Children’s Services is the Government of Alberta office responsible for keeping children safe. They get involved when they believe children are not safe with or are being neglected by their parents or guardians. Children’s Services can impose various conditions on a parent or guardian as well as remove a child from their home and place them in another home temporarily.
If you or a child is in immediate danger, call 911. To confidentially report a child in need of protection but who is not in immediate danger, call the Child Abuse Hotline at 1.800.387.5437.
On this page, “parent” refers to both parents and guardians.
Need to know
- Children’s Services is the Government of Alberta office responsible for keeping children in the province safe.
- Children’s Services investigates reports of child abuse and neglect.
- Any person who reasonably believes a child needs intervention has a legal duty to report their concerns to the police or Children’s Services.
- If Children’s Services believes a child is unsafe or neglected at home, they can temporarily place the child with a kinship caregiver or foster homefoster home A temporary place where a child can live when they can’t stay with their own families. In Alberta, foster homes are approved and regulated by the government..
- Children’s Services gets it authority from the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, also known as the CYFEA.
What is Children’s Services
Children’s Services is a government ministry responsible for keeping children safe in Alberta. They must follow Alberta’s Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, or CYFEA for short.
If Children’s Services believes a child is being abused or neglected or is not safe in their parents’ care, they can take the child from their home. Children’s Services then temporarily places the child somewhere else, such as with a kinship caregiver or a foster homefoster home A temporary place where a child can live when they can’t stay with their own families. In Alberta, foster homes are approved and regulated by the government.. The child stays in this other place until Children’s Services agrees they can return home or approves a different, permanent home.
Cases where Children’s Services is involved are known are child welfare or child protection cases.
When Children’s Services gets involved
Children’s Services gets involved with a family if they receive a report that a child may be abused or neglected.
These reports commonly include situations where:
- a parent or guardian has abandoned or lost the child
- a child’s guardian has died and the child has no other guardians
- a parent or guardian is using drugs or alcohol and the child is in danger or being abused or neglected
- a parent or guardian is neglecting a child, such as by not providing them with food, clothing, shelter, care or medical treatment
- a parent or guardian is physically or sexually harming a child, or there is a serious risk of this happening
- a parent or child is emotionally harming the child, such as by rejecting them or not showing them affection
- a parent or guardian cannot or will not protect the child from someone else harming the child
If the child is Indigenous
The CYFEA says it is important to respect, support and preserve a child’s Indigenous identity, culture, heritage, spirituality, language and traditions. Accomplishing this goal may mean placing the child with an Indigenous kinship caregiver if they are removed from their parents’ care.
If you are Indigenous and would like to be a caregiver for an Indigenous child who cannot stay at home, visit the Government of Alberta’s Indigenous caregivers webpage.
Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA) also offers free help with court processes for Indigenous community members.
Who should contact Children’s Services
Anyone who reasonably believes a child is in danger has a legal duty to report their concerns to the police or Children’s Services. This includes the child’s family members, friends, teachers or anyone who witnesses unsafe behaviour.
A person who does not report that a child may be in danger can be charged with a criminal offence. The penalty can be a fine of up to $10,000, a jail term of up to six months, or both.
A person who makes a report about a child to Children’s Services or the police can be held responsible if they make a malicious or unfounded report about a child in danger. If a person makes a report in good faith, they will not be held responsible if their report turns out to be false.
To learn the signs of child abuse or neglect, how to respond if a child tells you they are being abused or neglected and what information to provide when you make a report, visit the Government of Alberta’s website.
What Children’s Services can do
When Children’s Services receives a report that a child is being abused or neglected, the first thing they must do is investigate to determine if the accusation is true. Based on their findings, they can take any of the following actions.
After an investigation, Children’s Services may find that one parent is abusive but the other is not. They can create a family safety plan with the non-abusive parent to keep the child safe while at home with the non-abusive parent. Children’s Services can also suggest the non-abusive parent get a parenting order.
Children’s Services can make an agreement with a child’s guardian that says Children’s Services will provide services to the family so the child can stay at home. Services can include finding counselling or financial help. These agreements help the child stay at home even if they need intervention to stay safe.
Children’s Services can ask the court for a supervision order that requires Children’s Services to supervise the child so the child can stay at home. The order can set out how often Children’s Services will visit the home as well as any assessments or treatments the child or person in the home must complete.
