Advocacy BC

Social Workers Acknowledged in the BC Legislature

2011-11-26T10:13:00.001-08:00

Private Member Statement by MLA Claire Trevena

Hansard Debates, Nov. 14, 2011.

C. Trevena: When we talk about front-line workers, perhaps none are quite so front line as social workers. These are the people in our communities each day trying to make life a little better for individuals and for families. These are the people who have to deal with some of the aspects of life that many feel are impossible. Daily they are working with families who may be struggling with children and youth who are facing hardship.

Without even thinking about it, we as a society expect that they'll be there to help or to pick up the pieces. Without knowing the system, many people expect that there are social workers, active and busy, where now they have been replaced by call centre operators.

The social workers work with young and old, with the sick, with the healthy. Their services are not driven by income, although it is too often the poorest in society who need them the most.

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Social workers have the horrible job of apprehending children, taking them away from their families for the child's safety. They have the job of working with teens who are trying to establish themselves independently. They're there for people with mental illness. They are the people who try to assist people to pick up the pieces. But far too often, they are themselves lost in the system.

You might find, Madam Speaker, that it is strange to describe these people — these professionals who work according to a professional code of ethics, who have professional standards of practice — as lost. But I do choose my words carefully. They are lost because their work, while absolutely necessary for our society and for our communities, goes unnoticed by too many in management. They are lost because their voices are often not being heard, sadly, until it is too late.

Social workers deal with fragile lives, many fragile lives, and their workload is extraordinary and very troubling. I am the critic for Children and Families, so I'll confine my remarks largely to the work reflected by that ministry, not the workloads of the social workers who are working with seniors or within the health care system, although they have very valuable work that they do too. But I raise this today in my private members' statement because I find it very troubling that the average caseload for a social worker who is working with children and youth with special needs is 150. That's 150 children and young people.

I've talked to some social workers whose caseload is 400. There are 365 days a year. There are weekends, and social workers are entitled to time off. There is no way that they could see every person, every young person on their caseload. Even with 150 — the average — it'd be impossible to visit everyone, let alone keep on top of what the concerns and problems are for each single child and young person.

Not every single child or youth on a social worker's caseload is in need of active intervention. Many have strong supportive families and other networks, but caseloads such as these do not allow social workers to assess the problems, to make an honest and fair judgment of those needs. Children and youth with special needs…. Special needs is not a designation given lightly. Those children need significant help to survive our very complex world.

For instance, having fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not enough, unless there are other proven developmental disabilities. Physical disabilities have to be severe, and if they need significant help, so do their families. The social worker is supposed to be there to help them to navigate the system. But how can they, if there are 149 other children and young people also making demands?

I do not exaggerate when I say that this is a crisis waiting to happen. For all the goodwill in the world, for all the ethical practice and professional standards and simple hard work, no individual can keep up with a caseload that is the average for social workers in B.C. That means that a child or children are likely to fall through the cracks.

It happened recently when a young girl with Down syndrome was left alone with her dead mother. The social worker caseload was cited as a contributing factor. That should have been a wake-up call, but the conversations I've had with social workers have come after that incident, and they say that their caseload is simply unmanageable. When it's raised with management, they are told that they are in line with the rest of the province.

There appears to be, however, no real sense of what a social worker caseload is within the management hierarchy. I've tried to find out how busy they are through official lines, and it's the sort of thing you'd expect to be tracked — that a management system would know what their staff is doing, what they're facing on an aggregate and on a daily basis. Several months after my request, I'm still waiting for an answer.

Of course, one would expect the numbers to vary depending on the different areas being dealt with — for instance, child protection, literally looking after the safety of kids. You'd think that those numbers would be kept down. Compared to the numbers dealing with children and youth with special needs, they are low, but they're still, in many instances, quite frighteningly high.

One person I talked to had a caseload of 50 families. These are 50 families in distress, who are in need of intervention. Another social worker said that things in her office only changed when there was a child death. This isn't a way to manage social services. It's not the way to manage child welfare. I think it's quite terrifying to think that the only way change will happen is for a child to die, but it seems that this is the sorry answer that we have.

In child and youth mental health, the situation is similar. For child and youth, death in these instances is sadly too often suicide.

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About a year ago I raised concerns in my constituency of North Island where there was a wait-list of 60 who needed child and youth mental health assistance. It's a scary number. That was started to be tackled, but now the pressure on the social workers has become so intense that there are now only two workers to deal with a caseload meant for six.

I repeat that we do have a crisis waiting to happen. It's a preventable crisis.

Social services is about prevention as well as trying to fix problems, as well as about intervention. At the very core of prevention, the front-line workers, the people who can make that prevention happen, are facing huge pressures. Shortcuts are being made, and we need to see ways that we can tackle this to ensure that a crisis doesn't occur.

When a death occurs, we deal with that. We prevent that, and we see what we can do to prevent that crisis and make sure that the next stage doesn't happen.

In a report published last year by the Federation of B.C. Youth in Care Networks, it asked young people who are and who have been in care — so they've had a lot of dealings with social workers — to describe some of the problems in achieving permanency. Permanency is obviously a goal that is trying to be achieved for young people in care — that there is a permanent connection there.

One of the answers that these young people came up with who have been dealing with this is that social worker caseloads are too big. That's causing problems for young people who are in care to achieve that permanency. They are finding that social workers simply do not have the time to deal with their specific personal needs, and that's a huge sadness.

A better resource, Madam Speaker, is our people. We can and should invest in them at all levels. We should be making that investment in our social workers too.

Investing in Social Infrastructure: Strategic & Effective Public Policy

2011-10-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've come across some excellent articles and ideas I wanted to pass along. It's so frustrating to me that governments and other stakeholders don't understand that investing and strengthening the social infrastructure has so many benefits. There are so many people who are on the tipping point from a socio-economic perspective right now. We need to move fast to stop the increasing numbers of people who are being pulled down by the undertow.

When governments strategically and adequately fund social, health and community services it benefits the recipients of those services directly by improving their quality of life, stability. participation in the labour market and other activities which benefit society.

We can't seem to get past the old school idea of infrastructure jobs as being building roads, bridges and structures. Those are important jobs and definitely contribute to our society but it is time to recognize that jobs in the social, health and community sector are of equal importance for a many reasons. One of those is the intrinsic gains and benefits to recipients, their families and communities. Another is the economic benefits of the jobs in these sectors in local communities and the larger economy of the province.

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Watch the video:
Baby boomers retire rich, young couples with kids stuck in economic squeeze: report

SASKATOON - A Canadian research institute says babyboomers are retiring as the wealthiest generation in history while couples with young children are stuck in an economic squeeze.

The Human Early Learning Partnership at the University of British Columbia released a report Tuesday calling on federal and provincial governments to spend $22 billion on social programs to fix a declining standard of living for young families.

It recommends funding a system that prevents parents from spending more than $10 a day on child care and allows for 18-month parental leaves from work.

Public policy professor Paul Kershaw, a self-professed crusader for families, released the findings in Saskatoon with colleagues from the University of Saskatchewan. He said he wants the report to be part of the Nov. 7 provincial election debate in Saskatchewan.

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New deal needed for Canadian families: report

Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenixOctober 18, 2011

Canada needs a "New Deal for Families" to solve the enormous social and economic upheaval caused by soaring housing costs, creators of a study released Tuesday at the University of Saskatchewan say.

The generation raising children today has less money and time than Baby Boomers, despite a doubling of the Canadian economy since 1976, said Paul Kershaw, a family policy expert from the University of British Columbia.

The lack of time for children is showing up in a growing number of kindergarten pupils who are not ready for school. One in three are not ready in areas of social, emotional, and physical health or language and communications skills, Muhajarine said.

The solution is a "New Deal for Families," built on three major public policy changes, Kershaw argues.

The New Deal includes:

extending benefits for new parents to 18 months from 12 for all single and dual earner households, including self-employed and unemployed parents and should provide a minimum benefit that would eliminate poverty for families with children under 18 months, he said.
providing $10 per day childcare and finally, promoting flextime to help employees combine work and family, making them more productive while at work.
providing incentives for employers to limit work weeks to 35 hours.

The status quo is costing the Canadian business community $4 billion per year, according to estimates reached by researchers in collaboration with British Columbia chartered accountants.

Kershaw believes the plan would control health care expenditures, control crime, reduce education spending and prepare a labour force that will be more job-ready when they graduate because they’re more school-ready at the outset.

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Fast Facts for a New Deal

Paul Kershaw.

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The business community gets it, why not governments?

Kids 'N Crime: Economic Aspects of the Development and Prevention of Criminality among Children and Youth (PDF) September 13, 2010

Vancouver Board of Trade (VBOT)

Homelessness Action Week - October 10 – 16, 2011.

2011-10-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

Povertyis a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction.Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction. – Dennis Kucinich

Starting today is a most important week of note, the week to StopHomelessness in Metro Vancouver. Hmm, maybe we can aim higher than that.

Find out more information here:

Learn more about the root causes of homelessness and about the solutions.

Volunteer at an event in your community.

In 2010, the Unionof BC Municipalities (UBCM) passed a resolution calling on the province to adopt acomprehensive poverty reduction plan.

BC has led Canada in child poverty for 8 years in a row and the BC government is holding fast on not creating a poverty reduction plan.

Advocates and service organizations report there's been a "dramatic" increase in the number of women and children relying on the Union Gospel Mission for their meals. "The line-up was down the alley and around the block as hundreds more people than expected turned out for Thanksgiving dinner on Vancouver's downtown eastside."

