Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth · 2016-10-24 · October 24, 2016 To the...

Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth

Annual Report 2015-16

F I R S T R E P O R T F I F T H S E S S I O N F O R T I E T H P A R L I A M E N T

OCTOBER 2016

October 24, 2016

To the Honourable Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia Honourable Members: I have the honour to present herewith the Annual Report 2015-16 of the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth.

The Report covers the work of this Committee from April 13, 2015 to April 14, 2016.

British Columbia’s first Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, is nearing the completion of her second five year term as Representative. On behalf of all Members of the Legislative Assembly, the Committee would like to thank Ms. Turpel-Lafond for her support to the Committee and its Members during her two terms as Representative, and for her distinguished work and many contributions to children and youth, and their families, across our province.

Respectfully submitted,

Jane Thornthwaite, MLA Chair

Table of Contents

Composition of the Committee ............................................................................................................................. i

Terms of Reference .................................................................................................................................................... ii

The Work of the Committee ................................................................................................................................... 1

Representative for Children and Youth, 2014/15 Annual Report and 2015/16—2016/17 Service Plan ....................................................................................................................... 3

Reports Reviewed ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

Representative for Children and Youth Report: Finding Forever Families: A Review of the Provincial Adoption System (June 2014) .................................................................................................... 6

Representative for Children and Youth Report: B.C. Adoptions Update (November 2014) ...... 6

Representative for Children and Youth Report: B.C. Adoptions Update (April 2015) .................. 6

Representative for Children and Youth Report: Paige’s Story: Abuse, Indifference and a Young Life Discarded (May 2015) ................................................................................................................... 8

Representative for Children and Youth Monitoring Report: The Thin Front Line: MCFD Staffing Crunch Leaves Social Workers Over-Burdened, B.C. Children Under-Protected (October 2015) .................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Representative for Children and Youth Report: Children at Risk: The Case for a Better Response to Parental Addiction (June 2014) ........................................................................................... 11

Representative for Children and Youth and the Provincial Health Officer Monitoring Report: Growing Up in B.C—2015 (June 2015)....................................................................................... 13

Special Project on Child and Youth Mental Health..................................................................................... 16

Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth i Annual Report 2015-16

Composition of the Committee

Members

Jane Thornthwaite, MLA Chair North Vancouver–Seymour

Melanie Mark, MLA Deputy Chair Vancouver-Mount Pleasant (Member from September 8, 2016; Deputy Chair from September 26, 2016)

Doug Donaldson, MLA Stikine (Member and Deputy Chair to September 8, 2016)

Donna Barnett, MLA Cariboo-Chilcotin

Hon. Mike Bernier, MLA Peace River South (to September 28, 2015)

Marc Dalton, MLA Maple Ridge-Mission (from September 28, 2015)

Carole James, MLA Victoria–Beacon Hill

Maurine Karagianis, MLA Esquimalt–Royal Roads

John Martin, MLA Chilliwack

Dr. Darryl Plecas, MLA Abbotsford South

Linda Reimer, MLA Port Moody-Coquitlam (from March 1, 2016)

Jennifer Rice, MLA North Coast

Dr. Moira Stilwell, MLA Vancouver-Langara (to February 9, 2016)

Committee Staff

Kate Ryan-Lloyd, Deputy Clerk and Clerk of Committees

Helen Morrison, Committee Research Analyst

Alayna van Leeuwen, Committee Research Analyst

Jennifer Arril, Committee Researcher

ii Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth Annual Report 2015-16

Terms of Reference

On February 11, 2015 and March 1, 2016, the Legislative Assembly agreed that the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth be appointed to foster greater awareness and understanding among legislators and the public of the BC child welfare system, and in particular to:

1. Receive and review the annual service plan from the Representative for Children and Youth (the “Representative”) that includes a statement of goals and identifies specific objectives and performance measures that will be required to exercise the powers and perform the functions and duties of the Representative during the fiscal year;

2. Be the committee to which the Representative reports, at least annually;

3. Refer to the Representative for investigation the critical injury or death of a child;

4. Receive and consider all reports and plans transmitted by the Representative to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia; and,

On February 11, 2015, the Legislative Assembly further provided that the Committee shall:

5. Pursuant to section 30(2) of the Representative for Children and Youth Act, SBC 2006 c.29, complete an assessment by April 1, 2015 of the effectiveness of section 6(1)(b) in ensuring that the needs of children are met.

On March 1, 2016, the Legislative Assembly further provided that the Committee shall:

6. Pursuant to section 30(1) of the Representative for Children and Youth Act [SBC 2006 c. 29], undertake a comprehensive review of the Act or portions of the Act by April 1, 2017 to determine whether the functions of the representative described in section 6 are still required to ensure that the needs of children and young adults as defined in that section are met.

