Workers for Children and Family Services said they fear vulnerable children are being put at risk by case backlogs and staff shortages.
Nearly half of Calgary front-line staff who assess whether children are unsafe with their caregivers have been dealing with caseloads exceeding benchmarks set under the Ministry of Children and Family Services, CBC News has learned.Workers with Children and Family Services said they fear vulnerable children are being put at risk by case backlogs and staff shortages.
"I've had different positions within the department and I've never seen it this bad," said one employee, who asked not to be identified out of concern for their job.The ministry said it's working to address workforce challenges, and has introduced policies to support reduced workloads for employees, including a focus on recruiting.
An internal email sent by the assistant deputy minister of child intervention to all CFS employees on Sept. 27, 2023, obtained by CBC News, states that child intervention practitioners should not have more than 13 files assigned to them at any given time. "In this situation, we aren't able to do the preventative work that is required to keep children safe in their homes with their guardians," said another. "Instead, we are letting things fester and get worse before we get to it."
"According to feedback from our members, these caseloads are likely much higher because of the way cases are shifted temporarily onto supervisors.… Even if were true, the average caseload is not a fair comparison to the real caseloads we see."Cassie also noted that staff are required to have monthly contact with each child or youth in care, and that face-to-face contact alone with each child is required at least once in a 90-day period.
Employees interviewed this year told CBC there is no standardized response time to meet with a child once an assessment has begun. Azocar, with AUPE, said the organization has noticed an increase in the number of senior CFS staff going on leave in an attempt to cope with the stress of managing high caseloads and the pressure to move through cases as quickly as possible to get through the backlog.Proposed lawsuit alleges Alberta government wrongfully kept money meant for kids in care
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