What is an Answer and Plan of Care in my child protection case?

An Answer and Plan of Care is a form you fill out to respond to the concerns a Children’s Aid Society (CAS) raises in their protection application.  You tell the court how you plan to care for your child. It’s also known as Form 33B.1.

In your plan, you want the court to see that you can properly care for your child. You should include information such as:

• where your child will live
• who will take care of your child
• why you think this plan is in the best interests of the child

You can ask CAS for support in your plan and say you’re willing to work with CAS. Your plan can also say what you will do about the things CAS is concerned about so that your child will be safe and taken care of. 

It’s best to get a lawyer to help you fill out your Answer and Plan of Care.

If you agree with what CAS is asking the court for, you don’t need to fill out an Answer and Plan of Care, but it may still be a good idea to fill one out for the court file. You should tell CAS if you agree to what they’re asking for. For example, you might agree to place your child in society care for a certain period of time, followed by a supervision order.

Deadline

After you get a protection application from CAS, you usually have 30 days to fill out, serve, and file your Form 33B.1: Answer and Plan of Care.

You have more time if you were served outside of Canada and the US. You get 60 days.

Rule 3: Time tells you how to count time or days. If you need help counting time, you can ask the court clerk for help.