A social worker is at my door. What’s happening?
A social worker may come to your home if they have received a report or referral from a concerned individual with respect to the care of your child. The social worker has a duty to investigate the report or referral to establish whether it is accurate. Sometimes this results in an investigation about the care and well-being of your child.
What happens to my child after the social worker comes to my door?
The social worker will first investigate the report or referral if they believe an investigation is required. After the social worker completes their investigation, they will make a determination whether you can ensure the safety and wellbeing of your child. If the report or referral is confirmed, one of the following scenarios may happen:
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- Your child may stay in your care, without court involvement, while you participate in resources and supports;
- Your child may stay in your care, with court involvement, while you receive help and support; or
- Your child may be taken into care, with court involvement, and placed in kinship care, customary care or foster care, while you receive help and support.
If your child is taken into care, or if you are under a Supervision Order, the agency must make an application to court for any of these options.
What should I do if a social worker comes to my home and removes my child from my care?
No matter what the situation, try to remain calm during this difficult time.
If you are served with court documents and your child is removed from your care, you should read the documents and attend all court dates.
If you want legal information or legal representation for your court case, you may contact a private lawyer well-versed in the area of child protection or contact Nova Scotia Legal Aid as soon as possible. For more information please see our page on legal representation.
Contact with my child after they’re taken into care
If your child has been removed from your care, the social worker should set up a schedule of times for you to visit with your child. Depending on the safety concerns to your child, these visits may be supervised or unsupervised. If the visits are supervised, they can occur in a public place, the agency’s office, or in your home. These visits are important for you and your child. They help ease the stress on your child in this difficult time and can demonstrate to the agency and the court your ability to adequately parent your child.
There are some important things to remember regarding your visits:
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- You should show up early to visits as much as possible and stay the full length of time;
- You should tell the agency as soon as possible if you are going to be late or cannot make the visit (illness or emergency), and ask to reschedule the visit as soon as possible;
- You should focus on your child during the visit and enjoy the time spent together;
- Talk to your social worker about what information you can share with your child; and
- Talk to your social worker about what gifts or food you can bring to your child.
If the visit is supervised, there will be someone there to help facilitate the visit. They will likely take notes and may offer guidance periodically if they feel it is required. It may be possible to have a family member or friend to supervise the visit. Ask your social worker about this.
When can my children return to my care?
This will be up to the agency and the court. Much will depend on how you work to improve your parenting so that you can ensure the safety and wellbeing of your child. This takes time, and you will need to demonstrate to the agency that you are making the changes needed.
As your ability to adequately parent improves, and the reports are coming back positively on the work you are doing, the agency will decide whether they will start the process of having your child return to your care. This may include expanding your visits with your child to include more time and moving toward unsupervised visits. Eventually, if everything goes well, your child should be returned to your care for overnight visits, and then placed back home on a full-time basis.
If your parenting does not improve sufficiently over time, there may be a possibility that your child cannot return to your care. In this case, the agency may apply to the court for permanent care and custody of your child.
What does the court process look like?
If the safety concerns to the child are deemed to be in some cases moderate to high, then the agency may make an application to have a formal proceeding before the court.
In Nova Scotia, the child protection process in court can take up to 18 months for a final decision to be made by a judge, and averages about 12-18 months. In some cases, the agency can make an application to the court to dismiss the matter early and return the child to their home. In other cases, the agency can make an application to the court to seek permanent care and custody of the child.
A child protection case that goes before the court is often set out into five noteworthy stages. The descriptions below are minimal, and you should get a lawyer, experienced in child protection law to represent you if you are involved in such a matter. The lawyer can provide you with legal advice, options, and more details regarding these five stages.
