In 2009, the Ontario Minister of Children and Youth Services established the Commission to Promote Sustainable Child Welfare. One of the commission’s strategies was to identify principles and concepts to "implement a new approach to accountability and system management." Performance indicators were one of the mechanisms put forward by the commission to measure service performance in the outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families on a provincial level.
The child welfare sector has lead the work of the Performance Indicator Project which began in April 2013. The impact of the project and results will continue to grow as the data and analysis develops over the next decade.
Through the implementation of a provincial performance measurement and management system, Children Aid Societies (CASs) have taken an important step to enhance their accountability and their commitment to better outcomes for the children, youth and families they serve. The goal of this system and the reporting of performance indicators is to support effective organizational planning, oversight, and to generate increased knowledge aimed at improving services as well as monitoring and reporting outcomes.
Through the system and analysis of performance indicators, the child welfare sector will be able to answer the following strategic questions:
- What is important about the work that a CAS does?
- How can we better understand the impact services are having on the safety, permanence and well-being of the children, youth and families being served?
- How well is an agency serving children and families?
- How likely is an agency to continue to improve?
View North Eastern Ontario Family and Children's Services Performance Indicators - March 2019
Full backgrounder on Child Welfare Performance Indicators
Performance Indicators Project, General Questions and Answers