Many of Ontario’s Children’s aid societies are facing budget shortfalls and say their ability to keep vulnerable kids safe is being threatened by a cap on funding from Queens Park.
According to a release from the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies they face a total 67 million dollar shortfall in funding.
The good news in our area is the the Owen Sound and Grey County CAS is not looking at a budget shortfall for this year.
Executive Director Sydney Misener tells Bayshore Broadcasting News Grey CAS is the only agency in the Southwest that is in that position.
She admits her agency has a funding deficit from previous years, but is still hoping the province will cover that shortfall.
Misener says in the past, budget shortfalls were covered at the end of a fiscal year by the government — but the McGuinty government says that won’t happen this year.
The Executive Director of the Grey County CAS says the downturn in the economy may be responsible for some of the problems being faced at other agencies.
However, she is somewhat surprised that the biggest budget shortfall is in York Region at 7.3 million dollars, while auto industry reliate Windsor faces a much smaller problem.
Misener says unless the government has a change of heart, some CAS programs will be cutback or eliminated.
Ontario CAS officials say with the province capping their funding, they won’t be able to meet minimum mandatory standards for seeing children every month and children won’t be able to visit their biological families as often.