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Notice of Information Practices

We care about your privacy.  When using, collecting and disclosing your personal information, we are required to follow the privacy rules under the Child Youth and Family Services Act, 2017. We are required to keep your personal information safe and secure. You have the right to know how we may use and give out your service information, and how you can get access to it.  We are committed to promoting privacy and protecting the confidentiality of the personal information we hold about you and the services you have received.

 

Peel CAS Mandate

Our mandate is to promote the best interests, safety and well-being of children and youth and to strengthen families through partnership. We protect children from abuse and neglect and help parents and caregivers build healthy families. In addition to protecting children, which we do with the support of our Peel community, we also work with families who may be facing challenges such as poverty, unemployment, ill health, domestic violence, mental health issues, or caring for a child who has serious physical, emotional or developmental difficulties. Some families also just need parenting support. We recognizes that appropriate sharing of information, including personal information, in order to plan for and provide services is essential for creating successful outcomes for children and families.  Our work takes place in Peel Region. This means we serve the residents in the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, and the town of Caledon, in the province of Ontario, Canada.


Your Personal Information

Our records may include personal information collected to provide services to you including for

example: your date of birth, contact information, records of meetings with you and / or your family, information that your reported, the services you received, the programs you attended, details of your physical and mental health, medical, psychological or psychiatric reports, school information, financial information, employment history, allegations of findings of child maltreatment, court documentation, police interventions, criminal history, your views or opinions, the views and opinions of others about you and information about your race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, family diversity, disability, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, cultural or linguistic needs, marital or family status.

 

We collect, use and disclose (meaning share) personal information to:

  • investigate allegations that children and youth may be in need of protection and, where necessary, protect children and youth;
  • assess, reduce or eliminate a risk of harm to a child or serious harm to other person or group of people;
  • provide services to children and youth and their families for protecting children and youth or for the prevention of circumstances requiring the protection of children and youth;
  • provide care for children and youth and supervise children and youth under our supervision;
  • assess and approve homes for children and youth who cannot remain with their families;
  • place children and youth for adoption;
  • plan and manage services;
  • aid a law enforcement agency investigation;
  • receive payment or process, monitor, verify or reimburse claims for payment;
  • detect, monitor or prevent fraud or any unauthorized receipt of services or benefits;
  • provide appointment reminders;
  • seek consent (or consent of a substitute decision-maker) where appropriate;
  • conduct risk management, error management and quality improvement activities;
  • service recipient surveying;
  • dispose of identifiable information;
  • respond to or initiating legal proceedings;
  • conduct research (subject to certain rules);
  • compile statistics;
  • report to the government as required by law;
  • allow for the analysis, administration and management of the children’s aid system;
  • comply with legal and regulatory requirements; and
  • fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law.

In child protection cases, we collect information about children and youth who may be at risk of harm or in need of our services. This includes the personal information of the child and important people in the child’s life.  We collect this information from children and youth, their families or indirectly from members of the community or other service providers.

 

We also collect personal information about caregivers and those who seek to provide care to children and youth in need, such as foster parents, adoptive parents and members of a child or youth’s extended family.  We collect most of this information directly from those individuals. 

 

Our collection, use and disclosure (sharing) of personal information is done in accordance with Ontario law.

 

Who we share information with

Other Children’s Aid Societies - CASs share information with each other to better protect children. Information collected by one CAS may be provided to other CASs when the other CAS needs to know the information to provide child protection services.

 

 

Service Providers - Service providers are persons or organizations who assist PCAS to deliver services to children and families. We share only the information that is necessary for service providers to deliver and administer these services.

 

Other Third Parties - Sometimes we receive requests for information from third parties such as police, government agencies, and people involved in court cases with our clients. We only give personal information about service recipients to third parties if:

  • we have the individual’s consent;
  • there is a court order, search warrant, or urgent demand for records requiring disclosure; or
  • we are legally permitted or required to provide the information.

