Childrens Aid Society Foundation - A Legacy of Caring: A History of the Childrens Aid Society of Toronto

A HISTORY OF THE CHILDRENS AID SOCIETY OF TORONTO

A HISTORY OF THE CHILDRENS AID SOCIETY OF TORONTO

JOHN MCCULLAGH

Copyright John McCullagh, 2002

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Copy-Editor: Lloyd Davis
Design: Jennifer Scott
Printer: Transcontinental

McCullagh, John

A legacy of caring : the Childrens Aid Society of Toronto / John McCullagh.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-55002-335-7

1. Childrens Aid Society of TorontoHistory. I. Title.

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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This history of the Childrens Aid Society of Toronto is the product of the cooperative efforts of many people without whose support and input it could not have been written.

The societys Staff Alumni Association and, in particular, former president Paul Michaelis, current president Maureen Duffy and members Tony Diniz, Jean Fuerd, Terry MacFarlane, Mona Robinson, Jessie Watters and Dave Wright conceived the idea of publishing a history of the agency and saw it through to completion.

A generous grant from the Childrens Aid Foundation supported the research, much of which was undertaken by Dr. Gail Aitken and Dr. Don Bellamy. Over the course of several years, they combed through agency and government archival materials, academic theses and books, journals and articles (both published and unpublished), many of which were located by George Wharton and his colleagues at the City of Toronto Archives. Doctors Aitken and Bellamy also conducted lengthy interviews with a large number of the societys current and former board members, foster parents, staff and volunteers, analyzed their research and organized it into the first draft of this book.

An advisory committee consisting of Gail Aitken, Don Bellamy, Tony Diniz, Maureen Duffy, Sheilagh Johnson, Bruce Leslie, Melanie Persaud and Bruce Rivers provided me with invaluable support and direction as well as feedback on the style and content of the manuscript. Bev Lepischak gave useful advice from the perspective of a social work professional not directly connected to the society and its work.

onward. The names of a fair number of these witnesses appear in the text, while the information provided by others helped put the agencys day-to-day work in the historical context of the times. All were unfailingly responsive to Gail Aitkens, Don Bellamys or my inquiries. Their names are: Ethel Allen, Doug Barr, Joyce Barretto, Joan Berndt, Carolyn Buck, Mollie Christie, Joyce Cohen, Anne Coulter, Nancy Dale, Jack Darville, Tony Diniz, Kim Dorian, Sheila Dowdell, Kathy Duncan, Jill Evertman, Nancy Falconer, Mel Finlay, Jean Fuerd, Doug Gardner, Brian Greggains, Joyce Greggains, Leyland Gudge, Janet Haddock, Peter Hagerdoorn, Valerie Hartling, Farrell Haynes, Don Hepburn, Dorothy Herberg, Maggie Hunter, Carol Irwin, James Joyce, Sheliagh Johnson, Russell Joliffe, Betty Kashima, Linda Kiss, Margaret Leitenberger, Donna Leslie, Mary Lewis, John Liston, Joanne Maltby, Ruth Manke, Mardy Marlow, Sheila McDermott, Hanna McDonough, Marcellina Mian, Paul Michaelis, Lori Morina, Sandy Moshenko, Susan Oley, Jim Patterson, Shirley Pearse, Marilyn Pearson, Marjorie Perkins, Richard Phillips, Brenda Pickup, Joan Poole, Ron Poole, Steve Raiken, Kenn Richard, Sharron Richards, Bruce Rivers, Mona Robinson, Agnes Roy, Sandra Scarth, Ron Smith, Sybil Smith, Mary Speers, Paul Steinhauer, Debbie Stillemunkes, Betty Stubbins, Jim Thompson, Ed Watson, Jessie Watters, Lois Wicks, Bob Witterick, Valerie Witterick, Gordon Wolfe, Wilma Wrabko and Dave Wright. I extend my apologies to anyone who, through my own oversight, I may have omitted from this list.

I would like to thank all the people at Dundurn Press who helped produce this book, in particular the companys president, Kirk Howard, copy editor Lloyd Davis and graphic designers Jennifer Scott and John Lee.

Finally, I owe a personal debt to my partner Arnold Brodkin for enduring my long hours at the computer.

JOHN McCULLAGH
Toronto,
October 2001

FOREWORD

It has often been said that the work of child welfare is a calling. It touches your heart, your spirit and your thoughts like few other experiences in life. Perhaps it is the immensity of the childrens suffering and their resilience in overcoming adversity that underlies this phenomenon. Perhaps it is the complexity of the human condition and the journey to understand child maltreatment or to help parents stop the hurt and find a better way to care for their children. It may be the impact of an investigation, a complex court proceeding or an adoption-matching process between a child and adoptive parents. Whatever it is, the result is profound.

Four years ago, a group of committed staff alumni, including the then president of the Alumni Association, Paul Michaelis, along with committee members Tony Diniz, Jean Fuerd, Terry MacFarlane, Mona Robinson, Jessie Watters and David Wright, conceived the idea of a book to chronicle the history and development of child welfare service in Toronto at the Childrens Aid Society of Toronto. With the generous funding support of the Childrens Aid Foundation, the thorough research of Dr. Gail Aitken and Dr. Don Bellamy and the analysis and expert writing skills provided by John McCullagh, the dream of a book about the Childrens Aid Society of Toronto and its exceptional history has finally been realized.