Okay, here we go. Let's start the clock.
I want to thank the committee very much for inviting me to present on this important topic. I am Pat Convery, the executive director of the Adoption Council of Ontario.
ACO is a not-for-profit organization that has existed in Ontario since 1987. Currently, the ACO has a vision of connecting the voices of adoption in Ontario. We do this by providing information, education, and support to all who are touched by adoption in Ontario. The ACO also manages the AdoptOntario program, which is a ministry-funded provincial databank that works to connect families in Ontario with children in Children's Aid Society foster care for whom an adoption plan is being sought.
More information about all our programs is on our websites, and I've provided them in the document.
I've also brought two documents for the committee members that I believe will be helpful in your final planning for presentation of the recommendations. I apologize that I got things mixed up in terms of translations and how many copies.
The first is a Grow Your Love book, and I've brought several copies of it. This is a booklet that contains several stories of families in Ontario who have adopted children privately, internationally, and through the Children's Aid Society. This book was part of our adoption awareness campaign for 2010. We asked families to tell their stories, but also highlight how the government could do a better job of supporting families on their journey. At least four of these families have presented to this committee, so I thought this would give you some other information that might be helpful to you.
We also created a website for adoption awareness month, which is www.actiononadoption.ca. It has a fair bit of information about advocacy and what families in Ontario feel is important for federal and provincial governments.
The other document I brought is available in both languages on the Ontario government website. It is Raising Expectations. In 2008 Premier Dalton McGuinty appointed an expert panel to study and make recommendations on how the government could support Ontario families involved in infertility and adoption. The panel was headed by David Johnston, now Canada's Governor General.
The panel did a very thorough process. They made recommendations that were extensive but not expensive. I believe that these recommendations are applicable to all provinces in Canada and should be considered by this committee in relation to federal policy and actions. I have brought copies of the executive summary today, but the full report is available on the government website, and I've provided the link. The expert panel had hoped to present, but due to timing of the committee members they weren't able to present today or when they were invited.
Adoption practice in Canada is primarily dictated by provincial legislation and policy. It is primarily administered through provincial child welfare systems. It is my belief that this has been quite effective at the front end of the system. Regional governance related to the executing of processes to prevent child abuse and neglect and protect children in their communities has been strengthened by having a provincial perspective. Child welfare authorities have been able to develop programs that connect well with the need of the community and fit within the police, education, mental health, and court systems that are also dictated by provincial authorities.
However, when children are not able to return to their birth families and they become permanent wards of the government, the priority for their planning must shift. Although provincial authority for the care of children continues, the federal government must take responsibility for ensuring that the planning for these children and youth will lead to the stability of a lifetime-committed family.
Regional and geographic challenges of our provincial system have become barriers to children having the lifetime permanency of a family. Tens of thousands of children are wards of the crown. Across Canada, relatively small proportions of these children are adopted. They represent the most vulnerable youth in our society.
I know that this committee has already heard information to support acceptance of the fact that outcomes for youth who “age out of care” at age 18 or 19 are concerning. The consequences of unsupported and premature launch into adulthood for a group of young people who have already suffered significant trauma in their lives are predictably not good. Foster care is a temporary solution, and these children need the stability of a lifetime, legally committed family.
I have four recommendations on system support that I believe the federal government and this committee should consider. The first two relate primarily to support for families.
Number one is creating an interprovincial adoption protocol. Again, I know this committee has heard information on this. We need to view all children in Canadian foster care who are not able to return to their birth family as children of the country. We need to view all families in Canada who express interest in adoption as potential resources for providing our children with the lifetime committed family they need.
Currently, as a result of our provincial child welfare system, families are challenged to adopt interprovincially or even within a province in some cases. While each province has a high-level model of assessment and training of adoptive families, the province is not always willing to accept a family as being adopt-ready or approved when they move to another province. Families are often informed that they must repeat the extensive screening process. There are few mechanisms in place for sharing of family resources between provinces, with the limited exception of Canada's waiting children. Families often find that it is easier to adopt internationally than within their own country.
Secondly, we need financial incentives to support adoptive families. Again, I know this committee has heard significant information, but I would like to just briefly touch on it.
The first deals with changes to the employment insurance program. Our employment insurance program currently discriminates against adoptive families. I'm aware that you've heard this information. I'm hoping that this is something that will be changed in view of the fact that we have significant information that would suggest that with the extensive literature, research, and experience on attachment, parenting of special needs children, and adjustment of children to new environments, it speaks so clearly to the fact that adoptive families need the same or more time to help children not born to them transition into their families.
Secondly, tax benefits for adoptive expenses represent another opportunity lost if the federal government does not take advantage of this positive incentive. Currently, families who incur adoption expenses can claim them on their income tax in the year they adopt a child. We can come back to that one.
My other two recommendations.... One is the creation of a federal data bank. Little is known about who the children and youth are who are in permanent care. Canada has not done a good job of gathering this information. This has been a huge barrier to practice planning and supporting appropriate allocation of funds to permanency programs. We need to know who these children are, and I believe that the technology is available to support the tracking of these children. The AdoptOntario program, as an example, is supported by a sophisticated data bank that, when fully operational in Ontario, will support the tracking of children and youth. I believe that this would be helpful to look at in terms of the federal level.
Finally.... I'm out of time? Okay. I'm sorry.