Complaints, Compliments & Feedback
Providing quality service for children, youth, and families is very important to us. If you have a concern or complaint about the services you have received from the Children’s Aid Society, we want to hear about them. Our hope is to work together with you to resolve concerns and improve our service.
If you have a complaint, concern, question or feedback about services you have received there are several ways to be heard. Talk to the caseworker who is helping you, or ask to involve the caseworker’s manager. You can have a discussion over the phone or request a meeting, and at any stage you may choose to bring a friend or relative for support. The worker and manager have the most in-depth knowledge to answer your questions about the service you are receiving and can work with you to find a resolution.
Complaint Process:
If your concern has not been resolved to your satisfaction, or if you do not want to first speak to a staff member involved with you or your family, you can request a formal review of your complaint using the following options:
You can request that a Senior Manager contact you to discuss your concerns. Your worker or the manager involved with your family can provide you with contact information for the appropriate Senior Manager. You can request a call or put your concerns in writing.
If your concerns are not resolved at that level, you may choose to have your concerns reviewed by a Director of Service and/or Executive Director. If your concerns are still not resolved, you may choose to access the Society’s Internal Complaint Review Panel.
A form has been created to help clarify the details of the concerns that you are bringing forward to the Internal Complaints Review Panel. Once completed, the form should be submitted to the agency in person, by mail, fax or email. Download the form here.
The Panel consists of a senior manager and a service manager who have not had direct involvement with your case or complaint, as well as a member of the Board of Directors.
There are some matters that can be reviewed by the Review Panel and some that cannot.
Matters we can review:
- Services you have sought or received
- Parts of the plan of care for your child
- Concerns about your child’s placement in the care of the Society
Matters we cannot review:
- Issues that have been decided by the Court or that are before the Court
- Policies and procedures mandated by law
- Matters that are subject to another decision-making process under the Child and Family Services Act or the Labour Relations Act
- Issues raised by a person who has not sought or received service from the Society
When we receive your written complaint, the Society will, as soon as possible and within seven days, determine whether or not it is eligible for review, in light of the criteria above.
- If your complaint is not eligible for review by the Panel, you will be notified in writing, within seven days. You will also be given the reason(s) for the decision.
- If your complaint is eligible for review by the Panel, you will be notified in writing within seven days to schedule a date for a meeting. The meeting will be scheduled within 14 days of the written notice, or at a mutually agreed upon date You will also be given the name of a contact person at the Society who can answer your questions about the process.
- You may bring a support person(s) to the meeting.
- Within 14 days of your meeting with the Review Panel, the Panel will send you its decision and the reasons for its decision in writing.
- If your concerns are still not resolved you will be directed to the Provincial Child and Family Services Review Board.
Note: Alternate formats to initiate a complaint and receive feedback are available. You can inquire with any staff person about your options.
You can also make a complaint to the Child and Family Services Review Board at any time. This means that a complaint can be made directly to the Child and Family Services Review Board either before or during involvement with the Children’s Aid Society’s Internal Complaint Review Panel.
To submit an application to the Child and Family Services Review Board, complete Form 2: Application about Complaints Against a Children’s Aid Society (available here CFSRB: Forms & Filing | Tribunals Ontario) and send to:
Child and Family Services Review Board
15 Grosvenor Street, Ground Floor
Toronto, ON M7A 2G6
Toronto Area: 416-327-0111
Long Distance: 1-888-777-3616
TDD/TTY: Call the Bell Relay Service at 1-800-855-0511
Email: cfsrb@ontario.ca
Website: tribunalsontario.ca/cfsrb/
Your feedback important to us and helps us to improve our service. We want to hear about your experience working with Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions.
Please fill out the confidential online feedback form below to provide us information that will help us in servicing children, youth and families in the future. If you would prefer, you can print off a copy of the Confidential Feedback Form and drop it off in the secure boxes in any of our branch office locations.
If you have any specific questions or comments about any service you have received, please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please see We Care about our Service.