In addition to the powers previously conferred upon Select Standing Committees of the House, the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth be empowered:

a. to appoint of their number one or more subcommittees and to refer to such subcommittees any of the matters referred to the committee and to delegate the subcommittee all or any of its powers except the power to report directly to the House;

Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth iii Annual Report 2015-16

b. to sit during a period in which the House is adjourned, during the recess after prorogation until the next following Session and during any sitting of the House;

c. to conduct consultations by any means the committee considers appropriate;

d. to adjourn from place to place as may be convenient; and

e. to retain personnel as required to assist the committee;

and shall report to the House as soon as possible, or following any adjournment, or at the next following Session, as the case may be; to deposit the original of its reports with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly during a period of adjournment and upon resumption of the sittings of the House, the Chair shall present all reports to the Legislative Assembly.

Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth 1 Annual Report 2015-16

The Work of the Committee

The all-party Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth (the Committee) was established in 2006 to implement the second recommendation of the Honourable Ted Hughes in his 2006 BC Children and Youth Review– the first recommendation being to establish a Representative for Children and Youth. Former Justice Hughes stated that an all-party Committee would “encourage Government and the Opposition to work together to address the challenges facing the [children and youth] system.”

The Committee’s Terms of Reference continue to set out its overarching purpose of fostering “greater awareness and understanding among legislators and the public of the BC child welfare system,” and responsibilities regarding its relationship with the Representative for Children and Youth.

The Committee’s meetings provide a public forum for discussion of reports by the Representative for Children and Youth. An independent officer of the Legislature, the Representative has a mandate to review, investigate, and report on the critical injuries and deaths of children; provide advocacy services on designated and prescribed services; and monitor, review, and audit the effectiveness of these services.

This report covers the activities of the Committee from April 13, 2015, to April 14, 2016, during the Fourth and Fifth Session of the 40th Parliament. Over the course of its meetings, the Committee reviewed the Representative’s 2014/15 Annual Report and 2015/16—2016/17 Service Plan, and six investigative and monitoring reports, as well as a joint monitoring report by the Representative and the Provincial Health Officer. The Committee also completed a two-year special project examining child and youth mental health in British Columbia culminating in the January 27, 2016 release of its report titled, Concrete Actions for Systemic Change.

The Committee’s documents, proceedings, and reports are available at: https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/committees/cay

The Representative’s reports are available at: www.rcybc.ca

2 Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth Annual Report 2015-16

Meetings Schedule

April 13, 2015 Special project- Briefings

May 6, 2015 Consideration of the Representative’s reports Special project- Briefings

May 27, 2015 Special project- Briefings

June 23, 2015 Special project- Briefings

June 24, 2015 Special project- Briefings

July 16, 2015 Special project- Review of draft report

September 30, 2015 Special project- Deliberations and review of draft report

November 23, 2015 Consideration of the Representative’s reports Special project- Update on draft report

January 25, 2016 Special project- Consideration of draft report

April 14, 2016 Consideration of a Joint Report by the Representative and the Provincial Health Officer

September 26, 2016 Adoption of 2015-16 Annual Report


Representative for Children and Youth, 2014/15 Annual Report and 2015/16—2016/17 Service Plan

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, appeared before the Committee on November 23, 2015 to discuss the 2014/15 Annual Report and 2015/16—2016/17 Service Plan. Accompanying the Representative were Dawn Thomas-Wightman, Deputy Representative; Bill Naughton, Chief Investigator and Associate Deputy Representative, CID and Monitoring; and Alan Markwart, Associate Representative, Monitoring and Review.

Representative’s Presentation

The Representative opened her presentation with an update on senior staffing changes in her Office. Dawn Thomas-Wightman, who had previously served as Acting Deputy Representative, was the successful candidate from a province-wide competition to fill the position of Deputy Representative. Alan Markwart joined the Office as Associate Deputy Representative for Monitoring, Research and Audit, and Colleen Ellis filled the position of Director of Monitoring.

The Representative provided an operational report on the highlights of work under way in her Office. One significant project is a joint review with the Ministry of Children and Family Development on hotel placements. The project will consist of a historical review as well as a current look at the use of hotels as placements for children in care, including the demographics of those children, the reasons behind the use of hotel placements, and the potential risks to children in care associated with hotel stays. It is anticipated that the joint report will make recommendations on improving policy. The Office has also been working closely with Grand Chief Ed John, the special adviser to government on Aboriginal permanency, and has met with him six or seven times since his appointment in September 2015.

