within the last year, there have been 31,231 children in the care of ontario children’s aid societies (gacas, 2004). this represents a 65% increase in the number of children in care since the implementation of the ontario risk assessment model (oram) in 1998. collectively, children’s aid societies (cas) in ontario spent $1.085 billion net expenditures for the fiscal year 2003/2004. this would be a 100% increase in net expenditures since 1998-1999 (oacas, 2004). furthermore, cas protection workers received 157,883 referrals in 2003-2004. of these referrals, 73,190 were assessed but required no further investigation. the remaining 84,693 referrals resulted in investigations. there were 26,959 open protection cases as of march 30, 2004. in summary, this noticeable and dramatic increase in the number of children and families who have become involved with cas has affected the child welfare system as a whole. in order to ensure that all children and families continue to receive quality service delivery, there is a need to investigate the most appropriate means to train child protection workers.