The PDRC – child welfare offers recommendations to Societies arising from review of the case materials. The recommendations are aimed at the prevention of further deaths including suggestions for enhancement or change in practice and/or procedures that may inform improvement in service delivery and potentially impact child and youth safety. 

In 2018, the PDRC – child welfare reviewed fewer cases (17) due in part to the focus on the work to develop and pilot the Child and Youth Death Review and Analysis Project, which contains a data collection and integration component from ministries that provides the services most frequently accessed by young people, and a local death review table mechanism where specific cases are reviewed in the region in which the young person typically received services in. Of the 17 cases reviewed, a total of 12 recommendations were issued from 11 cases and six cases provided no recommendations.

Recommendations to MCCSS and Children’s Aid/Indigenous Children’s Aid Societies (societies) in 2017

The section below provides some examples of the recommendations made to children’s aid/Indigenous children’s aid societies (societies) by the PDRC – child welfare in 2017. The themes of the recommendations include a focus on mental health service delivery and improving the policies and practices of societies in delivering child protection services.

2017 PDRC – child welfare recommendations and themes

Mental health recommendations:

  1. The Society to consider how to establish a priority service approach with the local children’s mental health centre to facilitate referral and treatment of high risk youth in need of children’s mental health treatment services.
  2. The Society work with the community children’s mental health services, education, and the Band to establish a strong collaborative approach to strengthen positive family engagement that incorporates the use of case conferences on a regular basis.
  3. The Society consider working with the education system and the mental health services to support anti-bullying programs and reduce the negative impact on the children in the community.

Society policies and practices recommendations:

  1. The Society should investigate the deaths of children in receipt of agency service where the death is suspicious and may be attributable to abuse or neglect by a caregiver.
    • Society Response: Reporting Child Death: The Direct Services Manual to be revised to reflect reporting of Serious Occurrence Reports for child deaths is one hour;
    • Investigation of suspicious death: Direct Services Manual to be revised to meet the 11 categories (levels of severity) that are above the intervention line and to ensure required opening on an investigation. The Direct Services Manual to ensure Ontario Child Protection Standards are met.
  1. The agency to review its practices with respect to what qualifies as a ‘private arrangement’ when children are residing with kin and when kinship service standards should be applied. 

Implementation status of 2017 PDRC – child welfare recommendations to Societies

MCCSS monitors the implementation status of the PDRC – child welfare recommendations and the actions taken by Societies to respond to specific recommendations. In 2017, MCCSS reported that 100% of the PDRC – child welfare’s recommendations directed to Societies had the content or intent of the recommendation already in place. 

PDRC – child welfare recommendations to other organizations in 2017

The PDRC – Child Welfare did not make any recommendations to other organizations in 2017.