33,000 Families with Special Need Children Receive Notice of Class Action

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An older article, but worthy of viewing:

Press Release

33,000 Families with Special Need Children Receive Notice of Class

Action

-Appeal Date September 12-13, 2006.

TORONTO/HUNTSVILLE – (September 7, 2006)

In what may be one of the largest campaigns of its kind in the

history of Ontario, over 33,000 families with special needs children

have been sent notices regarding the class action lawsuit Larcade v.

Ontario.

The lawsuit, brought by Anne Larcade and her son andre in 2001,

alleges that the Ontario Government was negligent and failed to meet

its legal obligation to provide services for severely disabled

children that ought to have been provided through Special Needs

Agreements. As a result of the Ontario Government's negligence,

families were forced to personally fund services for their children

and, in some cases, relinquish custody of their children to the

government in order to obtain life-saving services. The claim seeks

damages of $500 million for the Class.

The purpose of the Court ordered notification campaign is to identify

as many people as possible that may be entitled to participate in the

class action and to inform them of their legal rights regarding the

class action. While class members are automatically included in the

class action unless they specifically opt-out, the notice provides an

overview of the lawsuit and contact information should the class

members wish to contact class counsel.

Representative Plaintiff Anne Larcade is pleased that families with

special needs children have received the notices. " This is a key step

in this lawsuit. Most families do not know anything about their

rights or that Special Needs Agreements ever existed, " said

Larcade. " I hope this notification campaign begins to fix that. The

government needs to stop studying this problem and act immediately.

The families need Special Needs Agreements restored before more

disabled children fall into crisis. "

On May 26, 2005, the Ontario Ombudsman released a report addressing

the issue of parents being forced to relinquish the custody of their

special needs children in order to obtain necessary care. The report,

entitled Between a Rock and a Hard Place " , urged the Province to

remove the moratorium on funding for Special Needs Agreements and to

return the custody of special needs children to their parents.

Since June 2005, the government has taken steps to return the custody

of special needs children to their parents. However, the government

has not removed the moratorium and continues to refuse to enter into

any new Special Needs Agreements. A copy of the Ombudsman's report

may be obtained at www.reko.ca.

The Ombudsman's report estimated that there were approximately 300

families who were affected by the decision to eliminate Special Needs

Agreements. This is in contrast to the almost 33,000 families

identified by the Ontario government.

Anne Larcade is pleased with the notification campaign, but believes

that rather than spending resources fighting this class action, this

money would be better spent providing services to children.

" We are talking about families in crisis, whose children require 24-

hour care. Their circumstances were so difficult that they were

willing to give up custody of their children just to obtain services.

The money exists in the system. If the government can pay for these

children after custody is taken away, certainly it can fund their

care within the family or within a group home setting. These children

are some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Spending

government money to fight this case will not solve the problem or

make it go away " Said Larcade.

Certification & Appeal

In May 2005, the Ontario Divisional Court released its unanimous

decision certifying Larcade v. Ontario as a class proceeding.

The Ontario government has been granted leave to appeal the

Divisional Court's decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal. The

government's appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeal for Ontario

on September 12 and 13, 2006.

For more information contact:

Anne Larcade 705-787-7595 or alarcade@...

More information on this class action can be viewed on the web site

at: www.reko.ca.