After an investigation, Children’s Services can choose to remove a child from their home and temporarily place them in another home, such as with a kinship caregiver or in a foster homefoster home A temporary place where a child can live when they can’t stay with their own families. In Alberta, foster homes are approved and regulated by the government.. This is known as apprehending the child.
Children’s Services can make an agreement with a child’s guardian that says Children’s Services will care for the child for up to six months. The child will stay with a kinship caregiver or in a foster homefoster home A temporary place where a child can live when they can’t stay with their own families. In Alberta, foster homes are approved and regulated by the government., and Children’s Services has authority to make decisions for the child like a guardian would.
Children’s Services only makes these agreements if it believes the guardian cannot properly protect the child’s safety, security or development. These agreements can be renewed for another six months if need be or become permanent.
If Children’s Services applies for a TGO or PGO for a child, it must also ask the court for an initial custody order. The court can order that either Children’s Services or the child’s parent have care of and make decisions for the child until the TGO or PGO hearing.
Children’s Services can ask the court for a temporary guardianship order that names Children’s Services as a temporary joint guardian of the child. This means the child’s guardian must make all decisions about the child with Children’s Services.
The order usually says when the temporary guardianship expires or when the court will review the order. The court makes these orders when Children’s Services believes the child can go back to living with the guardian within a reasonable time.
Children’s Services can ask the court for a permanent guardianship order that names Children’s Services as the child’s guardian. This means the previous guardian can no longer care for the child nor make decisions for them. Children’s Services can then allow someone else to adopt the child.
The court makes these orders when Children’s Services does not believe the child can go back to live with the guardian within a reasonable time. This usually happens when a temporary guardianship order expires but the child’s guardian cannot resume caring for the child.
The court can end a PGO if the guardian is able to care for the child again and the child has not been adopted by someone else.
If Children’s Services has custody of the child under a custody agreement or is the child’s guardian under a TGO or PGO, another adult can ask the court for a private guardianship order naming them as a child’s guardian. These orders often limit or take away rights from other guardians.
Children’s Services can agree to a private guardianship order if it believes it is in the child’s best interests for the adult to become the child’s guardian. The court can also make a private guardianship order without the agreement of Children’s Services.
More info on navigating Alberta’s Children’s Services
Native Counselling Services of Alberta and the Ministry of Children’s Services have created a series of eight maps about navigating Children’s Services. These maps can help a guardian, caregiver, caseworker or other professional understand where they are in “the system” and where to go next. Download the PDF maps.
If you disagree with Children’s Services’ decision
There are three steps you should take first:
- Talk to your caseworker. Ask them why Children’s Services made the decision and share why you disagree with it. Try to reach an agreement.
- If you and your caseworker cannot come to an agreement, talk to their supervisor. Try to reach an agreement with the supervisor.
- If you and your caseworker’s supervisor cannot come to an agreement, talk to the supervisor’s manager. Try to reach an agreement with the manager.
If you cannot reach an agreement with the manager, explore other formal options to resolve the issue. These include:
- family group conferencing
- mediation
- administrative review of the decision, which you must request in writing within 30 days of the decision being made
- an appeal to an appeal panel, which is a panel of community members who don’t work for Children’s Services
- judicial dispute resolution
- talking to the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate if you believe Children’s Services is not considering your child’s rights and interests
Learn more about how to resolve disputes with Children’s Services on the Government of Alberta’s website.
Potential issues
You do not think your child’s best interests are being considered.
You can contact the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. This office is independent of government and provides legal representation for young people receiving child intervention services, among other services.
You want to learn more about why Children’s Services is involved with your family.
If you are the child’s guardian, you can ask Children’s Services to see their file. They must show you what information they have in their file except for anything that identifies who made the report to Children’s Services and any other non-guardians involved.
Your first language is not English or French.
When dealing with Children’s Services, you can ask the government to provide a translator. Doing so helps to make sure you fully understand what is going on with your case.
The abusive parent is not following the family safety plan.
Ask Children’s Services for a letter that lays out the plan you and the other parent must follow so Children’s Services does not apprehend the children. If you have to go to court to get or change a parenting order, ask a Children’s Services worker to come with you.
Explore related topics
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Overview of who are a child’s parents and guardians.
The best interests of the child principle
Factors to look at when making decisions about a child.
When one parent needs supervision
Overview of what supervised parenting is and how it works.
What to do about family violence
Overview of what family violence is and helpful legal tools.