As we head into municipal elections in November 2011, we can all do our part by asking candidates and parties what they plan to do to reduce/eliminate homelessness in our communities. There has been enough talk, it's time for action.

Here are some additional links:

BC POVERTY REDUCTION COALITION

Video: What is Poverty Costing Us in BC?

SHARE Share the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd_nkCi-pVo

LEARN Read the report at http://www.policyalternatives.ca/costofpovertybc

TAKE ACTION Look up your MLA using the MLA Finder at http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm and call, email, or visit their office (report in hand) to tell them that the cost of poverty is too high. Contact them while they’re in their home constituencies over the summer and let them know we want to see a poverty reduction plan in their party’s platform ahead of the next election.

TAKE MORE ACTION Join the call for a poverty reduction plan for BC, and get even more ideas from our Take Action page.

Government holds fast against provincial anti-poverty plan
Katie Hyslop September 29, 2011, TheTyee.ca

"We don't have a plan. We have a number of programs, some of them work, some don't, but if we had a plan we wouldn't see children living in deep, intergenerational poverty," Turpel-Lafond says, referring to the call for a provincial poverty reduction plan. B.C. is one of only three provinces that has resisted implementing a poverty reduction plan.

"Mom Dead, Mom Sleeping": Systemic Failure Hurts Children & Erodes their Human Rights

2011-06-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

“This child led a life that was impoverished in every sense of the word”
- Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond - Representative for Children & Youth

Systemic neglect simply does not get worse than what happened to the 15 year old girl with Downs Syndrome who was left with her, impoverished mother, who died, while this vulnerable, completely dependent young woman was left with her mother's dead body for over a week.

The title of this blog post are the only words and voice this girl was able to have in all of this. This blog post is dedicated to her and to her brothers, who tried to get her help and were ignored and to their mother, whose life was filled with so much pain and isolation. No-one should ever have to bear so many challenges alone.

BC's Representative for Children & Youth has released a special report on this situation, entitled, Isolated and Invisible: When children with special needs are seen but not seen examining the child and family involvement with MCFD and how such a tragedy could happen in BC.

This is a heartbreaking case on so many levels it is staggering for any reasonable citizen to consider the harm created by the failures of so many systems. Here is a breakdown of systemic failures contained in the life of just this one child.

One brother reported his concerns about his mothers abilities to care for his sister to MCFD, asking them to intervene. Although ill prepared to deal with his sister's special needs, the brave young man tried to intervene on behalf of his sister, because they knew firsthand the kind of risk she was at. He was told he must return his sister to their mother, whose drug and health issues were well established, or he would face complaints of kidnapping. Systemic failure.

The community that is so broken down that a sick mother and a fragile special needs girl were not seen, or missed by anyone for over a week. Many days passed and no-one looked into the trailer to see this beautiful and caring girl trying to tend to and curled up with her mother's dead and decomposing body. Lovingly trying to bring her food and medications, to revive her mother, while her own physical condition deteriorated through malnutrition, dehydration and sitting in a soiled and wet diaper for days. The emotional trauma and harm and inability to make any meaningful sense of what happened will live with this girl forever. No meaningful sense could ever be made for this situation in a so-called civil society. Systemic failure.

The child protection system, in spite of attempts to investigate, simply did not care enough to act to protect this child because it is more concerned with keeping the numbers of children in care down. The two brothers grew up with their mother. They likely bear the scars of a childhood left to a parent with minimal capacity to meet their needs due to her own problems and issues, which could likely be found in her own childhood experiences. This is the cycle that the child protection system in BC does little to break and often contributes to by leaving children at-risk throughout their childhood, the only one they will have. The paradigm has swung back and forth and in spite of reviews, children dying and being permanently harmed, childrens rights to safety and protection still takes a back seat to parents rights and even the child protection system will seek to protect itself over children rights. Systemic failure.

One of the hardest lessons I learned working in child protection and I learned it quickly, is that love is not all children need from parents. I've never worked with a parent that did not love their child. I have worked with many parents that, mostly through no "fault" of their own, simply did not have the capacity to be a minimally adequate parent. It may surprise most people that the bar is set so very low for children - the standard is "good enough." But there is no definition beyond this. Situations like this demonstrate that the bar is set unconscionably low for children in the child protection system in BC in 21st century.

I happen to believe children deserve a much, much higher standard and that it is the obligation and duty of our province and our country to provide that in a civil society.

The welfare ministry's heartless policy of cutting people off who have not been heard from is an example of the impacts of service re-design in which individuals no longer belong to a single caseload. Human beings have simply become a number on the welfare rolls, a number to be cut if possible. I suspect this mother had been on income assistance, or disability for many years, yet when she was not in contact with her local office, this did not get flagged as unusual, although their records would also have indicated there was a minor child in the home. That system took no steps to report any concerns to MCFD, CLBC or law enforcement for follow up. Systemic failure.

The school that this girl attended, beyond making phone calls, did not apparently take any action when she did not show up for school, likely because her absences became normalized, due to the inability of her mother to consistently get her to school. This was a red flag that was ignored and MCFD should have been called. Systemic failure.

As the report details, after the girl was found, her former respite worker was called to come pick her up. MCFD did not even provide adequate resources to the child then. The child was not admitted to hospital and was still wearing her filthy clothing when this kind soul picked her up. She purchased necessities for this traumatized and wounded girl out of her own pocket because MCFD did not provide her with one dime to meet the immediate needs of this child. Systemic contempt and failure.

This latest report from the Representative articulates what many who work with young people with special needs have known for many, many years - people with disabilities are rendered invisible and are isolated, while living surrounded by community and the wealth of this province and its well paid Ministers, bureaucrats and elected officials. People with disabilities are shut in and shut out of meaningful participation in society, marginalized and socially excluded. Systemic failure.

The CYSN social worker said she had a caseload of more than 200 families when the
transfer of special needs services from CLBC to the ministry occurred in October 2009. This is a little known secret to the world outside of Community Living, workers case loads are in the hundreds by design and for the economic benefit of government to keep costs down. Systemic failure.

My colleagues working in with Children with Special Needs in care and living with their families and parents have been raising alarms for some time now about the lack of social inclusion and participation facing individuals with disabilities once they age out of education programs. Their lives and opportunities to engage in meaningful learning and social connection become diminished with few programs available once they reach adulthood. Systemic failure.

As the Representative writes:

All children with special needs must be given full opportunities to live fulfilling and rich lives. They must also be afforded their right to have equal access to the same programs, supports, opportunities and hopeful futures as others.

So often with cases that go wrong, MCFD shifted into COA mode (Cover Our Ass). As this case and so many others over the years have demonstrated, MCFD becomes more concerned with limiting its organizational liability than learning from mistakes and creating policy and practice that will prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again. One of the ways MCFD does this is by failing to conduct internal investigations and reviews of cases where children known to MCFD are critically injured, or died. Elements of this internal focus of protection can also be seen in the MCFD response to formal complaint the brother filed, which concluded all that could be done, had been done. Something any lay person can see is not true at all.

Under the leadership (and I use that term lightly) of the previous Deputy Minister, not only did MCFD not review this case, they did not report it to the Representatives office, which resulted in a very public and unacceptable wrangling with the Representatives office so that they could do the job for which they have statutory duty - to monitor and report out on the safety and well-being of children. Systemic contempt and failure.

This case also demonstrates the terrible and irresponsible practice of MCFD of opening and closing files, rather than keeping files open for long-term support and monitoring. The mother lacked follow through and compliance with recommended services and this deserved continuing attention and escalation of the child protection response from least intrusive supportive measures.

One thing I also learned working in child protection is that sometimes rather than come right out and tell the authorities they cannot cope with their parenting obligations, sometimes parents would rather send passive messages of inability to cope and that is usually through a lack of follow through, thus forcing an attentive MCFD worker to increase the response. The signs were there, people made reports to MCFD and there were numerous grounds by which this child should have been removed from her mothers custody and placed into care. This did not happen to the profound harm of this girl, who deserved so much more.

When protection is needed

13 (1) A child needs protection in the following circumstances:

(a) if the child has been, or is likely to be, physically harmed by the child's parent;

(d) if the child has been, or is likely to be, physically harmed because of neglect by the child's parent;

(e) if the child is emotionally harmed by the parent's conduct;

(f) if the child is deprived of necessary health care;

(g) if the child's development is likely to be seriously impaired by a treatable condition and the child's parent refuses to provide or consent to treatment;

(h) if the child's parent is unable or unwilling to care for the child and has not made adequate provision for the child's care;

Key Recommendations

Focus on the needs and best interests of the child are paramount, not the parent, or system. This is even more crucial for children who experienced complex health, behavioural and emotional challenges.
Appropriate use of the Family Development Response and ensure follow through on the part of parents who are referred to support services as a least disruptive response to child protection reports.
Collaborative, multi-disciplinary involvement and information is crucial to assess real risks to children and their safety and well-being. Collaterals with any and all parties involved with a child and family are imperative actions that must be taken in assessing risk of future harm.
Decrease unreasonably high and overwhelming Community Living and MCFD Intake caseloads.
Where parental substance use issues are a concern, MCFD legislation permits investigating workers to access information from many sources about the acquisition and use of legal and prescription medications. All efforts to clarify how much of an impact parental substance abuse may impact child safety and care must be carried out.
Parents complex health and their own management of chronic disease conditions is an important part of assessing capacity to care for the complex health care needs of their children.
Calls that are received by MCFD that present ongoing concerns related to child safety must be registered as new intakes and full investigations completed. Written notes and lack of follow up with newly expressed concerns are an inadequate response to situations involving chronically marginal families.
MCFD, Ministry of Education & Health develop a detailed strategy for provision of services to children and youth with special needs by Dec. 30, 2011, and fully implemented across the province by June 29, 2012.
MCFD review plans of all children and youth transferred from CLBC to ministry services, to ensure vulnerable children and youth have appropriate plans that address both their safety as well as their needs. The review, along with a report to the Representative, should be completed by Dec. 30, 2011.
MCFD develop and implement policy and guidelines with respect to checking with collateral sources of information when conducting child protection investigations.
MSD work collaboratively with MCFD to develop a proactive policy and process so that income assistance to families with dependent children or youth with special needs will not be terminated without a joint review by MCFD and MSD. Policy and process should be developed by Dec. 30, 2011, and fully implemented across the province by June 29, 2012.

