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Children’s Aid Societies/Family and Children's Services of Nova Scotia
Do you know the difference between the commonly used term Children’s Aid Society and the commonly used term Children’s Services ? Don’t feel bad if you don’t because most people do not even have a clue!
First of all, I do emphasize the use of the words “commonly used” because, at least in the Halifax/Dartmouth area, these are the 2 terms used and few know the distinction and most, including us, do not use the terms correctly. In fact, we did not learn the nuances of the correct terminology until we researched this article.
Let us explain. Many organizations working under the Children and Family Services Act, 1990 (CFSA) are privately owned and operated. The knowledge of this surprises most people. We are used to bugged eyes and mouth drops when we tell people this . Most people are shocked to learn that private players are apprehending our children in Nova Scotia - but we assure you, this is the truth. This information can be found in the document published by the NS Department of Community Services, Review of Child Welfare Services Governance and Business Model: Final Report, June 2004, pg 23.
There are 7 private organizations in Nova Scotia that use the term Children’s Aid Society in their name. An example is the Halifax Children’s Aid Society . In the Halifax /Dartmouth area, the term Children's Aid Society is “commonly used” for these private organizations while the term Children’s Services is “commonly used” to denote the government agencies. The government run Dartmouth organization is commonly referred to as Dartmouth Children’s Services. However, it is not that simple, and the use of this term, “Children’s Services”, turns out to be incorrect
Let me explain. There are 7 additional private organizations that function under the name Family & Children's Services and another that utilizes the term Children's Aid Society & Family Services in its name! For clarification, I have itemized these 14 private organizations at the bottom of this article.
The government offices working under the Children and Family Act, 1990 only identify themselves as Regional, District or Satellite Office and in court actions they identify themselves as Community Services, with the Minister of Community Services taking action against the families.
It is ironic that we have come to use this term, Children’s Services, to identify these government players when this is one of the major complaints we have against Community Services - the lack of the services specified in the Children and Family Services Act, 1990 which are suppose to be offered to families so that children are NOT apprehended.
Worse still is the fact that many of these families were zeroed in for victimization after they proactively requested services to assist their families.
This is a shame that the people of this province must ignored no longer!
***Lastly, it is important to note that these private organizations working under the Children and Family Services Act 1990 , according to the hierarchy charts posted by the Department of Community Services, report directly to the Minister of Community Services. This is a disturbing state of affairs because reporting to an elected official, who, in fact, has limited, if any, knowledge of the practical, day to day, administration of these private organizations, means that there can be little if any accountability.
Summation
Common terms:
Children’s Aid Society = Private
Children’s Services Agency = Government
Correct Terms:
Private = Children’s Aid Society, Family & Children's Services, or Children's Aid Society & Family Services
Government = Regional, District or Satellite Office or Community Services
The 14 private organizations working under the CFS Act :
Children's Aid Society of Cape Breton -Victoria
Children's Aid Society of Halifax
Children's Aid Society of Hants County
Children's Aid Society of Inverness Richmond
Children's Aid Society of Pictou County
Children's Aid Society of Shelburn County
Children's Aid Society & Family Services of Colchester County
Family & Children's Services of Annapolis County
Family & Children's Services of Cumberland County
Family & Children's Services of Kings County
Family & Children's Services of Lunenburg County
Family & Children's Services of Queens County
Family & Children's Services of Yarmouth County
Mi’kmaw Family & Children's Services
