1.3.1 Child Protection Services

This section contains provincial policy and standards relating to the delivery of child protection services by child and family services agencies. It is complementary to case management standards in Chapter 1 of this volume.

Agency responsibilities relating to child abuse are covered in Section 1.3.3, Child Abuse.

• Legislation

  Duty to Provide Child Protection

  Child and Family Services Act section 7(1)(a) outlines the duty of child and family service agencies to protect children. Section 17 defines when a child is in need of protection.

  Child Protection Investigations

  The police are responsible for determining if a person has committed an offence under the Criminal Code (Canada) or The Child and Family Services Act (the Act).

  Section 18.4 of the Act requires agencies to immediately investigate child protection matters and to report conclusions to various parties. It also requires the police to provide relevant information to the investigating agency and prescribes when the police must report charges to an employer.

  Designated Intake Agencies

  Section 21 of The Child and Family Services Authorities Act requires the four authorities to jointly designate agencies to provide intake and emergency services in geographic regions designated by regulation. This does not mean that the intake process in Section 1.1.1 Intake applies only to designated agencies. Agencies are designated under the Joint Intake and Emergency Services by Designated Agencies Regulation. Sections 4-9 list duties and powers, services that must be provided, process when another agency is already providing service, decisions and actions required when providing child protection services, determination of the need for ongoing services and the authority of service.

  Confidentiality and Sharing of Information

  The sharing of information regarding a child protection case is governed by subsection 76(3) of the Act. This includes reporting the conclusion of a child protection investigation in accordance with subsections 18.4(2), (2.1) and (3) of the Act.

• Policy

  Child Protection and Family Preservation

  The principles in The Child and Family Services Act are not an endorsement of a specific ideology, methodology or outcome. They provide general direction to agencies and their mandating authorities for delivery of services. For example, families are entitled to receive preventive and supportive services directed to preserving the family unit and to services that respect their cultural and linguistic heritage.

  The Act provides for alternatives to the apprehension and removal of a child providing an agency’s responsibility to protect a child in need of protection is addressed. These alternatives include:

  • family support (Use of Family Support Agreements)

  • kinship care (Use of Kinship Care Agreements)
  • customary care (Use of Customary Care Agreements)
  • voluntary care (Use of Voluntary Care Agreements) 
  • homemaker and parent aide services (Use of Homemakers and Parent Aides)

  • orders under section 20 not to contact a child (No Contact Orders)
  • orders of supervision under section 38(1)(a)

  Orders of supervision may also be used when returning an apprehended child to the care of a parent or guardian.

  In-Service Training for Child Protection Work

  All agency field service staff must receive in-service training in family-centred child protection services within 12 months from the date they are hired. When feasible, it is strongly recommended new staff receive this training within six months from the date they are hired.

  Reporting Conclusion of a Child Protection Investigation

  Agencies are required under section 18.4 of the Act to report the conclusion of a child protection investigation. Subsection 18.4(3) restricts disclosure when a criminal investigation is pending and the police request an agency not report its conclusion until the criminal investigation is completed.

  An investigating agency must advise all applicable parties listed in subsections 18.4(2) and (2.1) whether a child was or was not found to be in need of protection. This may be done in writing or in person or both. This action should also be recorded on the case file.

  Agencies are expected to provide clear direction to their child protection workers and supervisors regarding the reporting of conclusions. This should be done with advice and assistance from agency counsel. Agencies may also seek direction and support from their mandating authority.

  Use of Collateral Service Providers

  Service Accountability – Child and family services agencies routinely rely on the services of collateral service providers (organizations or individuals) when necessary to effectively carry out their child protection responsibilities. However, agencies remain accountable for service outcomes until a decision is made to close a child protection case. Child protection cases should be closed only when the children are safe, the needs of the children are met by the family, and a risk assessment and clinical judgement support closure. A file must not be closed only because a collateral service provider is providing services to the family.

  Sharing Information with Collateral Service Providers – Written consent to share information with a collateral service provider may be required when an agency relies on the service provider to help in developing and implementing a service plan with a person or family. For example, when an agency requires a parent to seek help with an addiction or mental health problem, the agency must obtain the person’s consent to make a referral to or obtain information from a service provider about the person. However, consents are not required when the sharing of information pertains to a child protection investigation. For example, an agency may rely on a school authority or child (day) care operator to report their observations and concerns about a child to an agency pursuant to section 18 and subsection 76(3) of the Act.

  Service Contracts with Collateral Service Providers – Agencies are required to enter into individual service contracts with collaterals to provide a service under the Act for a child or family unless the service provider is licensed under the act or funded by the department through a service purchase agreement to provide those services. For example, the province licenses and funds group homes, treatment centres, and child care homes and facilities to provide day care. Community organizations may be funded to provide family support services.

