An Ontario Homeschooling Member Family Story

by A. M., Ontario

Right before the Thanksgiving weekend, my husband and I received a call from a CAS social worker regarding an alleged parenting issue. Due to privacy concerns, she wasn’t able to give us more detail than that, but she booked a home visit for the following Tuesday.

We have never, ever received a call like that, and it left us confused and upset. I immediately called HSLDA for guidance, and Megen Zelinka, HSLDA’s legal counsel, called me within a few hours. Even though we didn’t have a lot of specific case details to go on, Megen took time to explain the usual process of a CAS investigation. Megen also guided us on how to respond in a calm and honest manner (both my husband and I were basket cases by then, over-analyzing all our parenting decisions of the previous decade).

It was very difficult to spend Thanksgiving weekend preparing for the home visit, but having HSLDA supporting us through the situation helped tremendously. By the time the CAS social worker arrived on our door, we were confident in our rights as parents and homeschoolers. It turned out to be a non-homeschooling issue, and after talking with us and our children, the CAS social worker determined that there were no serious concerns with our family. The case was closed shortly after that.
We are forever grateful to Megen and HSLDA for the support that they gave us during this difficult time. We had actually just joined HSLDA for the first time last year, and it was hands down the best decision we made last year.”

A.M., Ontario The content of this story has been printed verbatim by an HSLDA member who wishes to share her personal story while remaining anonymous. If you would like to let others know about how HSLDA has helped your homeschool during a time of crisis, please contact us.