3:29 Ont. family behind luxury vacation rentals and allegedly run-down group homes Ont. family behind luxury vacation rentals and supposedly derelict group homes
In one house, the rotten ceiling fell to the floor.
In another, 2x4s were erected around a toddler’s crib to prevent escape.
Electrical outlets come loose from the wall. Smelly sheets. Water damaged walls. Mouse droppings in kitchen drawers. Rusty bathtub and rotten wooden stairs.
These are snapshots of life at Connor Homes, according to images provided by former workers and inspection reports across Ontario. For more than 45 years, the company has been a major player in the world of private foster families and group homes.
Interior images of youth residences owned by Connor Homes in Eastern Ontario. (Delivered)
But interviews with more than two dozen former workers, child protection experts, ministry documents and court documents tell the story of a private company that some former employees say put profits over caring for vulnerable children. Group and foster home experts also cited the company’s troubled history, which included a fire at one of its residences in 2017 that killed two people.
An investigation by Global News and APTN revealed that the key players behind Connor Homes, Bob Connor and his son Sean, have amassed real estate assets under their own names and through their companies that are estimated to be over $10 million.
The investigation found the company was also accused of failing to report serious incidents at its homes, receiving poor inspection results and recently surrendering its foster care license. Previously, Connor Homes’ license was successively renewed for its first four decades of operation.
It’s also a cautionary tale of how Ontario’s child welfare system allowed a private operator with a history of regulatory problems to continue operating. Global News and APTN are not identifying the locations of the group homes due to privacy concerns for children in care.
There are about 100 private operators in the province.
“These [Connor] the homes I saw were in terrible condition,” said a former worker, who Global News did not identify because of the worker’s fear of reprisals.
“The roofs were disgusting. The electricity doesn’t work, the water doesn’t work properly, the air and heat don’t work properly.
“This happened regularly.”
In Ontario, children’s aid societies are responsible for investigating reports of child abuse or neglect and, when necessary, taking steps to protect them. They can also take responsibility for children who prove too challenging for their parents.
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If a bed cannot be found for a child in its own network of foster homes, the Children’s Aid Society can turn to a private company such as Connor Homes. These companies are part of a $1.8 billion ecosystem providing child protection services in the province, according to the province’s most recent figures.
In some cases, former staff say Connor Homes will keep children as long as possible because of the “price tag” attached to them. The province funds children’s aid societies, which in turn pay all private operators where they place children.
Fewer children may mean less income.
Interviews with former workers and documents obtained by Global News and APTN raise allegations of hardship at Connor’s group homes: limited food budgets, little money for recreational activities or Christmas gifts, crumbling infrastructure and low staff wages.
The Connors also own another business. And it looks very different.
The investigation revealed a collection of luxury vacation rentals owned by the Conner family — primarily Bob Conner and his wife — through a separate entity called Windswept.
The company operates three bed and breakfasts and rents four country cottages near Campbellford, Ontario. — about a two-hour drive east of Toronto.
Images on its website show pristine plots and cabins overlooking the River Trent. Some rentals include spectacular waterfront views, boat docks, king-size beds, and jetted tubs. One bed and breakfast advertises a themed room with “exotic African” decor and en-suite showers with heated towel rails.
Another is housed on a private island that vacationers can fly to in their seaplanes.
Using property and corporate records, Global News was able to identify at least 18 properties owned by Bob or Sean Connor or through company number 511825 Ontario Inc., which lists Bob Connor and his wife as directors. Properties include group and foster homes as well as vacation rentals.
A Global News and APTN analysis using market value assessments and property tax assessments from the Ontario Municipal Property Valuation Corporation shows those properties have an estimated value of more than $10.5 million.
When reporters reached him at a home in eastern Ontario, Bob Connor refused to come to the door. His son Sean also declined interview requests and did not respond to specific questions related to the allegations about Connor Homes’ residences, citing “privacy” concerns.
The children in the company’s care are “supported with a treatment plan, weekly check-ups and overall support from a multidisciplinary team including a social worker, psychotherapist, psychologist and therapist,” he said in a follow-up statement to Global News.
“Our assessment process was created by Connor Homes and has been approved by the Ministry,” he said. “Connor Homes’ operations ultimately strive to exceed statutory minimum regulatory standards.”
Life at Connor Homes
Connor Homes operated both a foster care agency that managed foster parents and several group homes around eastern Ontario where children lived in communal settings with shift workers.
At one time, Connor Homes had more than 130 beds across the province in approximately 40 group and foster homes, but now operates just three residences with room for up to 20 children.
Children in the care of Connor Homes were often treated as a source of income, according to workers who spoke to Global News and APTN.
READ MORE: Inside Ontario’s child welfare system, where children are a ‘commodity’
Former employees say the children lived in residences with damaged roofs, rotting floorboards and broken windows that the company was slow to repair — even in the winter.
“I thought it was disgusting,” said one former worker, who agreed to speak anonymously for fear of retaliation. “They have this beautiful business on one side and then [no] money on the other side.”
“[Kids] I felt like they were just there to pay people’s salaries.”
For each child placed in its group homes, Connor Homes receives publicly funded per diems of between $193 and $213, according to internal documents obtained by Global News/APTN. One child can equal more than $77,000 a year. Children with more complex mental health needs charge higher daily rates.
A contract for the Connor Homes foster care agency, obtained by Global News/APTN, showed that a local supervisor is paid $10 a day for each child placed in a home they oversee. They could also receive a $10-a-day commission for each child placed “in a home the supervisor opened,” even if they were not responsible for supervising the child —an incentive to hire more foster parents.
Image showing 2018 Connor Homes contract (Supplied)
Experts say private companies such as Connor Homes can negotiate higher daily rates directly with a children’s aid society or local welfare society.
“Before you know it, it’s $500, $700, sometimes — I’m not exaggerating — $1,200 per bed per day,” said Kiaras Garabaghi, dean of Toronto Metropolitan University’s faculty of public services.
“It’s quite something that we accept this,” Garabaghi said.
“The money being exchanged is huge. There are people who become very, very rich.
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Insiders familiar with the operations of Connor Homes say they were also concerned that the money was not always reaching the children.
Curtailment of home repairs, limited funds for field trips and children going to school with supplies in “grocery bags” instead of backpacks were among the accusations made by workers or contained in company documents reviewed by Global News.
Staff described feeling disgusted at how they were taken to study in “posh” properties used by Connors’ holiday rental company, yet the children live in homes that are falling apart.
“The management was terrible. They were just interested in the money, not the children,” the former employee said.
Preparation for inspections
Despite the sensitive nature of caring for vulnerable children, there is little oversight of group homes by Ontario’s Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS).
The ministry has the ability to conduct unannounced inspections of licensed group homes and foster care agencies — and says it conducted 100 such inspections in 2020-2021. There are 303 group homes and 121 foster care agencies in Ontario with an unknown number of foster homes. according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
But former Connor workers said managers were often aware of impending ministry visits and staff…
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