Archive for the ‘Child & Family Delivery System’ Category
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MPPs should heed advice from youth who survived the care system
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
May 14 2012
… whether they need to stay with their parents or be put into care; who their foster parents will be; or when they are ready to fly on their own, finally and forever — none of these decisions they make themselves. They’re all made by others. So their recommendation: The Province of Ontario should recognize that the current system needs to fundamentally change to better prepare young people in care to succeed. [It] should work with young people in and from care and other stakeholders to complete an ACTION PLAN FOR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE…
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Ontario’s child welfare system has failed 7-year-old Katelynn Sampson
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
May 02 2012
There is no point in simply recommending more rules if they are either unworkable or will be ignored. Years of court cases, inquests, pediatric death review committee reports and internal children’s aid reviews have led to an increasing number of laws, rules and procedures to follow. Yet, somehow, children like Katelynn are still dying… This government saw fit to appoint a commission to make child welfare more cost effective. How about a commission with a mandate to make it better?
Tags: child care, rights, youth
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Learning a lesson from America’s failed war on drugs
Friday, February 24th, 2012
Feb 23, 2012
… we need tougher sentences for repeat offenders and truth-in-sentencing provisions (no more get-out-of-jail-free cards after serving 1/3 of an already lenient sentence). But giving pot growers harsher sentences than child rapists is unconscionable, and shows that the law is completely devoid of any moral relevancy… learn a lesson from the experience in the United States, and do away with the mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug crimes, including marijuana offences.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology
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Harper’s incoherent crime policy
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Feb 14, 2012
it would be easy to miss the real significance of the Prime Minister’s crime policy… It squanders resources that could be used to reduce crime. Making it more difficult for people to get out from under the shadow of their much earlier offences (through a pardon or “record suspension”) makes it harder for millions of Canadians with criminal records to reintegrate into society… it tells us that the government is committed to ignoring evidence about crime, and does not care about whether our criminal-justice system is just and humane.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology, rights, youth
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Justice system should focus more on victims’ rights, not criminals: ombudsman
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Feb 2, 2012
… Noting victims have few legislated rights and entitlements compared to offenders, Sue O’Sullivan called for an “Omnibus Victims’ Bill” to address the lack of access to offender information, meaningful participation at parole hearings and financial support for victims… “restitution is under-utilized and poorly enforced in Canada” where determinations about loss of income or property damages are made at the time of sentencing…
Tags: corrections, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Program targets aboriginal issues in justice system
Saturday, January 28th, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012
In R v Gladue, the Supreme Court recognized that certain mitigating factors, including aboriginal peoples’ history of dislocation, disadvantage and discrimination, and a range of options should be considered when sentencing them. Despite that ruling, aboriginal offenders today still account for 20 per cent of the federal offender population, even though aboriginal adults represent four per cent of the Canadian population… while Corrections Canada has adopted Gladue principles into their policy documents, evidence of the application of those principles by corrections staff has been lacking.
Tags: corrections, Indigenous, multiculturalism, standard of living
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Jails don’t keep people out of jail
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Jan. 05, 2012
The fastest-growing portions of the inmate population continue to be those most marginalized within our society: the mentally ill, women and aboriginals. Decades of reports have detailed our correctional systems’ failure to reasonably address the needs of these offenders and limit their numbers… “There is almost unanimous condemnation of California-style mass incarceration, which has led to no reduction in serious crime and has turned many inmates into habitual criminals”… Our focus and our resources should be directed toward keeping people out of jail, not in it.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology
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Harper’s unlikely social breakthrough [family caregiver tax credit]
Sunday, December 18th, 2011
Dec 15 2011
Approximately half a million caregivers — people who voluntarily look after infirm spouses, frail, elderly parents and children with serious health problems — will soon get Canada’s first Family Caregiver Tax Credit. It is extremely modest: less than $1 a day. It is regressive; high-income caregivers get maximum credit, low-income caregivers qualify for little or nothing. And it is selective; 82 per cent of the 2.7 million Canadians who sacrifice their income, career prospects and sometimes their health to care for loved ones, aren’t eligible.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, standard of living, tax, women
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Province needs child-care plan
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Dec 14 2011
Education Minister Laurel Broten says she won’t declare a moratorium on new for-profit child care because some communities don’t have any non-profit providers. The minister can’t just throw up her hands and declare it’s up to the market. If Ontario had a real plan for child care, municipal centres wouldn’t be gutted. If Ontario had a real plan for child care there would be planning in place that ensured decent access for families across the province. If Ontario had a real child-care system, big box companies wouldn’t be able to take advantage.
Tags: budget, child care, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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A $2 daily head tax on children
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
Dec 07 2011
Ford and his penny-pinching backers insist Toronto is in a financial crisis and has no alternative but to cut costs, raise taxes and impose higher fees. At the same time, city hall is looking at an estimated surplus of almost $140 million at the end of this year. And it has no intention of using that to save services or spare the public from painful new costs. Money isn’t what’s ultimately lacking at Toronto city hall. What’s absent is a fundamental respect for public services and the benefits they provide.
Tags: budget, child care, poverty, standard of living, tax
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