Note
Authors affiliated with the Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University.
"September 12, 2008"--Cornwall Public Inquiry website.
"Report of the Cornwall Public Inquiry - Research Papers"--Cornwall Public Inquiry website.
"Commissioned Phase 1 Research Papers"--Cornwall Public Inquiry website.
Summary issued in French under title: Politiques et pratiques des organismes de bien-être de l’enfance en réponse aux plaintes d’abus sexuels contre des enfants 1960-2006.
The original document was published on the public website of the Government of Ontario. © Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2008. Reproduced with permission.
Summary
The Cornwall Public Inquiry requested the authors of this report to provide a review of literature about the evolution, over the period 1960 – 2006, of child protection policies and practices in respect to complaints of child sexual abuse (CSA), and complaints by adults of historical CSA where the abuser may have continued contact with children. Also requested was a review of policies and practices to prevent CSA, over the same time period, within facilities or services provided by child protection agencies. Secondly, we were asked to conduct research regarding these policies and practices in three child welfare agencies – two agencies of differing size located in the province of Ontario, and one located outside the province.
The report has two parts: Part 1 is an extensive review of literature related to the above requests, relevant Ontario legislation, and pertinent standards and guidelines issued by the Ontario Ministries responsible for child welfare. Part 1 also includes information about the history of child protection worker training with respect to CSA in Ontario and a summary of applicable training curricula over the years.
Part 2 reports the findings of the research completed in two child welfare agencies in Ontario and one in a province outside of Ontario. We promised to keep the identity of the agencies and the key informants confidential in order that informants could feel secure in expressing their perceptions, experiences and memories as openly as possible. The report concludes with a summary of the similarities and differences between the three agencies studied.