Child Protection: Going to Court
Application
The Children’s Aid Society starts a court case by serving and filing a Protection Application or Status Review Application: Form 8B Application (Child Protection).
The Protection Application will tell you when and where to appear in court for a first court date. It also tells you that if you want to oppose any claim in the case, you or your lawyer need to complete an Answer and Plan of Care: Form 33B - Answer and Plan of Care.
Depending on the situation, the Children’s Aid Society may serve you with additional documents.
In a child protection case, the Children’s Aid Society is the Applicant. You and possibly other parties are the Respondents.
There are different steps in a child protection case:
- Application
- First court date
- Temporary care and custody hearing
- Court hearings: conferences and motions
- Court hearings: summary judgment motion and focused hearings
- Trial
- Status reviews
More information about each of these steps is below.
First court date
The Children’s Aid Society must go to court within five (5) days after starting their court case if your child has been taken to a place of safety. You should go to court for this hearing even if you don’t have a lawyer. Talk to Legal Aid Ontario’s advice and duty counsel for your first court date at the courthouse if you do not have a lawyer.
The judge will make a temporary order at the first court date about who will care for your child as your case goes through the court system. The judge will decide if the child can be returned to you, another parent, an extended family member or another person or if the child should be in society care. If your child is not returned to you, the judge may make an access order to allow you to see your child. If this is the case, usually, the judge will order that you and the child will see each other in a supervised access site.
The Community Legal Education Ontario has prepared a document about the first court date. You may find it here: What happens at the first court date in my child protection case? - Steps to Justice.
Your answer and plan of care
If your child has been taken to a place of safety or there are other protection concerns, the Children’s Aid Society will start the case. You will need to respond.
First, you need to gather the information needed by the court and then fill out your Answer and Plan of Care document: Answer and plan of care (parties other than Children’s Aid Society),
Make sure that you use the forms from this website: Family Law Forms as it contains the most up-to-date forms.
Your Answer and Plan of Care will give the court details on how you plan to care for your child. Your plan of care must be in your child’s best interests.
You must serve and file your Answer and Plan of Care within thirty (30) days after you received the Children’s Aid Society Application concerning your child.
The Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) has prepared a document to help you to complete your Answer and Plan of Care. You may find it here: Your Answer and Plan of Care - Steps to Justice.
You should be aware that there may be other documents that you will need to complete, too.
Temporary care and custody hearing
After your First Court Date and after you have served and filed your Answer and Plan of Care, there may be a Temporary Care and Custody Hearing. This hearing will only occur if you want to dispute the Children’s Aid Society’s claims.
The Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) has prepared a document about the Care and Custody Hearing. You may find it here: What is a temporary care and custody hearing in my child protection case? - Steps to Justice
At the Temporary Care and Custody hearing, the judge will rely on the Children’s Aid Society’s affidavits and your Form 14A - Affidavit and any other affidavits that you have from other people for your case. You may also ask teachers, doctors or anyone else to complete their own affidavits. These may help the judge to make decisions. They, too, will use Form 14A - Affidavit.
The affidavits should support what you say in your Answer and Plan of Care.
Your documents must be served on the Children’s Aid Society and anyone else involved in the case and filed with the court.
Make sure that you swear or affirm that your Affidavit is true before you sign it. At the bottom of the Affidavit there is space that a commissioner for taking affidavits completes. The Ministry of the Attorney General has information on swearing or affirming affidavits: Find notary public or commissioner oaths taking affidavits | Ontario.ca
You may ask the judge for a temporary order at this hearing.
Your affidavit is the evidence that you need for the court. It is very important to involve your lawyer in preparing your Affidavit.
The Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) has prepared documents to help you to complete your Affidavit. You may find it here: Prepare your documents: Affidavits - Steps to Justice
Conferences and motions
Conferences and motions are different hearings that will occur during your child protection case. You may have a series of conferences along with motions throughout the case. In between conferences, there may be different motions that either the Children’s Aid Society or you request to ask a judge for a temporary order. Following your conferences, dates will automatically be set by the judge for additional conferences. Read the section on motions for more details about them.
The following is information about both conferences and motions.
Child protection law trial
This is intended to help give you information about a child protection trial at the Ontario Court of Justice. Please be aware that this is basic information. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every situation that may come up in your trial.
In most cases, the Children’s Aid Society is the Applicant in a child protection trial and you, and any other party involved in the case are the Respondents.
In a child protection trial, the judge will give a final decision on any outstanding issues in your case.