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The history of each children's aid
society reflects the many developments which have taken place in the
delivery of child welfare services in Ontario since the early 1800's.
Prior to 1874 Ontario children requiring service could receive help
through two avenues, neither of them very appropriate by today's
standards. A criminal conviction was the route to service for most
children. The criminal system was funded by the government; but other
services for the poor or the neglected relied on private contributions
and volunteer assistance. Apprenticeship (in exchange for the child's
labour) was the other service alternative for children who were deserted
or orphaned. In 1874 charitable institutions were permitted by
legislation to intervene to prevent maltreatment of apprenticed
children, and a cost sharing relationship was established between
charitable organizations and the Province.
In 1888 An Act for the Protection and Reformation of Neglected Children
allowed the courts to make children wards of institutions and charitable
organizations, with local government assuming the maintenance costs of
wards. Foster homes were now encouraged as alternatives to institutions.
With this legislation in place, the famous reformer J. J. Kelso helped
found the Children's Aid Society in Toronto in 1891, and he went on to
advocate for the passage of a new Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to
and Better Protection of Children in 1893.
With the advent of this legislation, children's aid societies became (in
1893) semi public agencies with the legal power to remove children from
their homes, supervise and manage children in municipal "shelters" and
collect monies from municipalities to cover the maintenance costs for
wards. Societies at this time gained the status and prerogatives of
legal guardians.
Between 1891 and 1912 sixty children's aid societies sprang up all over
Ontario, and in 1912 they joined together as the Associated Children's
Aid Societies of Ontario - now the Ontario Association of Children's Aid
Societies (O.A.C.A.S.). The O.A.C.A.S. was established to promote the
welfare of children and coordinate the work of all the children's aid
societies. It requested and received the opportunity to review all child
welfare legislation before its introduction to the legislature.
Over the years several new Child Welfare Acts have been passed - in
1921, 1954 and 1965. Finally in 1984 the current Child and Family
Services Act (C.F.S.A.) was passed. Several trends have emerged with
these legislative developments:
- A shift from a volunteer to a professional service system
- The provincial government's acceptance of direct responsibility
for the delivery of child welfare services through public financing,
agency reporting and provincial supervision
- A shift from institutional and protection oriented services to
non-institutional and prevention oriented services.
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