Ask for a review of a written notice proposing to remove a child in extended society care (previously known as a Crown ward) from your foster home
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Before you file an application
Are you a foster parent whose foster child has been or will be removed from your care?
Do you want to challenge the removal or proposed removal?
If you answered "yes" to the questions above, you can apply for a review of the removal or proposed removal to the CFSRB if:
- your foster child is a child in extended society care, and
- your foster child has been in your care continuously for 2 years
You can be represented by a lawyer or paralegal or you can represent yourself. For more information, see the SJTO Practice Direction on Representation.
Deadline
The children's aid society has to give you written notice of its decision to remove your foster child. After you receive the notice, you have ten days to apply to the CFSRB for a review. The children's aid society cannot remove your foster child during that time.
If it has been more than 10 days since you received the notice, and you would like to apply for a review, contact us. If the notice is incomplete, you may still be able to apply.
If a children's aid society removes your foster child or tells you it intends to remove your child without sending a written notice, contact the CFSRB immediately. You may be eligible to apply for a review.
Filing an application with the CFSRB
To apply, download Form 1: Application about the Proposed Removal of a Child from a Foster Home or call us and we will email or mail you a copy.
For information about how to send your application, visit Forms & Filing.
After you file
Once you have sent in your application, the CFSRB will notify the children's aid society that you have filed an application. If the child is First Nations, Métis or Inuk, the CFSRB will also notify the child's band or Indigenous community.
The CFSRB will decide if it can hear your application. For your application to be eligible, your foster child must be a child in extended society care who has lived with you continuously for at least two years.
If the CFSRB cannot hear your application, you will receive a decision from the CFSRB telling you why. If the CFSRB can hear your application, these two things will happen within seven days:
- You will receive a decision telling you that your application is eligible.
- You will receive a Notice of Hearing setting the date, time and format of the first day of hearing.
Unless there is a likely risk of harm to the child, the children's aid society cannot remove the child from the foster family until the hearing has taken place and then only if the CFSRB has ordered it.
The hearing
It is very important to resolve disputes about foster care as soon as possible. This goal is reflected in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and associated regulations which require hearings to take place within 20 days of the eligibility decision.
The first day of hearing is held by telephone within seven days of making the eligibility decision.
A CFSRB member will conduct the first day of hearing, and will identify any preliminary issues and give directions about evidence and witnesses. The member will also work with the parties to set continuation dates to complete the hearing as soon as possible.
At the hearing continuation, a panel of 1-3 adjudicators will hear your application. You and the children's aid society will each have an opportunity to present evidence, call witnesses, and make submissions. CFSRB members may also ask the witnesses questions. The children's aid society will present its evidence first.
Hearings can last 3 days or more. All hearings take place in private. The CFSRB will try to hold the hearing in a format that is convenient for everyone.
The decision
After the hearing, the panel will consider the evidence and arguments and determine what action is in the child's best interests. The CFSRB will either:
- Confirm the children's aid society's decision, in which case, the child will be removed from your care, or
- Order the children's aid society not to remove the child, in which case, the child will stay in the care of your family.
The CFSRB will issue its decision, with reasons, no more than 10 days after the hearing.
Rules of Procedure
The sections of the Rules of Procedure that apply to an application about the proposed removal of a child in extended society care from a foster home are Part I and Part II.