My own recommendation is that at all times, the human rights of children, must be seen to be the guiding force and paramount consideration of all systems of care in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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The Representative writes:

We all share a responsibility to be vigilant and aware of the circumstances of the most vulnerable children who live among us. Each and every one of us has a legal duty to report any concerns about a child’s safety and well-being to MCFD.

The ministry, in turn, has the responsibility to respond, assess these reports, investigate as appropriate and take necessary action to ensure that children are safe.

Duty to report need for protection

14 (1) A person who has reason to believe that a child needs protection under section 13 must promptly report the matter to a director or a person designated by a director.

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Report: Case of special needs girl left with mother’s corpse highlights deeply flawed system of supports in BC

By Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist, June 27, 2011.

BC disabled services rapped after girl left with corpse

CBC News, June 27, 2011.

Child Poverty in BC: Why is the Government Robbing Children of a Solid Future?

2011-06-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Poverty is the worst form of violence. ~Mohandas Gandhi

As the latest child poverty statistics from Statistics Canada and analysis from First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition come out, it is abundantly clear that our governments still don’t get it. The question that needs to be asked of elected officials is why are they robbing BC and Canadian children of a future filled with hope and promise? Why are they giving a significant number of children a future where they will continue to be faced with deprivation, more poverty and poor health outcomes?

In 2009 over 100,000 children in BC were living in poverty. This was a 12% increase in 2009, from 10.4% in 2008. BC's child poverty rate is still the highest in Canada for 8th year in a row. This is higher than the national average of 8.5%. BC also has the highest rate of poverty for all people in Canada.

These numbers and the diminished interest in and regard for children and youth`s rights to the best start in life can only lead to the conclusion that our provincial and federal governments do not care about our children. If they did, they would do the right thing and introduce the measures that have shown improvements in other Canadian provinces and jurisdictions around BC.

The BC poverty rate rose from 11.4 % in 2008 to 12 % in 2009, and the number of poor persons rose from 494,000 to 528,000.When did governments come to feel they can just disregard the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized?

Provincially, we have a new Premier who has been ramming her `Families First` slogan down our throat, but even children will tell you that it's action, not words which tell the real story and the truth. Children also know what is right and what is wrong.

This same Premier also adjourned the Legislature almost immediately upon the introduction of the Poverty Reduction Act as a Private Members Bill by NDP MLA Shane Simpson. Do the Premier and her cabinet mean what they say that Families are First?

Poor children, families and individuals deserve much, much more that media spin, sophistry and shell games.

Here are solutions that other jurisdictions have had success with to reduce poverty.

Increase income assistance and disability rates;
Invest in more affordable housing around BC and introduce rent controls in high cost, low vacancy areas;
Increase access to child care and early learning through child care subsidies and child care spaces;
Increase the minimum wage, based on living wage calculations;
Increase supports and incentives to low income parents to transition into the workforce and for employers to hire individuals;
Index welfare and disability rates to the cost of living;
Encourage employers around BC to provide living wages to employees with the realization that wages earned continue to local communities;
Approach child and family poverty as a non-partisan issue and pass the Poverty Reduction Act that was introduced into the Legislature;
Invest in strong community social services to support the increasing marginalized families and continue to strengthen ;
Promote and support individuals in accessing education and vocational programming and apprenticeship programs;
The federal government must improve the Employment Insurance system, making it more accessible to all workers;
Work with the federal government to ensure persons with temporary, or long-term disabilities can access employment insurance and CPP disability benefits;

Read more here:

BC POVERTY RATES THEWORST ONCE AGAIN, TIME FOR LIBERALS AND NDP TO WORK TOGETHER

First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition

Ignorance of homelessness isn't bliss: Poverty more widespread than most Canadians realize. Ish Theilheimer. June 14, 2011. Straightgoods.com

BC Still Worst in Country on Child Poverty: Advocate

Jonathon Fowlie, June 16, 2011, Vancouver Sun.

Democracy Requires All-ages Participation - Letter to Editor

2011-04-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Democracy Requires All-ages Participation - Letter to Vancouver Courier
Tracey Young, April 29, 2011

Re: Young Ideas (April 22, 2011)

Parents and other relatives have a duty to teach and model civic and electoral participation to the next generations of citizens. My parents and grandparents taught me about the importance of participating in democracy with the classic, you can't complain about anything if you didn't vote. Due to their role modeling and words, I have never missed a municipal, provincial, or federal election since I became eligible to vote. Now I follow, blog and tweet about local, provincial and federal politics.

Citizens in countries all over the world fight and die for the right to vote for their leaders. Previous generations of Canadians sacrificed their lives for democracy. If people have time to engage with Facebook, other social media and all of the other vapid and meaningless things we do in modern society they have time to vote.

If young voters are waiting for an Obama-esque figure to appear in Canada before they will vote they'll be waiting forever. Politics isn't American Idol. As the article points out, the issues of young people will simply never be prioritized because the majority of voters are older and they ensure their issues dominate. It is up to citizens and voters to bring their issues forward and ensure political candidates and parties know what is important to them. No-one has a right to complain if they don't get politically informed, engaged and vote.

During the 2008 federal election, my 7 year old niece, accompanied me to the ballot box. She went home and told her mom that she couldn't wait to be old enough to vote. Her mother, who had never voted, began to talk to others who had never voted and several of them cast their first ballots ever. If a 7 year old gets it, then college and university students and adults should too. On May 2nd, every Canadian citizen will have a chance to give voice to their vision for Canada. I strongly encourage citizens of all ages to get out and vote.

BC's Legal Aid System: The Foundation of Change

2011-03-08T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Public Commission on Legal Aid has released it's report, Foundation of Change: Report of the Public Commission on Legal Aid. Authored by eminent lawyer, Leonard Doust, QC, the report is a culmination of in-person hearings and written submissions from individuals, organizations and professional groups commenting on the state of BC's legal aid system.

The history and mandate of the Commission:

The Public Commission on Legal Aid was established in June of 2010 to engage the public of British Columbia in order to determine their priorities regarding legal aid in the province of British Columbia.

In the fall of 2010 the Public Commission on Legal Aid issued an open call for written submissions and travelled throughout the province to hear oral submissions from interested parties including the public, community organization representatives and justice system stakeholders.

The full report can be viewed here.

Key Recommendations from the Report:

· The Legal Services Society Act should be amended to include a statement clearly recognizing legal aid as an essential public service and the entitlement to legal aid where an individual has a legal problem that puts into jeopardy their or their family’s security — be it their liberty, health, employment, housing, or ability to meet the basic necessities of life — and he or she has no meaningful ability to pay for legal services.

· Develop a new approach to define core services and priorities which merges the traditional legal categories approach (e.g., criminal law, family law, and poverty law) with an approach based on the fundamental interests of the most disadvantaged clients.

· Modernize and expand financial eligibility for those trying to access legal aid so more people, such as the “working poor” and those in need can quality for legal aid.

· Increase the presence and accessibility of legal aid across the province through the establishment of Regional Legal Aid Centres across the province to serve as the point of entry hub of legal aid service for all core services, including access to family, criminal law and poverty law matters. Regional Centres should also provide mobile outreach services to assist individuals who cannot access the Centres due to geographic or cultural barriers.

· Legal information is not a substitute for legal assistance and representation, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our community are the least likely to be able to access, utilize, and benefit from these self-help resources.

· The LawLINE should be re-established and expanded because it provided such an effective and cost-efficient service.

· Legal aid service delivery must include targeted strategies to meet the needs of under-served communities, including Aboriginal communities, women leaving abusive relationships, individuals with mental or cognitive disabilities, migrant workers, and the elderly.

· A special protocol or additional guidelines are required to address the barriers to legal aid reported by women who are leaving abusive relationships.

· LSS should enhance the use of case management techniques in large criminal cases and should introduce it in other situations where warranted.

· Expand engagement with stakeholders and support renewal toward creating a more innovative, strategic, and flexible legal aid system in BC. This includes increased collaboration between public and private legal aid service providers and others involved in the provision of justice and advocacy services.

· Ensure an adequate long-term and stable funding base for BC's legal aid system by the federal and provincial governments.

· Increased support, training and resources to community advocates, legal advocates, paralegals, and lawyers who provide both public and private legal aid services in order to ensure the quality of these services.

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Media links & commentary:

BC Legal Aid System Fails to Meet Basic Needs
Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun, March 8, 2011.

Excerpts:

B.C.'s legal aid system is failing to meet even the most basic needs and should be fully funded as an essential public service, a public commission has concluded.

In a 67-page report released Tuesday, veteran Vancouver lawyer Leonard Doust said the province has fallen from being a leader in legal-aid services to seriously lagging behind other jurisdictions.

"We can no longer avoid the fact that we are failing the most disadvantaged members of our community," he said.

"Furthermore, no other province or territory in Canada, other than British Columbia, has made such drastic reductions to its legal aid budget while coping with the same fiscal environment. In fact, Ontario has managed to increase its contribution to legal aid during the same lean economic years."

Mark Benton, executive director of the B.C. Legal Services Society, welcomed the report's thrust and hoped it would prompt much-needed improvements.

He agreed the current scope and availability of legal aid does not adequately meet the needs of the public and that significantly more funding — another $47 million at least according to Doust — is required from Ottawa and Victoria.

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Hats Off to You, Mr. McKim
Policy Note, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Keith Reynolds, February 17th, 2011.

... this year the Legal Services Society service plan broke the mold. The Society offers legal representation for financially eligible people with serious family, child protection, criminal, or immigration problems, as well as information and advice services designed to help people resolve legal problems on their own.

So hats off to D. Maryland McKimm for penning the one service plan that had the courage to talk about providing services far below what British Columbians need.

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Study Finds BC Legal Aid Fails to Meet 'Basic Needs'
Rod Mickelburgh, Globe & Mail, March 8, 2011.

“Over the past decade or so, the gap between legal aid needs and services has grown into a wide chasm, resulting in human suffering and related social and economic costs borne by our community,” said Mr. Doust, who was appointed last year to head a public commission on legal aid.

Among his recommendations to revive legal aid services, Mr. Doust called on the government to recognize legal aid as an essential public service and to increase its “long term, stable funding.”

Beginning in 2002, the provincial government reduced legal aid’s budget by close to 40 per cent over three years, resulting in the closing of 45 branch offices. The offices were replaced by seven regional centres, which have now been reduced to two, according to his report. At the same time, poverty and family law services were eliminated.

“Additional reductions in service occurred in 2009 – on top of what was then an unsustainable and highly volatile legal aid system,” said Mr. Doust.

“I have come to a much deeper appreciation wreaked by the absence of legal assistance and representation. ...We can no longer avoid the fact that we are failing the most disadvantaged members of our community, those for whom legal aid exists in our province.”

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Coalition for Public Legal Services

From the CPLS blog:

LSS Board Chair acknowledges unmet needs

Outgoing Legal Services Society Chair D. Maryland McKimm QC makes the following point:

As I depart, the Legal Services Society is on a stable, albeit significantly reduced, footing. In the board’s assessment, however, the society is now providing services far below what the board believes is needed to properly assist British Columbians with low incomes and to effectively support the efficient operation of the justice system.

For Many, Access to Justice means actually getting to court: Too Many Fall through Cracks of System Mainly Serving Rich and Poor

Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun, March 7, 2011.

In a speech to the Law Society of B.C., the chairman of the province's Legal Services Society said the crisis over access to justice is about even more fundamental issues than the present professional discussion embraces.

"For many people, particularly in remote communities, the biggest barrier to accessing justice is simply getting to the courthouse, or even having the means of getting to the courthouse," Victoria lawyer Mayland McKimm said Friday.

Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin and B.C. Court of Appeal Chief Justice Lance Finch, along with other senior jurists, have pushed problems with accessing justice onto the public agenda.

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Legal Services Society response to the report of the Public Commission on Legal Aid

Mark Benton, QC, Executive Director of the Legal Services Society, made the following statement in response to the report of the Public Commission on Legal Aid.

LSS endorses the commission’s conclusion that the current scope and availability of legal aid in BC does not adequately meet the needs of the public. LSS also endorses the recommendation that legal aid must be recognized as an essential public service and that significantly more funding is needed.

Decreasing Homelessness: It's a Public Policy Choice

2011-02-08T18:37:00.000-08:00

This was what the Province published in response to their Editorial:

More shelters hasn't stopped homelessness,
February 3, 2011

Social Safety Net

Tracey Young, The Province, February 8, 2011

In March, there will be an initiative to count the numbers of homeless people in Metro Vancouver. What we know from previous counts and other research is that many communities around B.C. have seen dramatic increases in homelessness and insecure housing over the last decade.

It is a false argument to suggest that building more affordable housing is increasing the homeless population in Vancouver. It is the erosion of the social safety net that deserves the blame.

Structural conditions such as low income assistance and disability rates, a minimum wage that has remained stagnant for a decade, fast-rising costs of living and lowpaying jobs and insecure employment play a big role. Combined with the high costs of housing, lack of rent controls and preservation of rental stock, all of these factors work together to create a perfect storm of housing instability and increased rates of homelessness around B.C. Municipalities can no longer bear the responsibility, or blame, for the lack of health services and affordable housing being provided to high-risk/high-need citizens by the B.C. government and the health authorities. Real steps must be taken to decrease the risks of homelessness and the loss of dignity and inclusion too many of us face in B.C.

Tracey Young, B.C. Association of Social Workers

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This was my letter in it's entirety:

In March 2011 many individuals in Metro Vancouver will be participating in the initiative to count the numbers of homeless people residing in their communities. What we know from previous counts and other research is that many communities around BC have seen dramatic increases in homelessness and insecure housing amongst citizens over the last decade.

It is a false argument to suggest that building more affordable housing is increasing the homeless population in Vancouver when it is the erosion of the social safety net that deserves the blame. Structural conditions such as low income assistance and disability rates, a minimum wage that has remained stagnant for a decade, fast-rising costs of living and low paying jobs and insecure employment play a big role. Combined with the high costs of housing, lack of rent controls and preservation of rental stock all of these factors work together to create a perfect storm of housing instability and increased rates of homelessness in all areas of the province.

Your editorial asked "Wouldn't it be better to attack the roots of the problem with substance-abuse treatment and psychiatric services? The simple answer is yes. The complex answer is that these services have been gutted for young people and adults around BC. The mental health system of care in the community has never been more difficult to access for those with mental illness. Riverview Hospital, which has been discharging people for over two decades now, is slated for complete closure in 2012. Many health authorities have not built the required supportive housing that is necessary for those who require a higher level of care than most regions can support.

As a social worker on the front lines of BC over the last decade, my colleagues and I have seen all community and social support systems being cut and eroded. When people with mental illness and addictions cannot obtain stabilizing housing, mental and physical care and treatment, their conditions worsen. This is the case all over BC, not just in Vancouver. Although there are many more services in the urban context, that doesn't mean that they are accessible.

Emerging research is demonstrating that law enforcement and the criminal justice system are becoming the primary systems of contact for those with mental illness. What is criminal is that people must be arrested and incarcerated before they can receive any kind of mental health care in many instances. Individuals with mental illness and their family members know that this is true.

Municipalities can no longer bear the responsibility, or blame, for the lack of health services and affordable housing being provided to high-risk/high-need citizens by the BC government and the Health Authorities. Real steps must be taken to decrease the risks of homelessness and the loss of dignity and inclusion too many of us face in BC due to deep poverty and untreated health conditions.

Tracey Young, MSW, RSW

President of the Vancouver Sea-to-Sky branch
BC Association of Social Workers

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Here is an excerpt of the response from Mayor Gregor Robertson:

We're Working Hard to end Homelessness
By Gregor Robertson, The Province February 6, 2011

Through our new homeless shelters, we've seen street homelessness drop 47 per cent in two years -that's almost 400 people off the street. The Downtown Vancouver BIA credits these shelters with a drop in aggressive panhandling, trespassing, and open drug use downtown. By providing a safe place to sleep and a warm meal, the low-barrier shelters bring stability to many people who've been homeless for years.

The city is working with the B.C. government and Streetohome Foundation to build over 1,500 units of affordable housing spread throughout Vancouver. This required provincial and foundation investment of over $330 million and 14 parcels of land donated by the city and it will provide supportive, stable housing for people who need it most.

Last week's Province editorial lamented that we still need 450 housing units to end street homelessness by 2015. I take a more positive view. Compared to where we were a few years ago, a gap of just 450 units is an incredible achievement. Our work is paying off, our programs are delivering results, and more and more people have a place to sleep at night.

Ending street homelessness is within our grasp.

MCFD: Cult of Secrecy and Disdain for Public Accountability

2010-12-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

"There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace." ~ Kofi Annan

You have only to ask those who have worked in the system, children, youth, families, foster parents and service providers about the deafening silence surrounding critical injuries and deaths of children in care, or those who've received services within the last 12 months. This is the biggest unsecret in BC.

What will it take for MCFD to do the right thing? The office of the Representative for Children & Youth was brought into force as a result of the significant and ongoing failures of the child protection system to meet it's mandate - the best interests and safety of BC's children.

From 2001 to the present MCFD's most basic mission has not been accomplished. The cult of secrecy and a profound disdain for public accountability and transparency of decision-making has become so entrenched that MCFD's senior leadership is routinely violating it's own internal policies and practice standards for reporting critical injuries and deaths of minors in receipt, or in the care of the state (MCFD) to the Representative for Children & Youth.

This simply cannot be allowed this to occur anymore. A civil society will not tolerate the intolerable, especially where the most vulnerable parties are the victims and where they have no-one else to render them and their lives and suffering visible, no-one to advocate for them in a broken system filled with self-serving incompetence.

It is time for a radical re-think of what BC's child protection has become and what is can be. It is time for a change in leadership in the child & youth-serving system in BC.

