The London and Middlesex Children’s Aid Society announced a large cut to staff Friday - affecting close to 30 workers.
Karen Cudmore, president of OPSEU Local 116, which represents 400 unionized employees there, says the London CAS is the hardest hit in the province.
"I understand that the government's under huge pressure to balance the books and cut spending, but it's not helpful to cut the most vulnerable and Children’s Aids cannot control the number of children that come into care.”
She says 15 and a half full-time positions are cut and 11 part-time child and youth worker positions are being eliminated.
Changes to the funding formula by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, along with a balanced budget provision, mean a $4.6 million cut to the agency's $71 million budget.
At this time, no front-line child protection positions are being impacted, but the agency will have to cut another $2 million every year for the next four years in order to reach a balanced budget.
Cudmore says the province isn't considering the demands London's high unemployment numbers are putting on the community.
“We can't control the number of abuse investigations that we do, or the number of files we have open. We can't say, 'Sorry this month we can't do any abuse investigations because we've run out of money.'"