Your consent

In some situations, we do not need consent to fulfill our primary role as a child protection agency, to protect children, where we are required by law to collect, use and disclose personal information. For example, we do not need your permission to meet our child protection obligations or to share your personal information to keep you or someone else safe.

 

In other situations, you have the right to make your own information privacy decisions. When we require and ask for your permission, you may choose to say no. If you say yes, you may change your mind at any time. Once you say no, we will no longer share your information unless you say so.  Your choice to say no may be subject to some limits.

 

In situations when you have a right to make your own information privacy decisions, you may make your decisions if you are “capable”. You may be capable of making some information privacy decisions and not others. If you are not capable, you will have a substitute decision-maker who will make your information decisions for you. Who can act as a substitute decision-maker and what they have to do is also set out in law.

 

For children, there is no legal age when you become able to make your own decisions about your

personal information. If you are capable, you can make your own decisions. However, if you are under the age of 16, there are some additional rules to know.

 

  • If you are not capable, your parent(s) or other official guardian will make decisions for you as
  • your substitute decision-maker.
  • If you are capable, you will make your own decisions.
  • If you are capable, your parent(s) or guardian will also be allowed to make some decisions
  • about your personal information service records. But they will not be able to make decisions
  • about any records about treatment or counseling to which you alone consented.

You have the right to place conditions on your consent to limit the personal information collected or disclosed. You further have the right to withdraw your consent by providing notice to Peel CAS. Please note that should you withdraw consent, your withdrawal will be effective as of the date you provided notice, and will not be applied to any collection or disclosure before that date.

 

 

How we retain and dispose of information

The Child Protection Information Network (CPIN) is a provincial information management system used by CASs across the province. CPIN is the primary tool for storing information needed to deliver CAS services.  CPIN contains information about children and their families who receive child protection services. It also contains information about caregivers and their relations, as well as those who seek to provide care to children in need, such as foster parents, adoptive parents and members of child’s extended family and/or community.

 

We also have some older paper and electronic files that predate CPIN that are archived and accessible if required.

 

When we dispose of personal information, we do so securely.

 

Safeguards

Your personal information must be kept private and secure. Everyone at Peel CAS is bound by confidentiality.  We protect your information from loss or theft and ensure no one looks at your information or does something with it if they are not involved in providing services to you or permitted as part of their job. If there is a privacy breach, we will tell you (and we are required by law to tell you) and we will share with you what has been done to address the privacy breach.

 

Safeguards apply equally to what personal information we enter into CPIN and other electronic information systems, as well as paper or electronic copies of records, reports, financial records, administrative notes, voice messages, text messages, and emails (including on laptops and cell phones) and any other ways personal information can be recorded.

 

Access and correction

With limited exceptions, you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you that relates to a service provided to you.

 

In rare situations, you may be denied access to some or all of your personal information regarding your service (with any such denial being in accordance with the law).

 

We try to keep your personal information accurate and up-to-date. Please let us know if you disagree with what is recorded, and we will either make the change or otherwise we will provide you the option to write a statement of disagreement and we will attach that statement to your service record.

 

For more information or complaints

We encourage you to contact your case worker with any questions or concerns you might have about our information practices.

 

You can reach our Privacy Officer at:

Privacy Officer

25 Capston Dr.

Mississauga, ON L5W 0H3

Phone: 905-363-6131 ext. 2242

Fax: 905-363-6133

Email: [email protected]  

 

If your privacy concerns have not been addressed to your satisfaction, you may make a complaint.  You can reach our Service Relations Department at:

Service Relations

25 Capston Dr.

Mississauga, ON L5W 0H3

Phone: 905-363-6131 ext. 1164

Fax: 905-363-6133

Email: [email protected]

 

If at any time you feel that your concerns have not been addressed to your satisfaction, you have the right to complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario is responsible for making sure that privacy laws are followed in Ontario. You can reach The Information and Privacy Commissioner at:

Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400

Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8

Phone: 416-326-3333 or 1-800-387-0073

TDD/TTY: 416-325-7539

Fax: 1-416-325-9195

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.ipc.on.ca