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B.C. has serious gaps in reporting critical child injuries, deaths: report

By Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist, December 6, 2010

Victoria, B.C. - B.C.’s child watchdog demanded today that the provincial government plug holes in its system of reporting critical injuries and deaths.

In a special report to the legislature, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond slammed the Ministry of Children and Family Development for failing to alert her that a 15-year-old disabled girl had been left alone with her mother’s corpse for several days earlier this year.

Children's Minister Mary Polak said at the time that it was “premature” to report the matter to the Representative, because the ministry was still assessing the extent to which the child was injured. But Turpel-Lafond said the child's emotional trauma alone warranted a report.

“Even after a discussion with senior ministry officials about the case, no acknowledgment that this case should have been reported occurred; and no commitment to improve the reporting requirements or system was forthcoming,” Turpel-Lafond writes in a summary of her report, which was tabled with the Speaker of the Legislature today.

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Summary: Special Report on the Reporting of Critical Injuries and Deaths by MCFD to the Representative for Children and Youth

December 2010. Excerpts;

"...entire categories of critical injuries that ministry staff know about have not been referred to the Representative for review."

Two recent examples of troubling cases in which the ministry would not report to the Representative:

- A child suffering serious sexual assaults and incest at the hands of her abusive father
- A youth in care who ended up severely disturbed and in a suicidal state after having been left with a caregiver who engaged him in sexual activity and shared drugs with him.

The Representative calls on government to immediately undertake the recommended changes to develop and implement a critical injury and death notification policy that complies with the RCY Act.

This new policy, to be fully implemented by March 1, 2011, will ensure the practice of reporting injuries and deaths is consistent, timely and effective.

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Full Report: Reporting of Critical Injuries and Deaths to the Representative for Children and Youth

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"If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much."
~ Marian Wright Edelman

What Will it Take for Children & Youth to Matter in BC?

2010-11-29T15:57:00.000-08:00

How much embarrassment is enough for the BC government? Headlines frequently bring attention to their incompetence in policy, planning and management of the people Ministries, arguably no more important than the Ministry of CHILDREN and Family Development.

We know that an entire generation of children in BC has lived in poverty and deprivation that has surpassed every other province in Canada for seven years in a row. Yet politicians report it's been dropping, like that makes it okay. They disregard and deflect from the realities of their failures and in the process, bring shame to themselves and the government.

How long are taxpayers supposed to sit by as the "leadership" of MCFD continually fails to meet it's most basic mandate and year after year, fails to meet it's own self-created Service plans & goals? There isn't any other BC government organization that has demonstrated such a level of abject failure of it's top most bureaucrats.

Failure in MCFD is failure of BC's most vulnerable and at-risk children & youth. It is the government's failure in the here and now and in the future, when many of this generation of deprived children grow up to be adults who encounter more difficulties being employable, more health, mental health and addiction problems, more individuals involved in the criminal justice system. These are the real world consequences of failure of government's social and public policy and failure to provide vulnerable children and families with the supports they require to rise above their circumstances.

It is time for the BC government to take responsibility for the last decade's failure to the children, youth and families of BC. It is time for new leadership and a time to listen to all of the voices who have been calling for real, evidence-based change, such as the Honourable Ted Hughes and the Representative for Children and Youth.

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The 2010 Progress Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the BC Children and Youth Review:

Read the report here.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN PROGRESS ON HUGHES RECOMMENDATIONS
A SYMPTOM OF BIGGER MINISTRY PROBLEMS

Representative Media Release:
Nov. 29, 2010

"Much has been promised and little delivered along the path of implementing the Hughes recommendations," she said. "The ministry has significant responsibilities to British Columbians and yet remains in a period of long and drawn-out change – what it calls ‘transformation’ -- that is incredibly ambitious and most certainly experimental."

Failing to provide frustrated front-line ministry staff, youth, their families and the oversight body with an understandable picture about the details of their transformation initiative and evidence that progress is being made on it is also unacceptable, said Turpel-Lafond.

She noted that major themes such as quality assurance, organizational learning, public accountability and decentralization also continue to be inadequately addressed, or are said to be restructured with a lack of clarity about what will eventually be measured or improved. Public reporting must be more consistent and detailed, she said, particularly in the area of critical injuries and deaths.

Read the entire news release here.

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The story of a young girl with Down Syndrome
MLA Nicholas Simons. Nov. 29, 2010.

The Honourable Minister ignores the fact that her Child Protection Division is completely frustrated at the Ministry’s constant state of crisis, conflicting purposes, and misplaced priorities. Its workers are over-worked and suffering from low morale.

Bureaucrats are not allowed to say it, but the mess has been caused in part by a Deputy Minister who instead of making sure social workers can conduct proper investigations, and support or monitor borderline parenting, prefers to introduce new flowery initiatives: like “Child at the Centre”, “Safe, Strong and Supported”, and “Best Practice Action Plans” while spending millions of dollars on re-shuffling positions and re-drawing regions. It would be a farce were it not so tragic.

My advice to the Minister is to look at what your Deputy has done; take responsibility, and then consider your own options. Your government has done more harm to the Child Protection system, and to the circumstances of vulnerable children, than any previous one. Ministers before you have suffered from the same tendency; they didn’t address their problems because they didn’t admit they had one.

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B.C. government fails to follow report to help children at risk
By Lindsay Kines, timescolonist.com November 29, 2010

The Liberals appointed Hughes to review the child welfare system after the death of 19-month-old granddaughter, Sherry Charlie, in Port Alberni in 2002, and the bungled government investigation that followed. The little girl was beaten to death after being placed in the care of her great aunt under a kith-and-kin arrangement. The aunt's spouse, who had a history of violence, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a 10-year prison sentence.

Hughes concluded that the B.C. Liberal government had weakened public oversight of the child welfare system at a time when the Children's Ministry faced severe budget cuts and an “unmanageable degree” of change.

“The disappointing reality is that far too many Hughes recommendations have never received the attention they deserve, and at this point likely never will,” she writes.

Location: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/government+fails+follow+report+help+children+risk/3900682/story.html

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B.C. children's watchdog slams government
Nov. 29, 2010

Location: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/11/29/bc-childrens-watchdog-report.html

Representative for Children and Youth's Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says the government has only fully implemented less than half the recommendations in the 2006 landmark report on the child welfare system by retired judge Ted Hughes.
Turpel-Lafond says she is deeply disappointed with the government's progress and is particularly critical of what she sees as a lack of accountability and oversight in the child welfare system.

"Difficult economics times can mean harsher realities for many of B.C.'s families. Poverty will deepen for some, unemployment rates will climb, and previously successful families may struggle. Social services may be required more often, and community supports may disappear. Stagnant or decreasing budgets will not be able to address the need of additional children and families," she said.

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Learn more about Children's Rights through BC's Child Rights Public Awareness Campaign.

Join the growing network of individuals and groups who are fighting for recognition that BC's children & youth matter.

Time for a BC and Canadian Plan to Eliminate Child & Family Poverty

2010-11-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

This post is dedicated to all of the Canadian children, past and present, who have grown up in poverty in one of the wealthiest nations on earth and who deserve so much better from those who came before you.

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“Child and family poverty simply won’t disappear on its own,” said Adrienne Montani, provincial coordinator of First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition. “Political leaders in other provinces understand this, but in BC we are still waiting for courageous leadership on this issue.”

On November 24 1989 an All Party commitment was made by the House of Commons to end child poverty by the year 2000. The Canadian government has failed to live up to their commitment to Canada's children for twenty-one years.

The BC government's position, over the last decade, is that it is tolerable for a significant number of children, particularly First Nations children, to live in poverty, deprivation and social exclusion. No other analysis can be applied to this situation in light of the continuing failure of the BC government to create a Poverty Elimination plan as many other provinces have.

Thank you to First Call: BC Child & Youth Advocacy Coalition.
I am proud to have been a member and participant in the coalition over the last decade.

From the 2010 BC Child Poverty Report Card & Release
Authors: First Call & the Social Planning and Research Council of BC (SPARC BC).

About one of every seven BC children, or 121,000 is living in poverty.
The poverty rate for children under age six was 19.6%, or one in five young children.
The child poverty rate in British Columbia dropped to 14.5 percent in 2008, according to the latest figures published by Statistics Canada.
Indicators such as increases in 2009 and 2010 in food bank use and families on income assistance signal this anticipated rise.
The risk of poverty for female lone-parent families is 31% , two and a half times greater than for children in 2-parent families, but the majority of poor children (67%) live in two-parent families.
The vast majority of BC’s poor children live in families with some income from paid work, with over one third having at least one adult working full-time, fullyear.
Inequity is growing. The gap between the incomes of the richest 10% and poorest 10% of families with children grew from a ratio of 11 to 1 in 2007 to 14 to 1 in 2008. Families in the three lowest income groups (deciles) saw an actual decline in their incomes between 1989 and 2008.
Seven provinces and territories have either enacted or committed themselves to
enacting anti-poverty strategies, with one more ready to act.
Both the House of Commons and the Senate have recently issued reports urging Ottawa to commit to an anti-poverty strategy of its own.
In November 2009, the House of Commons passed a unanimous
resolution to develop an immediate plan to eliminate poverty in Canada for all.

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First Call Press Release

2010 Child Poverty Report Card

Campaign 2000 and Partners Released 2010 Report Cards on Child/Family Poverty

Join Dignity for All - The Campaign for a Poverty Free Canada

I believe that freedom from poverty is a human right.
I believe in equality among all people.
I believe we are all entitled to social and economic security.
I believe in dignity for all.
NOW is the time to end poverty in Canada.

