On Friday, May 23, 2025, the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAST) was honoured to welcome Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England, along with Executive Director Juliette Cammaerts, to our offices at 30 Isabella Street. The visit was part of the Commissioner’s two-week tour across Canada and the United States, aimed at exploring and learning from various child welfare systems. We were proud to offer insight into Ontario’s child welfare model and our role within it.
To provide various perspectives and insight, we invited key representatives from across the sector, government and community to take part in the conversation. Participants included our CAST Board Chair, representatives from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS), the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS), Toronto Police Services (TPS), Surrey Place, a frontline CAST Worker, and members of our Youth Council.
The meeting provided an opportunity to highlight how we and our partners operate within Ontario’s child welfare system, including what’s working well, ongoing challenges, areas of focus, and how as an Agency we continue to evolve to meet the needs of a city as diverse as Toronto. Discussions touched on key themes such as collaboration and partnerships, access to programs and resources, and the importance of leveraging regional, provincial, and national data.
Our partners offered thoughtful perspectives, underscoring the importance of collaboration across the sector in helping to address the increasingly complex needs of the children, youth and families we serve.
A highlight of the session was the participation of members from our Youth Council, who spoke about their experiences with the child welfare system. They shared reflections and provided thoughtful recommendations for the Commissioner’s consideration, particularly in areas such as post-secondary education funding, grant accessibility, and support for children and youth in and from care. Their voices grounded the conversation in lived experience and affirmed the importance of youth leadership in shaping the future of the sector.
We were grateful for this opportunity to connect and exchange knowledge, and extend our sincere thanks to Commissioner de Souza and her team for their visit, as well as to our partners who attended and contributed to the meaningful dialogue, including: Salim Somani, CAST Board Chair; Sandra Bickford, Director Child Welfare Operations Branch, MCCSS; Solomon Owoo, CEO, (OACAS); Rose-Ann Bailey, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Specialist; TPS; Aliya Rahim, Manager, Children and Youth, Surrey Place, CAST frontline worker Kim Gilham, and members of our Youth Council, Kardell, Bill and Mickey.
The Commissioner’s visit highlighted a strong shared purpose and collective commitment to advancing better outcomes for children and youth, anchored in the understanding that collaboration, data and accountability are essential to providing a responsive and effective child welfare system.
