1. Learn about who can apply and when
Question & Answer
What happens at a status review in my child protection case?There are rules about who can ask for a status review and when they can ask.
Children Aid’s Society
Most of the time, the (CAS) must ask for a status review before the current order ends. But they don’t have to do this if the order is going to end because the child turns 18 or marries.
But CAS can also ask for a status review earlier. They can do this any time before your current ends. They might do this if they think your child’s needs have changed and aren’t being met by the current order.
If your current order is a and CAS took your child from you because it was concerned about your child, CAS must apply for a status review within 5 days of taking your child.
A parent, the child, or someone else
Besides CAS, any of these people can apply for a status review:
- the child’s parents
- the child, if they are at least 12 years old
- the person a supervision order says has to care for the child
- the person who has of the child
- the child’s foster parents, if the child has lived with them for at least 2 years straight
- a representative from the child’s Band or First Nation, Inuk, or Métis community
If the child has lived with a foster parent or another caregiver who has had custody for at least 2 years, the child’s parent first needs to get permission from the court to ask for a status review.
A parent and anyone who can apply for a status review can ask for one only if at least 6 months have passed after any of the following:
- The court made a supervision order or an order that placed the child into CAS care.
- The last status review was decided.
- An from one of the above orders was decided or abandoned.
You can apply for a status review earlier if:
- a major part of the plan for your child’s care isn’t being followed, and
- the court relied on that plan when it made its earlier decision.
When a child is placed for adoption
No one can ask for a status review if your child was:
- placed in and
- also placed in someone’s home for the purposes of adoption and they still live there.
Even CAS can’t ask for a status review in this situation.