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Media & Additional Reports

Growing Up in BC - Representative for Children & Youth & Provincial Health Officer

The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children – their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born.

UNICEF, Innocenti Report Card 7, 2007

VICTORIA/CKNW(AM980)
Charmaine de Silva | Email news tips to charmaine.desilva@corusent.com
11/24/2010

One out of every seven BC children lives in poverty. That is one of the alarming statistics revealed in the latest child poverty report card, issued by First Call BC Tuesday. But it's not all bad news:

The child poverty rate in this Province dropped in 2008 to 14-and-a-half percent. But First Call's Provincial Coordinator Adrienne Montani says its too early to celebrate. Montani says the recession didn't begin until late 2008 which means the poverty rate is almost certain to increase for 2009 and 2010.

While critics of the Provincial Government's record battling child poverty point to an absence of an official Poverty Reduction Plan, BC's Children and Families Minister says they do have a plan.

Mary Polak says the plan has been in place since 2001 and that's to improve the economy. "We now have the third highest average hourly wage in Canada at 23-dollars an hour, we have the lowest youth unemployment in British Columbia history, and we have some of the lowest unemployment rates, across all populations, in all of North America."

Polak says she's glad her Government's policies have resulted in reduced child poverty.

1 in 10 Canadian Children Living in Poverty: Report

Amy Minsky, Postmedia News, Vancouver Sun, November 24, 2010. Excerpts:

While the short-term benefits of ending poverty among the 610,000 children seem obvious — fewer children with problems affecting their physical, emotional and psychological health — government must also consider the long-term effects of childhood poverty, the report said.

"The impact of dire living conditions during childhood, such as inadequate nutrition and crowded or unsafe housing, carries far into adulthood," Monique Begin, a former minister of health under prime minister Pierre Trudeau, said in a statement. "Research has clearly demonstrated that there will be significant economic savings and better health outcomes for us all if we improve the incomes of people in poverty."

Aboriginal kids and children of recent immigrants and racial minorities are at an increased risk of living in poverty, the report said, noting those children also have a greater risk of living in persistent social and economic inequality.

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The BC Poverty Elimination plan would include the following strategic actions:

Commit to a living wage for all citizens and ensure that all Canadians receive adequate food, nutrition and potable water;
Raise the minimum wage in BC and increase the rates for income and disability assistance, with supports that encourage and facilitate individuals in transitioning into the workforce;
Increase funding and access to affordable housing for low-income families;
Ensure that low income families can access special diet allowances, food vouchers and crisis grants for necessities such as food, as well as food programs for children in inner city schools;
Every child and family in Canada will have access to timely health and mental health care and support and to interventions that will assist in supporting their development and maximizing their health;
Ensure that mothers fleeing abusive relationships with their children have immediate access to safe shelter, food and necessities, including income assistance to help them stabilize and exempted from work searches;
Provide refugee and immigrant families with support and financial assistance to assist them in settling in Canada;
Increase access and subsidies for affordable early learning and child care;
Provide parents with access to college and university education and vocational training, apprenticeship programs and supports for transitioning into the workforce into employment that sustains families;
Assist low-income families with transportation costs and increase subsidies for access to activities such as sports and the arts so that children and parents can maximize their social inclusion and develop skills and talents;
Adjust and shift the income tax burden and re-distribute resources so that the most wealthy in Canadian society and corporations are paying their fair share to contribute to the holistic well-being of our nation;
All levels of government must work together to create a federal housing strategy wherein the Canadian government begins to fund provincial affordable housing infrastructure;
Maintain current levels of federal transfer payments to provincial, territorial, and First Nations governments for health and education;
Stop cutting and increase funding of the provincial and federal social safety net and the social infrastructure which supports individuals and families in their communities in times of need.
Create a National Poverty Elimination Commission with the goal to eliminate poverty in Canada with poverty reduction targets each year. The Commission will work with First Nations communities and leaders on specific initiatives to significantly improve conditions on reserves across Canada.

When the Cupboard is Bare, Who Will Feed the Hungry?

2010-11-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

When the Cupboard is Bare, Who Will Feed the Hungry?

Advocacy BC, November 17, 2010.

With the release of the release of the HungerCount 2010 survey, the only annual national survey of food bank use in Canada, the evidence of a growing population of Canadian citizens who are falling behind is clear.

Highlights from this report include the following:

· Food bank use has grown in every province in 2010;

· 867,948 people across Canada used food banks in March 2010. This represents a 9.2 % increase, or more than 73,000 people compared with numbers from 2009;

· 80,150 people, or 9.2 %, used a food bank for the first time;

· 38% of those assisted by food banks were children under 18;

· Half of assisted households are families with children;

· 17 per cent of households that used food banks have employment income;

· 7 % of assisted households have a pension as their primary source of income.

The face of poverty in BC and Canada is changing. Many more citizens who have lost their jobs as resource and manufacturing sectors have contracted due to domestic and global economic conditions are seeing declines in individual and family income. Additional impacts can be seen, these include:

· BC has led Canada in child poverty for seven consecutive years, with the majority of poor children living with their families, often in single parent families;

· Individuals are exhausting their unemployment benefits with no employment available to the thousands who have lost their jobs;

· Individuals who have never before applied for income assistance are being forced to do so, with rising costs to provincial governments;

· More and more individuals are being forced to take temporary, part-time and insecure employment to survive;

· Increasing rates of poverty for many seniors is impacting their ability to afford the necessities of life on fixed incomes;

· High costs for housing and a lack of rent controls often place renters into unstable housing situations with fewer and fewer shelter options;

· Increases in utilities, such as heating costs, carbon taxes and the introduction of the Harmonized Sales tax (HST) are impacting the cost of living of many middle and lower socio-economic class citizens, leaving them with less to spend on things such as food;

In spite of these worsening economic conditions, both the Canadian and provincial governments are paying little attention to the warning signs of Canada’s crisis and ignoring the calls for poverty reduction plans. As conditions worsen, the demand for community and social services will increase, but by stealth, millions in government and gaming funds have been cut from the budgets of these support services around the province.

Advocacy BC joins the calls of those who say all levels of government must commit to a poverty reduction plan which includes the following strategies:

· Increased funding of affordable housing for those at high-risk, including families, seniors, people with mental, physical and developmental disabilities;

· Raising the minimum wage in BC and increasing the rates for income and disability assistance, with supports that encourage and facilitate individuals in transitioning into the workforce;

· Increased access and subsidies for affordable early learning and child care;

· Address the low rates of income for seniors;

· Work together to create a federal housing strategy wherein the Canadian government begins to fund provincial affordable housing infrastructure;

· Maintain current levels of federal transfer payments to provincial, territorial, and First Nations governments for health and education;

· Stop cutting and increase funding of the social safety net and the social infrastructure which supports individuals and families in their communities in times of need.

The cupboard is bare for a growing number of Canadians who are looking to their governments for leadership. A civil and just society ensures that it’s most vulnerable citizens are cared for in a compassionate and humane manner. Advocacy BC asks our leaders how will BC and Canada feed our hungry citizens? What are you doing to ensure that our social contract remains intact and that our province and country retains its standing as a civil society?

Contact:

Tracey Young, MSW, RSW

Editor of Advocacy BC

Catalyst Enterprises BC

BC Statistics

(see page 20-21 for details)

94,359 individuals were assisted, March 2010

+5% change since March 2009

30% are children

11% report employment income

6% receive Employment Insurance

44% receive social assistance

21% receive disability-related income supports

60% of food banks saw an increase

The number of two-parent families requiring help has increased from 18.7% in 2009 to 19.9% in 2010.

People Power: The Community Living Sector Fights Back

2010-10-26T09:15:00.001-07:00

It's time for greatness -- not for greed. It's a time for idealism -- not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action. ~ Marion Wright Edelman

Imagine for a moment you're a person with a developmental disability. You've been living in a group home for 5 years, or maybe even 20. Your caregivers and your roommates are like family to you, maybe they are your only family, as relatives slowly age and pass away. They know you at your group home - what you like, what you don't. You enjoy their company and they enjoy yours. People at your local stores and places know you and if you need help, all you have to do is ask and you will get it. Because you are known, included and valued as a member of your local community.

Now imagine that you are told that your group home is going to close and that you have had a "review" and it's been decided that you are going to leave your family and home and go live with some strangers in what you're told is a "home share."

The new place is on the other side of the city, or even in another town, far from everything and everyone you know. Why do you have to go? Don't they know this is your family and your home? You know where everything is and you like it here. How come you weren't asked what you wanted? And your family wasn't asked either? How come they did a review but you weren't included in that? They didn't even ask you what YOU wanted or where you wanted to live!

Welcome to the world of the developmentally disabled in BC. Under the cover of secrecy, of silence and exclusion, Community Living BC has been embarking on re-assessing the care needs of individuals around the province, without their participation, involvement and inclusion. Individuals with developmental disabilities and their families have been systematically cut out of the re-assessment and decision-making process entirely, completely going against the core values and mission that CLBC was supposed to stand for.

Last night, October 25th, I attended the Skills & (Dis)Abilities Public meeting: a Community Response to Provincial Budget Cuts & Service Redesigns in BC's Community Living Sector. You didn't miss the write up in the paper, there wasn't a single journalist in attendance. Not one. But there was a huge hall filled with people who are gathering momentum in their united voice to fight back against the systematic dismantling of the sector. They are fighting back against their exclusion and the disrespect being demonstrated towards those who must have a say in their own lives.

