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Introduction

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services’ 2013-2018 Strategic Plan entitled “Growing Together” rests on five foundations, three of which are particularly relevant to their commitment to providing good governance. Foundation 2, “Knowledge and Information Management”, Foundation 3, “System Stewardship and Partnership” and Foundation 4, “Robust Internal Controls and Resource Oversight” articulate the Ministry’s commitments. These include respectively a commitment to an integrated approach to managing and sharing data and information; strong stewardship, leadership and partnership; and robust controls and oversight to ensure the best outcomes for children and youth.

The Child and Family Services Act (CFSA) sets out requirements specific to residential care and licensing of residential care in Ontario. The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) sets out sentences ordered by the courts, including open or secure custody. Access to residential services for mental health is not legislatively mandated, with the exception of secure treatment programs under Part VI of the CFSA. Children’s Residences (group homes) and residential care (foster homes) are licensed and, in many cases, funded under the authority of the CFSA.

The residential care system for children and youth in Ontario has grown organically. It is a large, complex collection of a diverse mix of service providers, including ministry directly operated, transfer payment operated, private non-profit and for-profit operators. As of January 2016, there were approximately 16,115 residential beds for children and youth across Ontario, approximately 6,000 of which were being utilized by Crown Wards. There were over 600 licences issued by the Ministry to residential service providers including Children’s Residences and Foster Care Agencies (both transfer payment funded and private per diem funded operators). The Ministry invests approximately 1 billion dollars in residential care, approximately one-third of the Ministry’s expenditures (MCYS, nd).

• As of January 2016, MCYS indicated that there were 430 children’s group homes and 138 foster care agencies in operation. Within group homes, 207 are operated by transfer payment agencies with capacity of 1,731 beds, and 223 are operated by private per diem funded operators which a capacity of 1,504 beds. Within foster care agencies, 64 licenses are issued to transfer payment agencies representing 6,286 foster homes with a total of 9,728 beds, and 74 licenses are for private per diem funded operators representing 1,165 foster homes with a total of 2,291 beds. Some group and foster homes are operated by Children’s Aid Societies and others by privately owned and operated service providers. Youth Justice Services Division provides an additional 802 residential beds in 59 dedicated youth justice open and secure custody/detention facilities. There are an additional 59 residential beds operated by the Child and Parent Resource Institute (MCYS, nd).

• In the context of children and youth mental health, the Ministry directly operates the Child and Parent Resource Institute, and provides transfer payments to about 400 service providers for services related to children and youth mental health services, some of which are residential services (MCYS, nd).

• In the youth justice sector, the Ministry directly operates six secure custody and detention facilities and contracts with 206 TPAs providing 400+ community-based programs/services including 45 for Aboriginal, 41 open custody/ detention residences, 14 secure custody/detention residences. There are 64 MCYS operated probation offices and partnerships with 3 TPAs for Aboriginal probation services (MCYS, nd).

In all sectors, service is highly decentralized and the size of service providers varies widely. Diversity is the primary potential strength of a decentralized approach. In theory, there can be significant benefits to locally developed and delivered services that leverage community resources to meet the specific needs of children and youth. Varying areas of specialization across providers and a mixed funding model that balances the stability of providers funded through annual-base budgets, with the nimbleness of per diem funded providers that can scale to meet demand are also potential strengths. However, from a governance perspective, it is challenging to ensure that there is appropriate oversight and accountability, access, coordination, communication and information sharing at both the system (Ministry) and daily operations (service provider) levels. Strong governance is critical to ensuring that there is a relentless focus on quality and consistent standards of care and accountability. Integrated oversight is necessary to ensure alignment with strategic directions across sectors and for service providers to operate together as a system. Clear access mechanisms, transparency and evidence of service provider strengths, as well as the active participation of young people themselves, are necessary for families, caregivers, Children’s Aid Societies and young people to navigate the complex but potentially rich landscape.