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Stage 1 – Interim Hearing |
| Any time a child is taken into care, the agency must bring an application to court within 5 days. This is the first court appearance for parents or caregivers. The first appearance typically lasts about 15 minutes. During this time, the judge will decide if there is a reason to believe, based on the evidence presented by the parties, that a child is in need of protective services. If there is not enough evidence presented to support the agency’s application, the judge will dismiss the case and the child, if in the care of the agency, will be returned home to their parents or caregivers. A judge can also decide not to make a decision at the first court appearance and adjourn the matter to a later date but within 30 days of the date of the application or the child being taken into care. At that time, called completion of the Interim Hearing, the judge based on the evidence, can dismiss the case or have it carry on. If a parent or caregiver does not agree with the agency’s application, they can contest it (disagree) and set the matter down for trial. |
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Stage 2 – Protection Hearing |
| The next stage of the case before the court is called the Protection Hearing. This takes place within 90 days of the completion of the Interim Hearing (first appearance). The judge must determine if there is reason to believe the child may be in need of protective services, again based on the evidence of the parties. At this stage a judge must decide if an agency has proven that the child is in need of protective services. If parents or caregivers do not agree with the agency position, they can ask for a trial. If the judge finds that the agency has not proven it’s case, the matter is dismissed and the child must be returned home. If a judge decides that the agency has proven the child is in need of protection, the judge will grant a court order which will also provide for the care of the child, services for the parents or caregiver to address the agency concerns, and set out contact time between parents or caregiver to see their child. |
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Stage 3 – Disposition Hearing |
| The next stage of the case before the court is called the Disposition Hearing (sometimes referred to as first Disposition). This takes place within three months of the Protection Hearing where the judge had reason to believe the child may be in need of protective services. The agency must now present it’s Plan of Care for the child to the judge. The agency Plan of Care sets out the ways the parents or caregiver can best address the identified risk(s) of harm to their child. Parents or caregivers can also provide the judge with their Plan of Care for their child. If the child is under 14 years of age, the parents may have up to one year, from the date of the Disposition Hearing, to address the risk(s) of harm that led to findings in the child protection hearing. If the child is 14 years of age or over, the parents or caregiver may have up to 18 months to address the risk of harm. However, the agency is not strictly bound by these timelines. If they feel the matter warrants it, they can make an application to dismiss the case earlier or make an application for permanent care and custody of your child before the end of the timelines. Much depends on how well the parents or caregivers are doing in addressing the agency concerns that led to agency involvement. During this stage, parents may appear in court several times to review how the Plan of Care is working and make changes as needed. |
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Stage 4- Review Hearings |
| After the Disposition Hearing stage, the judge will want to know how things are going and Review Hearings are scheduled generally every three months for the duration of the child protection timeline, but they can take place earlier than three months if there is a need to. During these hearings, the judge looks at how the risk(s) of harm have changed and may change certain conditions, for example: if the parents or caregivers are making progress and addressing the concerns, they may be allowed to visit their child more often; they may be allowed to visit the child in their home; or the child may be allowed to move back home under a Supervision Order. |
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Stage 5 – Final Disposition Hearing |
| This hearing is also known as the “outside date”. It is the last stage the parents or caregiver’s case can be in court based on the timelines permitted in child protection cases before the court. If the agency and parents or caregiver cannot agree on a final outcome, the case can go to a permanent care and custody trial. At this stage, after hearing the evidence, the judge has only two options: (1) dismiss the proceeding and allow the child to return home to their parents or caregiver, or (2) make a court order for permanent care and custody, which places the child in the care of the agency making them the legal guardian of the child. The judge cannot make an order for contact between the child and their parents or caregiver. It would then be up to the agency to determine if any contact between the child and the parents or caregiver can take place. The agency can also consider placing the child for adoption. |
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Other Appearances |
| You may have Contested Hearings or Review Hearings at or during any of the above five stages. We’ve already mentioned Review Hearings so now we’ll speak about Contested Hearings. |
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Contested Hearings |
| If parents or caregivers do not come to agreement with the agency on how things should go, at or during any stage of the child protection proceeding before the court, they can contest (disagree) and have a contested hearing so the judge can decide on the disputed issue(s). Before making this decision, the parents or caregiver would be well served by getting legal advice and/or representation from a lawyer experienced in the area of child protection law who can advise on these matters. |
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Appeals Process |
| The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal is the highest court in the province that can hear an appeal of a child protection decision that came from a lower court or tribunal, to make sure no errors of law occurred. There are strict timelines to file an appeal application. The Court of Appeal can dismiss an appeal, allow the appeal and order a new trial or hearing, or allow the appeal and change the order from the lower court.
The Court of Appeal can also hear an application to stay the execution of an order of the lower court. If successful, this means that the terms of the order, or part of the order, does not go ahead until the Court of Appeal hears the case on appeal. There is a last appeal process from the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but very few cases are granted permission for this. |