A panel of six individuals with involvement in the sector, from parent advocates, to executive directors of the BC Association of Community Living and the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities and the Developmental Disabilities Association (DDA) spoke. A union representative also spoke from the BC Government & Service Employees Union (BCGEU) front line Community Social Service workers.

The common theme mentioned in many of their presentations was that the goals and mission of Community Living BC, of inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities in client-centred planning, the participation of their families and true choice in services and supports have become pipe dreams. These core values and operational principles and policies have become sacrificial lambs to cost-cutting by an unaccountable, uncommunicative, and increasingly secretive and uncaring organization.

Another theme noted was the serious lack of communication, the secrecy and exclusion of individuals in the "service re-design" that CLBC is carrying out around the province. The only word one can use to describe these actions is subterfuge, which is defined as "an evasion," "to evade, escape, flee by stealth," from subter "beneath, secretly" + fugere "flee."

Different speakers told the audience about CLBC stealthily using unproven draft assessment tools that look at an individual's current care needs, but neglect to capture individuals' past and future needs. Individuals, their day-to-day caregivers and family members, who all know them much better than assessors have been completely shut out of the re-assessment process.

The outcomes of these assessments often see individuals no longer being "qualified" to live in group homes and structured care and recommendations are made for moves to far less expensive "home shares" or "live-in roommate" situations. It should come as no surprise that the driving force and agenda behind this stealth is to close as many group homes as possible in BC.

The BCGEU just released a memo, stating it "has learned at least 10 group homes have closed or are closing across the province, with a loss of approximately 34 places (or "beds"). There's the potential for 10 (or more) additional shut downs by 2011. "

What are the objectives? For CLBC, it is pure & simple dollar savings. They have been told by the BC government, they must cut $22 million from your budget. In government speak, it's called "finding efficiencies." It doesn't matter how that happens, but do it. As mentioned in an earlier post on Advocacy BC, Gutting the Community Living and Social Service Sectors Continues, CLBC lost millions in funds (hmm, $22 million?) when Children's Services went back to the Ministry of Children & Family Development. No more cushion fund.

Another theme that stood out from the presentations was the quick pace and speed at which group homes are being closed down and the lack of time and transition-planning that many individuals are being provided to make sometimes monumental life changes.

I don't care who you are, or what your level of functioning, when major life changes are to be made, we all deserve and require time and strategic planning for making transitions so that the least disruption possible occurs. Our holistic health requires this kind of consideration, preparation and care. For many people with special needs thoughtful and well planned transitions are crucial to maintaining health, stability and dignity. We heard that this is not happening for many individuals.

The theme of the downgrading of access to services and supports was inescapable, as was the feeling expressed by many that things in the CL sector were going backwards. Family members spoke of receiving the clear message that if they did not like the changes in care for their loved ones, they were welcome to assume full-time care for their relatives. For an aging and sometimes ailing population, who love and have a right to advocate for their family members, this kind of intimidation and coercion is deeply concerning.

Some presenters provided a brief history of the system of care to individuals with developmental disabilities to bring context to what was happening today. Initially, individuals were placed in institutional care, in places such as Woodlands, Tranquille, Riverview and other places where we now know that in some cases, horrific abuses occurred, with no redress for the harm done, nor accountability.

Later, de-institionalization began, with the province moving to fund group homes administered by community agencies. These offered more of a home atmosphere with fewer clients and a greater emphasis on inclusion of individuals with disabilities in their communities. This was to be celebrated and a new day came where people with disabilities were not hidden away and they were valued, respected and treated with much more dignity, with their strengths and personhood treated with value and inclusion that most of us take for granted. The harrowing and dramatic point was made that now, in 2010, people with developmental disabilities in BC are being "auctioned off to the lowest bidder on Craiglist."

As one speaker mentioned, in the CL sector, there is room for respect for all models of care and that standards and policies that are human rights based with respect, dignity and inclusion as the foundations to care are required. We heard over and over that care and funding must be driven by an individual's needs, not the other way around and that client-centred care is the best practice model.

A final theme that was elaborated on throughout the evening was the profound lack of oversight, accountability and monitoring that the CL sector continues to operate under. Many mentioned the strong and highly respected advocacy of BC's Representative for Children & Youth for the province's young people. There was a deep longing expressed by many for a similar role where the developmentally disabled are concerned. In previous posts, I have also advocated for an independent officer of the Legislature, an Advocate for Vulnerable Persons. As we heard last night and what I know experientially as a social worker, there is a great deal of overlap in the issues facing vulnerable people and I think an inclusive office would be best to offer support and advocacy.

As was pointed out, the Community Living Authority Act (2005) is a hollow, toothless bit of ink that sets the bar very low for people with disabilities. All CLBC has to do, under Section 11 of the Act is: "provide for the delivery in British Columbia of community living support using available resources through its own employees, or by entering into agreements with the government or other persons to deliver or provide for the delivery of that support."

CLBC does not have to be accountable for how they provide services, or whether they keep accurate waitlists (or lists at all). There is no robust complaints mechanism, nor recourse for the failure of CLBC to include individuals and family members in planning, or change with respect to residential, or any other services.

A recent letter to Jane Holland, BC's Advocate for Service Quality, demonstrated very clearly the complete lack of will and absence of monitoring, oversight and monitoring of the CL sector, which leaves CLBC with the authority to basically do what it pleases, no matter the damage done to individuals, families, or the public good.

The letter, signed by the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities, the Developmental Disabilities Association, B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, Moms on the Move and B.C. Family Net Society emphasized the following concerns:

Funding and service reductions
Restriction of staffed residential options
Home sharing
Guide to Support Allocation

They further stated:

British Columbia's community living sector is in crisis. Adults with developmental disabilities are at risk, as is the residential service and community inclusion infrastructure that supports them. Service and support options are being reduced, not expanded. Individuals and families are not being consulted.

They called on Holland to use her office and authority to do a number of things, including:

End to cost-driven closures, redesigns and service reductions...
Renewed funding and support for individuals who choose group homes as their preferred residential service option...
Ensure that "adults living in residential alternatives to group homes (and their families) will be consulted to determine if they are living in their preferred residential option."
Carry out a "thorough review of home sharing costs, outcomes and best practices in B.C. and other jurisdictions, and the development and implementation of a regulatory framework for home sharing..."
Advocate for a "freeze on GSA assessments and an immediate review of the GSA tool and its application."

The shocking response from Holland was terse, dismissive and evasive, as well as entirely unhelpful:

"Thank you for your letter outlining your concerns regarding community living services and supports. As stated, of [sic]mandate includes participating in ministry and CLBC initiatives related to policy and planning, however, it does not extend to recommending the actions of other organizations. Recommendations made by my office relate directly to the calls I receive. I do appreciate your concerns and am forwarding your letter on to Community Living BC for a response."

Early Outcomes of Service Re-design

What are the outcomes? Well, like the story I told above, individuals are now seeing their group homes being shut down. They are being told, often with little notice, or transition planning, that they will go live with strangers. What they are not likely told is they will be going to live with people who answered ads on Craigslist. Don't believe me? See for yourself:

From MOMS a list of Craiglist Ads for "Home Shares"

An important consideration also mentioned was the loss of experienced, skilled and caring front line workers. Lindsay Kines, of the Times Colonist, one of the only journalists in BC who is writing on the Community Living sector has a story here that discusses this further.

Over the years, working in group homes for special needs children and youth, I've definitely worked side by side with people who had absolutely no compassion, care or any business working with individuals who require professional care. I cannot stress the importance of ethical, humanistic care that ensures the dignity and respect of individuals who can thrive in those kind of environments.

The most moving and compelling speaker of the evening was a parent advocate and a long-term care aide. She spoke of the great difficulty she had in getting help for her daughter, who required access to support and resources for her complex care needs. In a move known to far too many parents in BC, she described with pain, sorrow and heartbreak how, as parents, they had to give up their parental rights so that their child would be taken into the care of the province so that she would get the help and resources she required. No parent should ever be faced with that decision. Not one.

She described how, after years of battling her inner demons, her daughter had found a degree of stability in a group home, only to be told abruptly that her care needs had been re-assessed (without her involvement, or her family's) and that she was no longer qualified to live in her group home, which was also being closed. She was going to be introduced to the woman, a total stranger, who was to become her "home share" caregiver. The caregiver, a single woman with no training, no specialized skills or experience had not been fully informed of the severe risk of aggression, abuse and violence the young woman posed to herself and to caregivers. She was not informed of, nor able to provide for the complex care needs she had. Upon learning more, the proposed caregiver refused to provide care for her daughter.

This very personal and moving narrative painted the picture of many individuals and families involved with the CL sector. The client had no involvement, or say in her care plan. Her rights to self-determination were completely extinguished. Her family had no say in what CLBC planned to do with their disabled adult child. There was no transition, or consideration to the damage of the lack of involvement and inclusion in planning. There was no consideration of the liability, responsibility and accountability of those making these decisions if her daughter, or the proposed caregivers, or others were hurt, or worse.

Potential outcomes we were warned about, and that history has demonstrated, include the following: increasing costs associated with the use of more expensive acute care, increased hospitalizations, destabilization of mental health, increased psychiatric problems, drug and alcohol use and homelessness. Housing insecurity, public safety and strain on other systems of care will also contribute to further problems in communities around the province.

