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economist suntribune social issues thursday march 30 2006 york cas applauds new c first law by lisa queen staff writer the executive director of york regions childrens aid society is applauding new provincial rules making it easier for the agency to protect abused and neglected youngsters these longawaited amendments will ensure that the safety protection and best interests of children will be considered above all else in child welfare matters marty mcnamara said for the first time in ontarios history the child and family services amendment act puts the safety and best interests of children above the rights of parents and families for example the act allows a parents past abusive behaviour to be used as evidence in court not only do the new rules which go into effect tomorrow give cas workers more power to remove children suffer ing from abuse and chronic neglect from their homes but it punishes peo ple who fail to report violence against kids doctors teachers neighbours and others who fail to alert child protection agencies of suspected abuse face a 1000 fine i think its pretty obvious most peo ple would have an indication if a child is being treated in a way that is abusive and would have a concern about it and would be expected to call mcnamara said i think what is at work here is there is a community responsibility to protect children not just a responsibility of specific agencies in the community cases and the police and social service agencies cant deal with it all alone mcnamara said the province is responding to seven recent highprofile inquests which detailed how a number of ontario children died despite being under the care of childrens aid societies in some cases doctors neighbours and others were aware of the abuse the cases included sixmonthold sara podniewicz of toronto who was killed by her crack- addicted parents in 1994 her father had been jailed years before for causing brain damage to an older son 16monthold scarborough toddler johnny james who died in january 1993 after a severe blow to his abdomen he was treated by doctors just a month before suffering from bleeding ears a broken leg a fractured elbow and a bum on one foot his mothers boyfriend was acquitted of killing the boy while none of the cases occurred in the region publicity resulted in more suspected child abuse cases being reported here according to yorks for mer cas executive director dick mullen the substantial increase in cases resulted in the york cas reporting a 500000 deficit two years ago but in addition to committing an extra 106 million to societies across the province this year mcnamara said the province has changed its funding for mula so agencies with higher caseloads receive more financial assistance the provincial amendments come at the same time york politicians are con sidering enacting a childrens charter while not directly enforceable the bill of rights would articulate that chil dren should be guaranteed freedom from abuse neglect and exploitation vtbwri centre montessori v i private schools best monlessoripriviite schoov vmmhamstouftville1999 readers choice avvirtls open house bbbi 11 am 3 pm am 3 pm july and august summer school 1 preschooi a combination of the montessori program and summertime activities elementary a combination of academics sports visual arts high school credit courses now accepting applications for summer school and september 2000 80000 sq ft building on a 5 acre campus stateomheart facility bright spacious classrooms auditorium two gymnasiums ballet music art studios science computer labs library sports fields no cost for extended care hours 700am630pm bus service available sm 905470- 1200 main campus preschool to 0ac 155 clayton drive kennedy denison milliken campus preschool 3 clayton driyekerinedy steeles amities pounded in 1978 under the auspices of the hospital for sick children bereaved families is a selfhelp organization staffed by bereaved persons specialists in the area of grief and bereavement from the professional community serve as a resource both in the development of ongoing programmes and in the supervision and training of selfhelp group leaders this cooperation between lay and professionals has enabled bereaved families to better respond to the needs of the bereaved and has helped guarantee that the best support is provided 18009696904 this message brought to you as a community service of the economisttribune 3 dc am at international clothiers you get more fbr less