A mother and her family received services from the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAST), including in relation to an incident that occurred in 2012. Later, under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA), the mother asked CAST for information in her CAST file about the incident, which she describes as an assault of one of the children by the children’s father. She specifically seeks any statements made by the children’s father and the children about the incident. The mother complained to the IPC after CAST released a number of records to her but withheld others in part or in full, including on the basis it could not release additional information about other individuals without their consent, or a court order.
During the IPC review, some of the family members consented to the release of their personal information to the mother, and CAST released additional portions of the records on this basis. Two family members did not consent to the release of their personal information to the mother.
In this decision, the adjudicator upholds CAST’s decision to withhold the remaining portions of the records from the mother. These include discrete portions consisting of the personal information of family members who do not consent to its release, which are contained in records that are not dedicated primarily to the provision of services solely to the mother. The withheld portions also contain information that post-dates and does not relate to the incident in question, and so is not responsive to the request. The adjudicator finds that CAST released to the mother all the information to which she is entitled under the CYFSA. The adjudicator dismisses the complaint.