Ontario’s Plan To End Contentious ‘Birth Alerts’ Is Just A Start, Experts say – HuffPost Canada
Ontario will join Manitoba and B.C. in putting an end to the use of birth alerts.
Ontario is putting an end to the use of “birth alerts,” the practice of children’s aid societies alerting a hospital if they believe a newborn baby may need protection, by October.
The province says the alerts disproportionately impact Indigenous and racialized families.
Birth alerts are not legislated in Ontario, the province said in a news release, and have been used “inconsistently” by children’s aid societies. The province’s new approach will include collaboration from families, community partners and service providers to “ensure more families stay together.”
Manitoba ended the practice of issuing birth alerts earlier this year, while British Columbia moved to ban them in September 2019.
Read More: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ontario-birth-alerts-stop_ca_5f0e130ac5b648c301f0959a
