Protects, promotes, and supports the best interest of children. A person must personally make a report to a children’s aid society if they have reasonable grounds for suspecting:
- Abuse or neglect
- Domestic violence where there is a child in the home
- Substance abuse by a caregiver
- Unaddressed mental health problems with a caregiver
- Abandonment of a child
Members of the public are responsible for reporting concerns, not for proving abuse or neglect. Reports can me made anonymously, and the person making the report is protected from liability resulting from any report made in good faith and on the basis of reasonable grounds. When a report is made, trained child welfare staff are able to determine the risk in each situation and to provide the kind of services and support needed to keep children safe.
Children who need protection. Family members of children who need protection.
By referral, either by the community or through a self-referral.