Annual Report 2015-2016 LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY It is a pleasure to present The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton’s data (page 2). Performance Indicators will aid in establishing 2015-2016 Annual Report. data to assist the Society in improving outcomes. They are also an important tool in helping the public better understand The past year has been rich in challenges, opportunities, and the complexities of our work as we strive to address the safety, accomplishments. It has also been a year filled with analysis permanency and well-being of children and youth. and preparation as the province’s child welfare sector works collaboratively to implement recommendations and address areas Throughout the ups and downs of the past year, we remain of improvement within the field. committed to our vision of a community where every child is a gift to be valued, nurtured and kept safe. With the ongoing support As always, we welcome the opportunity to engage with the Ministry and dedication of our staff and stakeholders we will continue to of Children and Youth Services, our provincial association and the make positive and lasting impressions on the children, youth and community to improve service to further enhance outcomes and families we serve. benefit the children, youth, and families we serve. This Annual Report provides just a small glimpse into our work and We are working steadily to continue to improve the quality and our agency in general. We encourage you to take the time to read consistency of our service, establish permanency, focus on early it thoroughly. These are not just statistics that we are reporting on help, and improve our capacity to serve diverse communities. – these numbers represent the lives of children, youth and families During the year, a great deal of provincial work was accomplished in our community. to address public concerns over staff expertise and consistency in services. It is anticipated that professional regulation of the child Thank you to our staff for their commitment and dedication to welfare workforce will be implemented in January 2017. the Society and the community we serve. We also extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to our board members, foster As our community grows, and the needs of our service recipients parents, volunteers, community partners, and donors for your evolve and diversify, so too must our organization. Over the last ongoing support. year, the Society has undergone an internal reorganization to better meet the varied needs of children and families, to improve internal collaboration, to allow for specialized service areas and to Sincerely, augment community partnerships. Community partnerships and shared service initiatives continue to be a major focus for the Society. Our community relationships not only aid families in accessing appropriate and timely services, they are also fundamental in developing safety nets for children. Service specialization by identified staff will further enrich these relationships and will clearly identify first points of contact, such as Dominic Verticchio that of the newly developed Young Parent Team (page 10) so that Executive Director the agency is viewed as a more accessible community partner. In addition, internal specialization with related training will enable staff to better support specific demographics and address relevant challenges. Great strides have also been made province-wide to address the public’s desire for greater transparency and accountability for child protection agencies. The Performance Indicator (PI) Project, launched in 2013, represents a new approach to accountability and Victoria Walzak President, Board of Directors system management. Last year, child welfare agencies publicly reported aggregate data on five key areas representing safety, permanence, well-being, organizational capacity and governance effectiveness. This year, we were pleased to share agency specific 1 PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Performance indicators are a tool to help the child welfare sector strive for better outcomes for the children and families they serve. By definition, performance indicators can be both descriptive and numerical results that measure the performance of an important service. They can also measure efficiency, effectiveness, value for money, and client satisfaction. In the provincial system of performance indicators, Children’s Aid Societies are collecting numerical data to measure performance in five areas of child welfare: safety, permanence, well-being, organizational capacity, and governance effectiveness. As of March 2015, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services has been reporting on five performance indicators from children’s aid societies to the public. These performance indicators focus on safety, permanency, and well-being. The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton released the following agency specific performance indicators in March 2016. Child Welfare Service Performance Indicators – The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton Safety Outcome - Recurrence of Child Protection Concerns in a Family after an Investigation Definition: Limitations of the Data: The percentage of family cases closed at investigation in a fiscal year that The data results do not identify whether it is the same child who experienced were re-investigated within 12 months after closing and where the child a recurrence of protection concerns; only that protection concerns have protection concerns were verified. reoccurred in the same family. The reason for investigation and verification represents any recurrence of any kind of protection concern rather than Why is this Measure Important? recurrence of the same protection concern (e.g., a case may return with Closing a case following an investigation assessment suggests that there different protection concerns than those originally investigated). Data represent are no child protection concerns requiring ongoing Children’s Aid Society only those families reported to a Children’s Aid Society and do not include involvement or there are factors that are present that are beyond the control protection concerns that are not reported or not identified. of the agency. However, at the conclusion of many investigations, workers make referrals to community-based services for families. This measure is Key Considerations: important for further understanding of those families that return to a Children’s There is no agreed-upon benchmark for the “acceptable” level of recurrence. Aid Society with verified protection concerns and those that do not, in terms While a lower level is generally desirable, the rate of recurrence is unlikely of the families’ willingness to work with agency, the emergence of new child ever to be 0% for a variety of reasons including the long-lasting nature protection concerns not present at the time of closure, the level of engagement such as struggles experienced by families commonly known to the child and intensity of the services offered, as well as the risks, strengths and needs welfare system, e.g., poverty, substance abuse and mental health problems. of children and families. Furthermore, the reconnection of some families with the child welfare system can be in and of itself a protective factor to children whose families experienced valuable supports from the agency which addressed their risks 2 and needs. Recurrence of Child Protection Concerns in a Family after an Investigation 12% 13% 14% 13% Results: Data suggest that the majority 86-88% of families do not return for service within 12 months of case closure. A minority of families return to The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton with verified child protection concerns within 12 months: between 88% 87% 86% 87% 12-14% in each of the years under review. These data have been compiled and analyzed by the University of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work 2010 -11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 through the Ontario Child Abuse & Neglect Database System. % of families with verified recurrence of child protection concerns within 12 months % of families with no recurrence of child protection concerns within 12 months Child Welfare Service Performance Indicators – The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton Safety Outcome - Recurrence of Child Protection Concerns in a Family after Ongoing Protection Services Were Provided Definition: Limitations of the Data: The percentage of family cases closed at ongoing protection in a fiscal The data results do not identify whether it is the same child who experienced year that were re-investigated within 12 months after closing where the a recurrence of protection concerns; only that protection concerns have child protection concerns were verified. reoccurred in the same family. The reason for investigation and verification represents any recurrence of any kind of protection concern rather than Why is this Measure Important? recurrence of the same protection concern (e.g., a case may return with Closing a case following ongoing services suggests that child protection different protection concerns than those originally identified). Data represent concerns have been addressed and no longer require ongoing Children’s Aid only those families reported to a CAS and do not include protection concerns Society involvement or there are factors that are present that are beyond the that are not reported or not identified. control of the agency. The recurrence of child protection concerns is higher for these families as they often experience multiple complex difficulties, such Key Considerations: as poverty, mental health