Survey for youth, caregivers and families

About the Child, Youth and Family Services Act

The Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 is a law in Ontario. It sets out the rules for certain programs and services for children, youth and their families.

The law’s main purpose is to promote the best interests, protection and well-being of children and youth.

For the rest of this document, we’ll refer to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 as the act. Here are some examples of the child, youth and family services included under the act:

  • services for children with developmental or physical disabilities and their families
  • mental health services for children or their families
  • services that are related to out-of-home care (called residential care in the law) for children
  • services for children or their families who may need protection
  • services that are related to adoption
  • counselling for a child or for a child’s family
  • services that support children and families or help prevent child abuse and neglect
  • services and programs for young persons involved in the youth justice system

The act also recognizes First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples should be entitled to provide, wherever possible, their own child and family services. The act says that when services are provided to Indigenous peoples, the services must recognize their cultural traditions, heritage and connection to their community. This is called being “culturally responsive.”

All questions are optional

You do not need to answer all the questions. You can choose to answer only those that are important to you.

Get support if you need it

We understand that some of the topics can be hard to talk about. If you need to talk to someone, please reach out to the Kids Help Phone.

Please don’t share personal information

You can choose to email or mail us your feedback if you don’t want to use the online form. Your responses can be in writing or another format like a drawing or voice recording. Find out how to email or mail us your feedback.

While we are not asking you to give us any information about yourself or others that would identify you or someone else (also known as “personal information”), if you choose to share personal information with us, it will be collected as permitted by s.283(1) of the act and s.38(2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.F.31, as part of the activities related to the review of the act. If you have questions about how your personal information will be collected and used, you can contact Aly N. Alibhai, Director, Child, Youth and Family Service Act Review Project.

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