Solutions, There are Many

After small table brainstorming, participants in the meeting brought together their ideas for solutions. Many were shared and simply commonsense. Here are some of the solutions that were made:

An Independent Advocate for the Developmentally Disabled - where individuals and family members can make complaints that will be investigated;
Legislation that has teeth and sets out statutory obligations to persons with developmental disabilities;
A system that is Client-centred, based on independence and self-determination and fully includes individuals and their families in exercising their rights to choice in their care and in having their needs fulfilled.
Creation of a system that has checks and balances, that examines outcome measures and information on service quality of different types of residential resources
A system that is involved in authentic, transparent, meaningful and effective quality assurance activities and that includes a wide range of stakeholders;
An inclusive, well thought out and informed plan for service re-design that is open to feedback, identification of issues regarding changes and outcomes;
Ensure that the capacity and skills of workers in the CL sector are considered, that front line workers are retained and that work in communities is respected and valued;
The push toward paid employment for individuals with developmental disabilities is lessened;
Getting stories out to the media, through local and provincial papers and through Public Service advertisements and commercials aimed at educating;
Direct political action, such as convening in Victoria at the Legislature to let elected officials know that the CL sector deserves attention, respect and effective administration and an adequate budget;
A formal complaint and request for investigation of the CL sector by the Ombudsman;
Increase grassroots and community outreach and development;
Educate and inform MLA's, MP's and involve high profile individuals to bring attention to what is happening in the sector;
Consider the merits of Human Rights challenges and strategic litigation regarding Canada's statutory obligations under Human Rights codes and as signatories to international Conventions;
Pressure CLBC and it's leadership to live up to the organization's vision, values, mandate and mission and to be more inclusive,transparent, respectful and walk their talk where individuals with developmental disabilities are concerned and service re-design continues;
Increase individual and family advocacy and continue to enhance self-advocacy, empowerment and building capacity within the sector for individuals, for workers, for families and other stakeholders.

Conclusion

A resounding feeling of betrayal was heard throughout presentations and in the small group work. A betrayal of the BC government for not caring about people with developmental disabilities, or their families. A betrayal of CLBC to operate in good faith, with due diligence and in the best interests of clients and the public good. A betrayal of CLBC to live up to it's core vision, values, mission and mandate, which state:

We believe that individuals and their families know best when it comes to their needs, goals and planning for the future.

CLBC responds to the needs and goals of individuals and families by recognizing their abilities and contributions, sharing leadership with communities, and funding supports that honour individual choice.

Read here about what CLBC says it's values are and see if they are living up to them.

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People Power: Time for Action

Do you want to get more involved in fighting back against the unjust, unfair and secretive changes happening in the CL sector in BC? People power is how change is made.

Here are a few ideas for how you can and I'm sure you will have more too:

E-mail, or call Premier Campbell, new Minister Krueger, Jane Holland and CLBC to let them know how the service re-design is impacting you, or your family member. Or just tell them what you think about all of these changes and the impacts on others. Make sure to also let your elected MLA in your area know your thoughts too.

Find your MLA here.

Here are some e-mails & phone numbers that will help:

Premier Gordon Campbell

E-mail: gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca
Tel: 1-250 387-1715 or 604 660-3202

Kevin Krueger, Minister of Social Development (from Kamloops)

E-mail: kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca
Tel: 1-250 953-4246 or 1-250 314-6031

Jane Holland - Advocate for Service Quality

In Vancouver
phone: 604 775-1238
Fax: 604 660-1505

If you live outside Vancouver, call Enquiry BC and ask them to transfer you to Office of the Advocate for Service Quality's office at 604 775-1238

Victoria residents call Enquiry BC at 250 387-6121
Elsewhere in B.C. call Enquiry BC at 1-800-663-7867

Community Living BC

E-mail CLBC here: info@communitylivingbc.ca

Call CLBC @ 1-877-660-2522 or 604-664-0101 in Vancouver.

Rick Mowles is the CEO of CLBC. He can be reached at the above numbers and e-mail.

Denise Turner is the Chair of the CLBC Board. Call, or e-mail above to make contact with her.

You can also ask for the Director of Quality Assurance to let CLBC know what you think of their service re-design, or individual planning.

Find your local CLBC office here and ask to speak to the manager.

Make sure that your CLBC Community Councils know how you feel about the changes, or tell them your personal stories. They are there to represent the people, not CLBC, or the government. Find your Councils here.

Write a letter to the editor, or an Opinion Editorial to your community newspaper, or to the big papers. Here are the e-mail addresses for the big guys, who are mainly ignoring the Community Living sector:

The Province - provletters@theprovince.com
Vancouver Sun - sunopinion@vancouversun.com
Victoria Times Colonist - letters@tc.canwest.com
Globe & Mail - letters@globeandmail.com

Find your local community paper contacts here.

Join the Facebook page, CLBC Connections! - A place to meet for self-advocates in BC. There are probably other pages and groups too, share those with others when you find out about them.

Make sure all political parties and people who are running for office know that to get your vote, they must have a platform and plan for the Community Living sector.

Hold events in your area and include a wide range of stakeholders - individuals with developmental disabilities, family members, workers in the sector, unions, CLBC council members and local politicians. Come up with your own action plans.

World Mental Health Day: Raising Awareness & Visibility Continues

2010-10-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

A scan of news around BC and nationally demonstrates that the issue of Mental Health is completely invisible on World Mental Health Day, as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week. Not one single story, article, inspirational person mentioned in any of the corporate media. This tells us how much work we have to do on raising the visibility of an issue that will impact every single one of us at some point in time.

Each and every day across BC, thousands of children, youth, adults and seniors are living with mental illness. Any one of us can develop a mental illness. No-one is immune. It is estimated that one in five Canadians will experience mental illness this year. We are all one accident, trauma or tragedy away from having our lives, our mental and physical health impacted in ways that we can hardly imagine. At those times, we require effective and timely help, compassion and support.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada estimates that mental illness costs the Canadian economy $51 billion per year in terms of lost workdays, disruptions to the workplace and health care service use. According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report mental health mental health conditions account for 13% of mortality and disability of the total burden of health conditions.

From 1998 to 2008, 254 of BC's young people under the age of 19 took their own lives. According to the BC Coroners Service, suicide is the second most common cause of death for BC's young people, after motor vehicle accidents. Child and youth mental health services have always been inadequately funded, but with rising rates of anxiety and depression and cuts to specialized services, such as sexual abuse counselling to children and youth, too many young people are starting out their lives in fragile and difficult circumstances.

The Mental health care system is under siege in BC. The system was already too difficult to access for individuals requiring assessment, treatment and recovery from mental illness. Millions of dollars have been cut from mental health services around the province. Many individuals have lost the care and support of community mental health clinicians and other support workers who helped them cope with living with the marginalization, challenges and stigma that can be the experience of many people with chronic and severe mental illness. Psychiatric beds in hospitals have been reduced and people often can't be admitted, or are discharged prior to psychiatric stabilization and with few resources to assist in their transition back to living in the community, including housing. Adult psychiatric long-term beds are severely lacking and little planning is being done for a projected increase in the need for geriatric community and in-patient psychiatric care.

People with mental illness deserve respect, dignity and care. If someone has a chronic physical injury, or illness, we would not deny them care. In many respects, our systems of care for those who are living with mental illness are failing on an epic scale. As a social worker, I have spoken with many individuals and family members who were desperately seeking mental health services and care. For many, it is only after tragedy struck that people could access the mental health assessment, treatment and rehabilitation programming that they required.

Anyone who has lived with mental illness, including family and friends, know that, in spite of all of the headlines, many who are affected are inspiring and resilient people. We need only look at some of the most innovative, successful people and beautiful works of art, the most useful inventions and ideas of artists, inventors and others to see that individuals with mental illness lead meaningful and productive lives and introduce to our world ideas and works of great value to society.

It is my hope and belief that with commitment to sound and proactive public policy and adequate funding of mental health systems of care by all levels of government that we can assist and support children, youth and adults with mental illness to be healthy and reach their potential. When we realize those investments in social capital and human potential our families, communities and society will be all the more wealthy because of it.

For a comprehensive list of Mental Health & Addiction Resources see here.

Letter of the Week: Early Learning & Child Care Plan

2010-10-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Letter to the Editor, Vancouver Courier:
Tracey Young, October 6, 2010.

Re: "Shame on those parents whose kindergartner can't do their ABCs," Sept. 29 (Fiona Hughes).

I'd surmise many parents had the same reaction, possibly a defensive one, to the provocative headline of Fralic's story. I hope the important threads of the research and article aren't missed--a large number of children, a third, are entering school not ready emotionally, behaviourally or socially with developmentally normative life skills. This cuts across socio-economic, cultural and geographical areas. This raises an important opportunity to explore the reasons for this and how child-rearing has and is changing so much that children are being impacted so significantly in their early years, which I've seen as a social worker.

I recently attended a meeting at Collingwood Neighbourhood House where the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. and the Early Childhood Educators of B.C. introduced their briefing note, Our Emerging Plan for an Integrated System of Early Care and Learning in B.C. It's ambitious, sometimes idealistic and vast in scope.

It's based on the experience of the sector, research and best practices in early learning and includes a national and international focus. I encourage everyone to read this document, which offers a grassroots and made-in-B.C. vision for what kind of continuum of early learning and care we can provide our kids with the motivation of parents, leaders and child care providers in the field, other stakeholders and government. Access it at www.cccabc.bc.ca.

Young people are our most important resources and social capital. Investing in children and their care, early learning and development is the key to their futures, as well as to the health and sustainability of our communities and society.

Tracey Young,

Vancouver
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