The Children in Limbo Task Force started as a task force of the Sparrow Lake Alliance. The Alliance, founded by Dr. Paul Steinhauer in 1989, was a voluntary coalition of Ontario professionals who work with and for children. After over twenty years of activity it came to a close in 2012, but the Task Force is still vibrant and represents Dr. Steinhauer’s goal: to bring together people from all sectors and disciplines, who would inspire, support, teach and learn from each other, and who are committed to working towards ensuring a better life particularly for all of Ontario’s children, youth and families who are involved with child welfare.

Vision:

  • Every child is provided with accurate information so that they know their own story, understand what is happening to them and are able to participate in the decisions that impact upon them;
  • The Child Welfare system addresses the emotional trauma of children in their care by providing the resources that address children’s needs in the short and the long term;
  • Young people’s voices are heard though their active engaged in all of the processes that impact their care, including legislation, policies and practices;
  • Every young person is supported by the Child Welfare system until they are capable of successfully  coping within their community;
  • Best practices are developed, promoted and advanced in a manner that ensures that the needs of the child or adolescent is at the centre of all child welfare systems including the structures of each agency and their clinical practices and decision-making, including any interactions between the system and other agencies or individual providers.
  • Agencies and their professionals are provided with tools, resources and strategies that have been developed and/or evaluated by experts in the field, youth with a comprehensive understanding of the system and individuals who have cultural expertise, especially in the arenas of discrimination amongst our Indigenous peoples and the biological families living in poverty in our racialized communities.  

Mission:

  • The Children in Limbo Task Force, through its membership of individuals representing different disciplines and professions, work to improve the lives of children and youth in contact with, receiving services from, or in the care of the child welfare system.
  • The Task Force meets monthly to share ideas about how best to serve children and youth in contact with, receiving services from, or in the care of the child welfare system.
  • The Task Force functions as a think tank which engages in inclusive and respectful professional and public discourse in the form of written publications, conference papers and workshops, submissions regarding social policy, and meetings with other offices and individuals sharing the same goals.