Senior Leadership Team

Message from the Executive Director

Welcome and thank you for visiting our website.

Child and Family Services of Grand Erie (CFS GE) is proud of our long-standing relationships with those living within the communities we serve – City of Brantford, Counties of Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN). While we serve culturally and geographically diverse communities, in both rural and urban settings, our commitment to providing excellent service to all never waivers. It is hoped that this amalgamation of two of the earliest child protection agencies in Ontario – The Children’s Aid Society of Brant (1894) operating as Brant Family and Children’s Services, and The Children’s Aid Society of Haldimand and Norfolk (Haldimand – 1896, Norfolk – 1907, and subsequent amalgamation – 1994)  – into our new agency Child and Family Services of Grand Erie on April 1, 2022 will provide a more solid foundation for future sustainability and service excellence, building on philosophies and service partner working relationships established over 50 years ago.

Our service delivery model is predicated on working in a fulsome way with families, young people, and their extended community, in a culturally relevant manner, that supports the well-being of family and the overall safety of young people. We recognize that child welfare is a shared responsibility with the community and we aim to collaborate with community service partners to achieve an integrated service approach. Although this has been a challenge throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, early help and a belief that children should always remain with family unless there is a safety issue that cannot be addressed through kinship and other support remains at the forefront of all decisions.  We hope to continue building on past successes and believe in continuous learning as a way of ensuring services remain relevant and responsive.

Our new agency service model allows us to continue and expand on practices initiated in 1987, where teams of Indigenous workers provide services in a culturally appropriate manner to meet the needs and values of the Indigenous children and families we serve, including the MCFN community, Indigenous people living off Reserve in Haldimand and Norfolk Counties, and non-Six Nations band members living in Brant County.

We hope that you find our website informative and easy to navigate. Should you have any questions or concerns about our philosophy and/or services, we’d be happy to speak with you.  Together, we can improve the well-being of children and youth in our communities by protecting children, empowering families and strengthening the community as a whole.

Sally Johnson
Executive Director

Senior Leadership Team

The CFS GE Senior Leadership Team is comprised of our Executive Director, a Director of Finance, a Director of Human Resources, a Director of Information Technology, and three Directors of Service, including Indigenous Services.  Combined, the three Directors of Service have over 70 years of service working with children’s aid societies.  Together they support teams of managers, support staff and frontline workers who work diligently to support and strengthen families, and the safety and well-being of children and youth in our communities.

Sally Johnson, Executive Director

Ms. Johnson brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the area of child welfare in Ontario.  She holds a Bachelor of Science, Mathematics from McMaster University, has completed the Executive Leadership Program at the Ivey School of Business at Western University in 2007 and is currently studying to complete her Masters of Public Administration at Western University.   Ms. Johnson served for 15 years with the (former) Ministries of Children and Youth Services and Community and Social Services, leading and developing various child welfare transformational policy changes, including as the Project Lead overseeing the amalgamation of children’s aid societies in Ontario between 2011 and 2014.  She then joined the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies as the Director of Government & Stakeholder Relations and Child Welfare Service Excellence, where she spearheaded a number of continuous improvement initiatives, including as the executive sponsor for an initiative aimed at reducing disproportionality and disparity for African Canadian families involved with the child protection system.  Ms. Johnson accepted the role of Ministry Appointed Supervisor for Brant FACS in July 2020 and then Executive Director in July 2021.   Prior to the Brant FACS amalgamation with the Children’s Aid Society of Haldimand and Norfolk, Sally was named Executive Director for the two agencies and is currently serving as Executive Director of the newly amalgamated agency Child and Family Services of Grand Erie.

Ms. Johnson has dedicated her career to the child protection program, always with the goal of improving outcomes for vulnerable children, youth and families, and has worked closely with Indigenous partners, in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation.