April 7, 2015

I am very pleased to present the Report on the third legislative review of the Child and Family Services Act. This report summarizes what we heard from children, youth, families and service providers in Ontario about the ways the Act affects their lives - and how they thought the Act could be strengthened or improved to support both high- quality services and positive outcomes for children and youth.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the hundreds of individuals and organizations across Ontario that contributed their insights, experiences and expertise. In particular, I would like to express my appreciation to the young people and families who participated – your contributions were invaluable.

Many participants of the review noted a need to address a number of challenges that currently exist in the delivery of services, including those serving some of the most vulnerable young people in Ontario. Service providers, youth and families have also requested that the Child and Family Services Act be updated to better reflect the social changes that have taken place in the province over the past 30 years.

Throughout the review, we received the message loud and clear, that Ontarians want to see change in the legislation that governs many of the province’s programs for children, youth and their families. For this reason, I am committed to hosting further targeted discussions on key areas of the legislations as we work toward possible updates to the Act.

We will continue to engage with partners, services providers, families and youth, as well as those with lived experiences, as we explore key areas for updating legislation. The perspective of our partners, communities, children and youth and their families is important to me, my ministry and the Act.

We have an ambitious year ahead of us and with the help of our partners I know that together, we can make a real difference in the lives of Ontario’s children and youth. Sincerely,

Tracy MacCharles

Minister