1973 Bill 21 Second Session, 17th Legislature, 21 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA BILL 21 The Child Welfare Amendment Act, 1973 MR. LEE First Reading Second Reading. Third .Reading Printed by QUEEN'S PRINTER for the Province of Alberta. EDMONTON

Bill 2l Mr. Lee BILL 21 1973 THE CHILD WHFARE AMENDMENT ACT, 1973 (Assented to , 1973) HER MAJESTY, by and with the ad¥iee and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows: 1. The Child Welfare Act is he.reby a,mended.

Section 2 is amended by striking out the words "an infant" wherever they appear in clause (

g) and by substi­ tuting therefor the. words "a child".

Section 5, subsection (2), clause (

e) is amended by adding after the word "evaluation," the word "approval,".

Section 14, clause (

a) is amended by striking out the words "an unmarried" and by substituting therefor the word "a".

Section 18, subsection (3) is a1'nended by striking out the words ", including the name and the date and place of birth of the child and the name, age, racial origin and reli­ gion of the parents".

Section 25, subse,ction (2) is amended by striking out the words ", but no further order may be made under sec­ tion 24 that will result in the child being a temporary ward of the Crown for a ,continuous period after the commenc'e­ rnent of this Act of more than 36 months".

Explanatory Notes I. This Bill will amendchaprter 45 of the Revised Statutes of Alberta 19 1 70. 2. Consequential amendment.

Section 2(

g) presently reads: 2. In this Act, (go) "ward of the Crown" means (

i) an infant who is, either temporarily or permanently, in the custody of the Director pursuant t.o the ,order of a judge underPart 2, OT (ii) an infant who is in the custody of the Director pursuant to an instrument of surrender under

Part 2. 3. The Direct'or will be ,charged wi,th 'approving foster homes.

Section 5(2) (

e) preserutly reads:

(2) As part of his duties the DirectDr shan (

e) arrange for the evaluation, supervision and inspection .of homes in which chilldren have been placed for foster care Dr adoption, and 4. This amendment will include married minors in the definition of child in Pa1rt 2.

Section N(

a) presently reads: 14. In this Part, (a) "child" means an unmarried boy Dr girl actually or apparently under eighteen years of age; 5. Se'ction 18(3) presently reads:

(3) At the hearing the, judge shall inquire into and ascertain the facts .of the case, including the name and the date and place of birth of the child and the name, age, racial oTigin and religio'n ,0.[ the parents. G.

Section 25 (2) presently reads:

(2) Upon the further hearing the judge s'hall enquire and determine whether the circumstances justify the continuatiDn .of the temporary wardship or justify the return of the child to the parent or guardian Dr other person In whose care he may have been at the time .of apprehen­ sion either (

a) subject to .inspecUon and supervision as provided in

section 23, or (

b) not subject to such inspeceon and supervisIon, and as the circumstances require, the judge may make a further order under

section 24, discharge a subsisting order under

section 24. make an order under

section 23 or find the child to be no longer a child in need .of protection, but no further order may be made under

section 24 that will result in the child being a temporary ward of the Crown for a continuous period after the commencement of this Act of more than thirty-six months.

'I.

Section 35 is a1nended by striking out subsections (1), (2) and (3) and by substituting therefor the following sub­ sections: 35.

(1) A parent, guardian, or other person who has actual custody of a child, (

a) who through necessitous circumstances, illness or other misfortune likely tD be of a temporary dura­ tion, is unable to make adequate provision for the child, or (

b) who is unable to provide the services required by the child because of the special needs of the child, may 'enter into an agreement with the Dire,dor to have the child placed in the care or custody or under the control 'or supervision of the Director for the purpose of making ade­ quate provision for the child or for providing services or care required to meet the child's special needs.

(2) The agreement may provide that the cost of prDvid­ iIig the' maintenance Dr services or both for the child shall be apportioned between the Director and the parent, guardian or other person. 8. Se,cU-on 41 is struck O'ld and the followi?lg sections arc substituted therefor: 41.

