever one wants to in private.. We thought the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" was an acceptable society value today and that children deserved a formal advocate to intervene when there is an indication that they may be subject to abuse or neglect. We agree that less intervention would be required if parents always acted with their children's best interest. We would not need women's shelters if all women and children were treated with respect and love. We would not need jails if everyone obeyed the laws of our society. It truly is a very delicate balance but there are not always simple solutions to what are very complex human interactions.

Next time, please try to inform yourself of all sides of an issue before expressing your opinion.

Sincerely,

Gary Putman
Executive Director.

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Child Protection Service and Developmental Support Service

50 Fourth Ave., Unit 13,
Orangeville, Ontario, L9W 4P1
Phone (519) 941-1530 Fax 519-941-1525 mail@dcafs.on.ca