The following topic may be difficult to hear,

discuss and may make you feel uncomfortable.

It may evoke some strong feelings based on
personal views and experiences.
CYC’s play a critical role in ensuring a young
person’s safety which includes learning about
difficult topics to ensure the well-being of all
young people.

Keep In Mind
 Children in Need
of Protection
Door #1

Neal Creative ©
 Child, Youth & Family Services Act (CYFSA)
defines a child in need of protection as:
a child who is or who appears to be
suffering from the abuse &/or neglect.
The Act Section 125(1) clearly specifies how
to identify abuse in children.

CHILDREN IN NEED OF
PROTECTION
 • In October Ontario Associations of Children
Aid Societies (OACAS) and Children’s Aid
Societies (CAS) collaborate with partners to
raise awareness about how to identify and
prevent child abuse.
• One of the key goal is to educate communities
about how calling a Children’s Aid Society is
one of the most effective way to prevent child
abuse.

CHILDREN IN NEED OF
PROTECTION
 In the fiscal year 2021-2022,
how many calls and referrals
were made to a CAS
in Ontario?

What is your guess?

In the fiscal year 2021-
More than
2022, 114,000 calls and
how many calls and referrals were
referrals made.
were made to a CAS
in Ontario?

7
 Child Abuse
CHILDREN IN NEED OF PROTECTION
DOOR #1
Child abuse and neglect include acts of
commission or omission by a parent or
other caregiver that result in harm,
potential for harm, or threat of harm to
a child.

CHILD ABUSE Definition

 TYPES OF CHILD ABUSE

• Neglect • Child
• Physical Exploitation on
• Emotional the Internet
• Sexual • Exposure to
• Institutional Domestic
• Societal Violence
Failure by a parent or caregiver to
provide physical or psychological
necessities of life to a child.

NEGLECT
Type of Child Abuse
 NEGLECT
Type of Child Abuse

• Failure to supervise- • Medical neglect

leads to physical or • Failure to provide
sexual harm psychological treatment
• Permitting criminal • Abandonment
behaviour • Educational neglect
• Physical neglect

Examples
 NEGLECT
Type of Child Abuse

• Frequent absences • Engaged in criminal

from school. activity-theft,
• Pale, listless, unkempt. alcohol/drug abuse.
• Inappropriate clothing • Often “forgets” a
for weather. lunch.
• Dirty clothes.

Behavioural Indicators
 NEGLECT
Type of Child Abuse

• Poor hygiene. work, glasses).

• Unattended physical • Consistent lack of
problems or medical supervision.
needs (i.e., dental

Physical Indicators
 Motherisk

• Reliance on hair strand testing in child protection cases between 2005

and 2015.
• More than 16,000 individuals at the request of Ontario child protection
agencies - many children removed from home, but test was flawed.
• December 20, 2015, statement from Honourable Susan Lang;
independent reviewer:
“…the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory… was inadequate and
unreliable for use in child protection and criminal proceedings…”
 • Adult behaviour that harms a child which
result in the absence of a nurturing
environment for the child.
• Occurs when the caregiver continually treats
the child in such a negative way that the
child’s concept of “self” is seriously impaired.

EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse
 EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse

• Rejecting • Denying emotional

• Degrading responsiveness
• Terrorizing or threat of • Corrupting
violence • Exploiting
• Isolating/Confining • Exposure to Family
Violence

Emotional Abuse Examples

 EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse

• Extreme withdrawal or • Too neat or clean.

aggressiveness. • Extreme attention
• Severe depression. seeking.
• Overly compliant, too • Displays extreme
well mannered. inhibition in play.

Behavioural Indicators
 EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse

• Bed wetting that is headaches,

non-medical in abdominal pains,
origin. nausea, etc.
• Frequent • Child fails to thrive.
psychosomatic
complaints:

Physical Indicators
• The application of unreasonable force by
an adult or youth to any part of a child’s
body.
• Can be an isolated incident or can occur
over a prolonged period.

PHYSICAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse
 PHYSICAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse

• Harsh physical discipline, forceful shaking,

pushing, grabbing, throwing, hitting with a hand.
• Punching, kicking, biting, hitting with an object.
• Choking, strangling, stabbing, burning, shooting,
poisoning.
• Excessive use of restraints.

Physical Abuse Examples

 PHYSICAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse
• Cannot recall how injuries occurred or offers an
inconsistent explanation.
• Wary of adults.
• May cringe or flinch if touched unexpectedly.
• Infants may have a vacant stare.
• Extremely aggressive or withdrawn.
• Indiscriminately seeks affection.
• Extremely compliant and/or eager to please.

Behavioural Indicators
 PHYSICAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse

• Injuries that are not consistent with explanation.

• Presence of several injuries in various stages of
healing.
• Presence of various injuries over a period.
• Facial injuries in infants and preschool children.
• Injuries inconsistent with child’s
age/developmental phase.

Physical Indicators
What are your thoughts on
spanking as form of
punishment?

Discussion
Is spanking allowed in
Ontario?

Discussion
 Spanking
in
Ontario

Spanking is permitted in Ontario – if “reasonable force” is used.

Section 43 of the Criminal Code reads as follows:
Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a
parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a
pupil or child, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed
what is reasonable under the circumstances.
 Spanking
Law

The law allows for corrective force that is “transitory and trifling”,
which means minor corrective force or the mildest forms of assault.
Parents or a person in the place of a parent CANNOT:
• Use force on a child under 2 years old or on a teenager.
• Use force that causes harm or might cause bodily harm.
• Use force because they are angry, frustrated, have lost their
temper or because they have an “abusive personality”.
 Reasonable
Force

• December 2015-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

announced plans to revoke the spanking law .
• Based on Liberal government’s agreement to meet all
recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC)
• More than 40 countries worldwide have banned the physical
punishment of children (i.e. Sweden and New Zealand).
Punishment vs Discipline
 Involvement of a child, by an adult or
youth, in an act of sexual gratification.
Exposing a child to sexual contact,
activity or behaviour.

SEXUAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse
 SEXUAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse

• Penetration, attempted penetration with fingers,

objects or penis
• Oral sex
• Fondling
• Sex talk
• Voyeurism
• FGM

Sexual Abuse Examples

 • The act of coercing, luring, or engaging a
child under the age of 18 into a sexual act.
• Involvement in the sex trade, creation
of child sexual exploitation material, with
or without the child’s consent.

CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Type of Child Abuse
 • Under Canadian law, it is always illegal to engage
children in the sex trade or create “pornography”
using their image.
• “Child pornography” is the legally accurate term to
use but the word “pornography” suggests consent
or that the behaviour is not abusive.
• Use terms such as “images of child sexual abuse,”
“child sexual abuse material,” or “child sexual
exploitation material” to make it clear that sexual
images of children are always child sexual abuse.

CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Type of Child Abuse
 • Human trafficking for the purposes of sexual
exploitation is prevalent in Ontario.
• Anyone can be impacted - traffickers tend to target
people who face systemic oppression and
discrimination.
• When people have unmet needs, or are lacking
community support or connections, vulnerabilities are
created that traffickers can exploit.

Think about who these people would be?

HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Child Sexual Exploitation
 According to Not in My City statistics on the populations who
are most targeted by trafficker:
• 90% are women and girls.
• Indigenous people make up only 4% of the population in
Canada, but more than 50% of trafficking victims.
• 72% are under 25 years of age.
• 26% are under 18.
• New immigrant and refugee youth.
• Youth experiencing homelessness or living in poverty.
• Youth in care.
• 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
• Youth with a history of early childhood trauma.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Child Sexual Exploitation
 • Form of sexual abuse.
• Exploitation of children on the internet
their peers or by adults.

INTERNET CHILD
EXPLOITATION (ICE)
Type of Child Abuse
 INTERNET CHILD
EXPLOITATION (ICE)
Type of Child Abuse
• Showing inappropriate contents to children.
• Recruiting for illegal activities.
• Grooming.
• Sexting.
• Cyber-bullying
• Other forms of violent behaviour endangering the
rights of the child.

ICE Examples
Circumstances that allow a child to be
aware of violence occurring between:
I. a caregiver and their partner.
II. between other family members.
III. culturally based abuse.

EXPOSURE TO FAMILY
VIOLENCE
Type of Child Abuse
• Allowing a child to see, hear or otherwise be exposed to signs
of the violence at home.
• Being used as a pawn.
• Asked to spy on family members and report back.
• Injury while protecting the family member.

EXPOSURE TO FAMILY
VIOLENCE
Examples
Adults who batter their partners are likely to also abuse their children by:
• Spurning: humiliating, belittling, degrading, ridiculing, shaming, singling
out to criticize/punish.
• Terrorizing: committing life threatening acts, making child feel unsafe,
threatening or perpetrating violence against child or child’s loved ones
or objects/pets.

EXPOSURE TO FAMILY
VIOLENCE
Examples
• Aggression and/or re-enactment of parental behaviour.
• Fearful for self; family members being hurt/killed.
• School avoidant-staying home to protect or run interference.
• Assumes responsibility to protect/help parent and or siblings.
• Overly passive, compliant, approval seeking.
• Fear of failure; perfectionistic.

EXPOSURE TO FAMILY
VIOLENCE
Behavioural Indicators
 • Fails to thrive.
• Frequent somatic complaints (i.e. headaches, stomach
aches).

EXPOSURE TO FAMILY
VIOLENCE
Physical Indicators
 • Any form of abuse or neglect while a
child is in the care of an institution.

INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse
• Failure to provide adequate supervision - to protect children
from harming self or others.
• Use of harmful restraints or methods of control (including
isolation and medication that could harm/endanger child).
• Use of harsh discipline – solitary confinement, corporal
punishment, withholding food.
• Practices that promote multiple placements.

INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE
Examples
• A “closed” culture within an organization where transparency is
discouraged.
• Failure to properly check the backgrounds and interview staff.
• Inadequate training of staff.
• Lack of child protection policies.
• Lack of support of staff by management.
• Poor communication skills.
• Poor supervision of staff and children.

INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE
Examples
1. Overt abuse - Any overt emotional, physical, or sexual
abuse perpetrated by the employee of an institution
against a child entrusted to that institution.
2. Program abuse - When an institution specifically
operates its program below acceptable conditions.
• Misuses its power or responsibility in order to
modify the behaviour of a child.
• Forcing a child into a traumatic situation in
order to create a certain emotional reaction.

INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE - Different Types

3. System abuse - When an institution becomes stretched
beyond its capacity which causes neglect through
inadequate care or resources.
• Ex. if an institution knowingly assumes responsibilities for
a young person who has mental health problems but
cannot give the appropriate time or care to fulfill those
responsibilities.

INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE - Different Types

 Did You
Know?
• June 2021 - 124,200 visitors to the
Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto;
the busiest month for food bank
usage in the history of the Daily
Bread Food Bank.
• 82% increase in visitors over the
average monthly visitors in 2019,
when visits were about 68,000.
• Disadvantages an individual or a
group suffers because of unfair
social structures.

SOCIETAL ABUSE
Type of Child Abuse
• Acceptance of children • Lack of health care support
living in poverty. and social programs.
• Reliance on food banks, • Child Soldiers.
breakfast programs. • Gender inequality.
• Child labour/exploitation. • Unequal access to
advanced education.

SOCIETAL ABUSE
Examples