Performance Indicators
You’ve got questions about Children’s Aid Societies. We’ve got answers.
To date there have been 26 provincial performance indicators approved by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. At this stage, five indicators are being reported:
- The recurrence of child protection concerns in a family after an investigation
- The recurrence of child protection concerns in a family after ongoing protection services were provided
- The days of care by placement type
- The time to permanency
- The quality of the caregiver-youth relationship
Like all CAS’s in Ontario, we’re committed to accountability and to continually improving our services through the use of data and analysis. As part of that commitment, we’re pleased to present our Performance Indicators for 2016. These five measurements are a tool to help child welfare in Ontario strive for better outcomes for the children and families they serve. Performance indicators will inform the practices, protocols and procedures as well as help influence management decision-making related to program development, budgeting and planning.
You’ve got questions about Children’s Aid Societies. We’ve got answers.
In 2009, the Ontario Minister of Children and Youth Services established the Commission to Promote Sustainable Child Welfare. One of the commission’s strategies was to identify principles and concepts to “implement a new approach to accountability and system management.” Performance indicators were one of the mechanisms put forward by the commission to measure service performance in the outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families on a provincial level.
The child welfare sector has lead the work of the Performance Indicator Project which began in April 2013.
Moving forward
Establishing a performance measurement and management system takes years of development and requires the investment by every stakeholder involved including leadership commitment, active involvement, capacity building, communication and resources. This investment needs to be directed at the vital work of Children’s Aid Societies, to provide additional understanding of the sector and individual agency’s strengths and where to focus continuous improvement strategies.