Kelso, John Joseph

John Joseph Kelso (March 31, 1864–September 30, 1935) was a young journalist when he became involved in child welfare in his adopted home of Toronto. He was instrumental in the passage of the first child protection legislation in Canada, and in spreading the need for voluntary children’s aid societies across Ontario and for similar legislation across Canada. He became superintendent of child welfare in 1893 and remained in that post for 40 years, shaping the development of the child welfare system in Ontario and Canada.

Examining How the Mental Health Needs of Children Who Have Experienced Maltreatment are Addressed within Ontario Children’s Aid Societies

American data suggest that there is often a lack of mental health service provision to children in the child welfare system that have experienced maltreatment and are exhibiting psychological difficulties. These data are concerning given that the existing literature unanimously concludes that children who have experienced maltreatment present with significantly higher rates of mental health difficulties than general samples of children in the community. Given that little Canadian research has been conducted in this area, this study examined the need identification and referral process made to mental health services by Ontario Children’s Aid Societies (CAS) for children who have experienced maltreatment. Findings indicate a high prevalence of mental health difficulties in this population and a limited standardized approach to the identification and assessment of these issues. It was found that the majority of children who do receive referrals to mental health services are referred to community-based psychologists. Findings regarding the tracking of community referrals and interagency collaboration were encouraging as compared to American data.