Children & Youth Rights
As a child or youth involved with, or in the care of, the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAST) it is your right to receive and our responsibility to provide you with service that meets your needs. We encourage you to review the information below or speak with your Worker to better understand your rights and who you can turn to for support. You can also check out our Service brochures on our website here.
As a child or youth involved with CAST I have the right to…
- Be informed of my rights
- Express my own views freely and safely about matters that affect me
- Be engaged in decisions that affect me, including about my identity, creed and community, and have my views given due weight in light of my age and maturity
- Have a say in the services I receive
- Express my concerns and suggest changes to those services and to be told about the decisions made about
- Be informed about the Ontario Ombudsman and how to contact the office
If I am in the care of CAST I have the right to…
- Express my views about my treatment, education, work program, creed, community, identity and cultural identity and have my views given due weight in decision-making
- Have a say in any decision about my placement in or discharge/transfer from a residential placement
- Be informed about the procedures for making a complaint to CAST and the Child and Family Services Review Board, and of my right to ask for a review of my placement by the Residential Placement Advisory Committee
- Know the rules of the home in which I live and my responsibilities while living there
- Reasonable privacy and possession of my own things
- Talk in private and receive visits from my lawyer, the Ombudsman, or a government official
- Be asked what aspects of my identity are important to me, have them considered in decisions that are made, and be offered a resource person to support me in meeting my needs related to my identity
- Take part in activities of my choice related to my creed, community identity and cultural identity
- If I am a First Nations, Inuk or Métis child, have the importance of the uniqueness of my cultures, heritages, traditions of preserving my cultural identity and connection to community be considered when decisions are made, and be offered a resource person to support me in meeting my needs related to these matters.
- Participate in services, programs or activities offered or recommended by their band or First Nations, Inuit or Métis community or an organization closely linked to their culture, heritage and traditions
- Speak in private and visit with members of my family, subject to some limits set out in the Child Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA)
- Send and receive communication that is not opened or altered, except as permitted by the CYFSA
- A plan of care designed to meet my needs, prepared within 30 days of admission to care, and to participate in its development
- Have access to good quality food and well-balanced meals
- Be given appropriate clothing for my activities and the weather
- Receive regular medical, dental and mental health care
- Receive an education that is right for me
- Take part in recreational, athletic and creative activities that are right for me
- I also cannot be physically punished, locked up or detained (except under the criminal law), and restrained by physical or mechanical means except as expressly authorized by the CYFSA
- Be provided with French Languages services if that is my preferred language
