The union boss representing members at the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society (WECAS) is calling on the organization to immediately reinstate the 26 workers it recently laid off.
WECAS stated in a release that they were facing a financial shortfall that was primarily driven by increasing demands and costs of supporting children and youth with complex needs in their care and within the community.
The organization said the the funding gap reflected the necessary adjustments to the service volumes and staffing ratios that have become critical in meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families.
According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE, the CAS is forecasting roughly a $10 million deficit.
Craig Hesman, president of CUPE 2286, says the CAS prevention department was the hardest hit with cuts.
“When we cut prevention, that means that we’re going to end up spending more in the protection areas of our agency, and that cost is way, way more expensive because that will also lead to youth coming into our care, who otherwise may not have come into our care, had prevention been more focused and available for them,” Hesman said.
He says the agency does not enough staff to handle the existing caseload.
“When we looked at caseload statistics, some of our departments, the intake department specifically, 11 of the 12 months last year, they ran in excess of their workload capacity, so, reductions in that nature just don’t make any sense to us,” Hesman said.
According to CUPE, the CAS Leamington Office has been targeted for closure at the end of March.
Hesman says this will increase service times.
“It’s going to mean that our service users that are out in the Leamington area specifically are now going to have to travel to Windsor to receive their services,” he said. “That may pose a barrier for some, and it’s also going to increase costs for us, if we’re helping to assist with that transportation.”
Hesman says the Ford government refuses to address the ongoing crisis, and called upon the government to provide the agency with funding and programming based on the specific needs of the Windsor-Essex community.
-By AM800’s Dustin Coffman and Rusty Thomson
