CAS cutbacks will affect children, says union
Layoffs are coming to the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society — and the union that represents the organization’s employees says the most vulnerable people in the community will be hurt as a result.
“This is an already short-staffed and underfunded agency,” said Craig Hesman, president of Local 2286 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, in a news release.
“The need for child protection services is on the rise in Windsor and Essex County and across the province. We should be raising staffing and service levels to meet those needs instead of making children and families in our community suffer.”
The layoffs were announced at the end of August. Hesman said the union was surprised by the timing, as it’s “still early in the fiscal year.”
According to CUPE, the loss of certain positions will result in the elimination of two programs — one that arranges for CAS representatives to make educational visits to schools, and another that advises struggling parents on keeping children at home instead of under CAS care.
“CAS says cuts should not affect front-line workers or the quality of care, but we don’t see how this could be the case,” said CUPE communications representative Matthew Stella.
Terry Johnson, interim executive director of Windsor-Essex CAS, confirmed that layoffs will start taking effect in mid- October. Nine permanent positions are being eliminated. After bumping rights, the result will be five or six people losing employment.
“This is unfolding as we manage our budget,” Johnson said on Thursday.
According to Johnson, the cuts are necessary due to a combination of over-hiring at the beginning of the year, and unprecedented financial pressures caused by a “crisis” of children under CAS care.
Johnson said Windsor-Essex CAS currently has about 510 children in care, 37 of whom have multiple needs that require roundthe-clock staffing.
“That costs us,” Johnson said. “We can have kids (that require) upwards of $1,000 a day (in care). You can see how it adds up very quickly.”
While Johnson acknowledged that some programs are being eliminated, she emphasized that the core services of CAS won’t be affected.
“We still have workers going out into the community, doing investigations, providing services to families, visiting kids in foster homes,” Johnson said. “That is not what’s being touched.”
Asked if there’s any way to secure more funding from the government, Johnson replied that Windsor-Essex CAS is locked into a five-year funding formula, the envelope of which “has not changed whatsoever.” She does not anticipate more funds becoming available.
“I have regular conversations with the ministry with respect to the challenges we have right now. Our fiscal year starts April 1, but we plan for what we had last year.”
Johnson said it is not her desire to lose adjunct programs, “but right now, we have to focus on making sure we have enough workers to go out to the homes.”