  An individual service contract must include:

  • service definitions, goals, activities and outcomes
  • reporting requirements
  • when applicable, service funding arrangements

  Agencies may contact the Child Protection Branch for information on service purchase agreements.

  Provincial/Territorial Protocol

  Manitoba is signatory to the Provincial/Territorial Protocol on Children, Youth and Families Moving between Provinces and Territories. Provinces and territories have agreed to use the same guidelines so that children and youth continue to receive the services they need, no matter where they are living in Canada. These guidelines are described in the Provincial/Territorial Protocol on Children, Youth and Families Moving between Provinces and Territories.

  The general provisions include a commitment to the protocol and requirements relating to the coordination of services, financial responsibilities, protocol implementation and dispute resolution.

  The Manitoba specific information further outlines specific workflow and requirements for children entering or leaving Manitoba. The core functions of the Interprovincial Desk are:

  • Child Protection Alerts
  • Interprovincial Service Request; and
  • Repatriation Services

  The Child and Youth Services Division is the central authority under the protocol. The division coordinates and facilitates services (except for placements in a residential care facility) through the Interprovincial Desk and the Interprovincial Specialist in each Authority. The Manitoba specific forms:

  • Interprovincial Child Protection Alert
  • Interprovincial Placement Agreement
  • Interprovincial Request for Services

  These forms are located on CFSIS in Forms/Interprovincial Protocols-Materials.

  Child Protection Alerts

  The practice of issuing child protection alerts applies to missing children. To issue an alert within or outside Manitoba, an agency or its mandating authority must complete and fax an Interprovincial Child Protection Alert form to the Interprovincial Desk. Alert forms are available on CFSIS in forms\Interprovincial Protocols-Materials.

  Please note that the practice of issuing birth alerts is discontinued as of July 1, 2020. For standards and policy around work with high risk expectant parents, please refer to Section 1.2.2. Voluntary Family Services.

• Standards

  1. Orientation to Child Protection – Within three months of commencing employment, all workers and supervisors receive, as part of their orientation to the agency, information about child protection services provided by the agency. This orientation includes:
  • an introduction to provisions in the Act and regulations pertaining to child protection
  • an introduction to case management and service record requirements and standards in the Child and Family Services Standards Manual
  • an overview of child protection services provided by the agency
  • names, locations and contact information for designated intake agencies
  • names, locations and contact information for police detachments and health facilities in geographical areas where the agency is providing services
  • contact information for agency counsel
  2. Opening a Child Protection Case – An agency’s child protection service policy states that a case is opened as a child protection case when one or more of the following situations apply:
  • A safety assessment indicates a child is or might be in need of protection.
  • Probability of Future Harm assesses high or very high risk to a child.
  • A child protection investigation concludes that a child is in need of protection.
  • The agency is providing services to an expectant or birth mother under the age of consent as defined in Section 150.1 Criminal Code (Canada).
  3. Child Protection Case Management – At no time is an open child protection case without an assigned case manager. The case manager’s supervisor ensures there is a covering worker assigned to the case when the case manager is on leave for whatever reason.
  4. Leaving Child in Need of Protection in Family Home – A decision to leave a child in need of protection with the person who has charge of the child or to return the child to the care of that person under section 26 of the Act is based on the following actions:
  • A safety plan confirms it is safe to leave or return the child.
  • When applicable, an extended family or community member is willing and able to assist in the care of the child and report any concerns to the agency.
  • When applicable, the agency arranges for a homemaker or parent aide under section 13 of the Act.
  • When applicable, a court has ordered under subsection 20(3) of the Act that a person believed to have subjected a child to abuse has no contact with the child and the person complies with the order.
  5. Documenting Child Protection Service Decisions – An agency supervisor ensures the case record complies with Standard 5 in Section 1.7.1, Service Records. In addition, the supervisor ensures the record includes information and documentation relating to the reason(s) for opening the case (Standard 2) and, when applicable the rationale for:
  • leaving or returning a child to their family home (Standard 4)
  • use of collateral service providers
  • closing a child protection case
  6. Closing a Child Service Case – A child protection case remains open until a supervisor approves closure based on one or more of the following:
  • All children in this case are no longer in need of protection and services are no longer required or are provided on a voluntary basis. Children in this case are no longer in need of protection and services are no longer required or are provided on a voluntary basis.
  • Another agency has accepted responsibility for ongoing child protection services consistent with transfer standards.
  • All children in the case are made permanent wards under section 38 of the Act.hildren in the case are made permanent wards under section 38 of the Act.
  • There is a change in the case category from child protection (PRT) to voluntary family service (VFS).

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