How do I complain about a CAS worker?

All (CAS) workers must treat you fairly and with respect. This means that they cannot be rude to you. They must tell you what their concerns are and if they have a telling them to be involved with your family.

You should ask each CAS worker dealing with your case for:

  • their name
  • how to contact them
  • what their role is
  • their business card, if they have one

Anyone involved with CAS, for example, a parent, child, foster parent, or grandparent, can complain if they think they're not being treated fairly by a CAS worker.

Options to complain

You can speak directly to the worker or their supervisor to resolve your complaint.

You can also send a written complaint to the CAS internal complaints system, where other people from CAS review your complaint. You don't have to speak with your worker or their supervisor before you do this.

Ontario's Child and Family Services Review Board (CFSRB) is separate from CAS and can also review certain actions and decisions of CAS.

You don't have to complain to CAS before contacting the CFSRB.  But even if you have, you usually don't have to wait for CAS to finish their review before you can complain to the CFSRB.

The only time you have to wait is if you've asked CAS to correct information in your file. In that situation, you have to wait for CAS to review your request before you complain to the CFSRB.

You or a child can also ask the Ontario Ombudsman's Children and Youth Unit to look into concerns about services received from CAS. They do not deal with complaints about individual social workers or lawyers.

Your child protection case

If you have a child protection case in court, making a complaint won't automatically change your court deadlines. But sometimes the complaint will affect them. For example, a judge may wait for a complaint to be reviewed before scheduling the next court date. If this means that a deadline is missed, the judge will only do this if it is in the .

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