(1) Any person who has reasonable and probable ground to believe that a child has been abandoned, deser­ ted, physically ill ... treated or is in need' of prote~tion shall report the grDund of such belief to the Director Dr to any child welfare worker of the Department. (2) Subsection (1) applies notwithstanding that the ground for belief is information that is confidential or privileged, and no action lies against the person so report­ iiIg ltnless the provision of the report is. done maliciously or without reasonable and probable ground for belief.

(3) Any person who fails to comply with subs'2ction (1), in addition tD any civil liability, is guilty 'Of an offence and liable upon

summary conviction to a fine of not more than $500 and in default of payrnent to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both fine and imprisonment. 41.1 The Director shall mCl.intain a registry for the pur­ -pDses of rEcording all reports received under

section 41. 41.2 Upon a report being made pursuant to se0tion 41 the Director shaH cause the report to be examined and shali direct such further investigations of the matter reported as he considers necessary. 2

,.. This amendment will bring handic'apped chl:ldren under this seciion. Presenrtly they are dealt witJh under Palrt

Section 3'5 subsections (1) to (3) read: 35.

(1) A parent or other person who has actual custody of a child and WhD, through necessitous circumstances, illness Dr other misfortune likely to be 'Of a temporary duration, is unable to make adequate pro­ vision fnr the chrild may apply to the Director to have the child placed temporarily in a foster home or institution.

(2) The Dirpcior may enter into an agreement with the applicant t'O accept thf' child for care in a foster home or institution for a period not exceeding six months and to asSUme that part of the cost of main­ tenance of the child that the parent or other persDn is unable t'O pay.

(3) Where the Director considers it to be in the best interests of the child to d'O so, the Director may renew an agreement for sUch further period as he may determine. 8. Requirement to report suspeclted ca,ses of child abuse. 2

.0.

Section 79 is struck out and the follo'wing

section is .~llbstituted therefor: 79.

(1) For the purpos'es of this section, a child shall be deemed to be confined in a closed unit if it is restricted in ~.ny n1anner to any rOO1TI, eell or other part of an institution for a period in excess of that which a parent would reason­ ably impose upon his child in the exercise of discipline of the child.

(2) The Attorney General shall appoint a judg-e of the Juvenile Court to receive appl;ications for review of commit­ tal orders and to review weekly the nam'€s of all children in respect of whom orders ,of committal have been ma;de under

section 24 or 78 and who have been confined in closed units in any institution.

(3) An application for review of a commital order may be made by the child or a parent Dr guardian of the child or the Director.

(4) Every institution under

Part 2 of the Act shall pro­ vide to the judge once a week a list of names of all chi1dren who have been confined in closed units within the institu­ tion during that \veek.

(5) Upon receipt of an application for review, the judge shall direet that the child be brought before the JuvenHe Court within 10 days and shall direct that notice of the hea~ing be served upon the Court, the Director, the parent or guardian and the child.

(6) Upon a review of names of children confined in c10sed units within any institution, the judge may at any time direct th~t any ehild be brought before the Juvenile Court for review of the committal order, and shall direct tha t notiee of the hearing :be ,served upon the Court, the DirEctor, the parent or guardian and the child.

(7) The hearing of a r\~view of the committal order shall be conducted pursuant to

section 25, and if the judge is satisfied that the committal order should be continued the judgelnay (

a) order that the cornmittal be continued, (

b) order that the committal be eontinued but that the child should not be further confined without leave of the Court, or (

c) order that the committal be continued and that the confinement of the child be restrided in accordance with conditions to be imposed by the Court. 10. Pwrt 5 of the Act is struck out. 11.

(1) This Act, except

section 8, CGmes into force on the day upon which it is asse,nted to.

(2) Section 8 comes into force on July 1, 1973. 3

9. Review of confinement of children in closed units. 10.

Part 5 consists of five sections dealing with handicapped children. This will be covered by the proposed new

section 35. 3 Title: 1973 (17th, 2nd) Bill 21, The Child Welfare Amendment Act, 1973