Turning to the 2014/15 Annual Report and 2015/16—2016/17 Service Plan, the Representative advised that she had recently presented a proposed budget submission for 2016/17 to 2018/19 to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. The Representative explained that she had sought an operating budget increase of $1.69 million for the 2016/17 fiscal year, amounting to a 21 percent rise above her Office’s operating budget for the 2015/16 fiscal year, in order to address two areas of concern.

The Representative had presented a proposal to support the Ministry of Children and Family Development in achieving better outcomes in the area of permanency planning and adoptions, through a time limited joint initiative to reduce the adoption


waiting list for children. An increase of $958,000 was sought for operating expenses in the 2016/17 to 2018/19 fiscal years, to fund eight new positions, in addition to supplementary funding in the 2015/16 fiscal year of $280,000 to create two new positions quickly, given the urgency of the adoptions file.

The Representative reported that there had been a significant increase in child death and critical injury reports from the Ministry of Children and Family Development – which had risen to 82 for the first nine months of 2015, compared with 28 for the same period in 2014 – resulting in a need for additional reviews and investigative reports on major cases and systemic issues. To address this need, the Representative had proposed an expansion of her Office’s child death and critical injuries review and investigations program by $656,000, to fund five new positions.1

The Representative advised that she and the Minister of Children and Family Development had recently hosted a very positive event to announce the youth futures education fund, which is a fund held at the Vancouver Foundation, and developed in partnership with the private sector, to support young people transitioning out of care, and into post-secondary education. The first disbursement from the fund, amounting to $200,000, had been made at the event. She advised that 11 colleges and universities were waiving tuition for young people who have aged out of care, and more than 100 students were in those programs.

The Representative provided an update on other young adult funding programs, and expressed support for a further expansion to support post-secondary tuition and living expenses as a way of enhancing post-secondary education outcomes for young people aging out of care.

Members’ Questions

The Representative was asked about increased reports of critical injuries and deaths, and how her Office makes decisions on which reports to investigate. The Committee heard that the rise

1 In its January 20, 2016 report on statutory office budgets, the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services agreed to support the Representative’s proposal for additional review and investigation resources, and to continue consideration of the Representative’s adoption advocacy proposal. The report is available at: https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/committees/40thParliament-4thSession-fgs/reports. At the May 10, 2016 meeting of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, the Committee did not approve supplementary 2016-17 funding for the proposal, but agreed to support continued dialogue and discussion with respect to adoption advocacy.


in reportable incidents is likely due to a new Ministry of Children and Family Development policy on the definition of a critical injury, and the roll-out of training for front line staff to implement this policy. The number of reported deaths has remained constant. The Representative expressed concern that her Office has not developed a strong collaborative review process with responsible government authorities. Members noted the Representative’s joint review with the Ministry of Children and Family Development concerning deaths of children in care while staying in hotels, and sought information on that review’s process. Members asked why the joint hotel review had commenced before the circumstances of death had been fully established, and Members were advised that the review was aimed at general policy and program issues regarding hotel placements for children in care. Members also asked about how child and youth advocates in other provinces measure their success; and sought details on the deterioration of the poverty project between the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the Union of BC Municipalities. The Representative explained that the families that were identified for the poverty project resided in communities where there was not a strong government presence, so the resources that could be made available were limited.


Reports Reviewed

The Committee completed reviews of six reports by the Representative, including two investigative reports and four monitoring reports. The Committee also reviewed a joint monitoring report by the Representative and the Provincial Health Officer.

Representative for Children and Youth Reports: Finding Forever Families: A Review of the Provincial Adoption System (June 2014), and B.C. Adoptions Updates (November 2014 and April 2015)

Released on June 19, 2014, Finding Forever Families: A Review of the Provincial Adoption System is a monitoring report by the Representative which examines the provincial adoption system and recommends steps to improve adoption and permanency planning outcomes. Two subsequent monitoring reports titled, B.C. Adoptions Update (November 2014, and April 2015), provided updates on the status of children awaiting adoption in the province, and recent statistics on adoption rates.

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, appeared before the Committee on May 6, 2015 to discuss the report. She was accompanied by Dawn Thomas Wightman, Deputy Representative; Bill Naughton, Chief Investigator and Associate Deputy Representative, CID and Monitoring; and Shawn Daniels, Director, Aboriginal Initiatives.


The Representative began the presentation by advising the Committee that she had stepped down as chair of the Children’s Forum, and had notified the Attorney General of this change. The Children’s Forum is an information sharing forum for BC senior officials with an interest in child protection and related services. The Representative expressed concern about the Forum’s process for the treatment of families and the accuracy of information made available to the public.

Turning to the three monitoring reports on adoptions, the Representative explained that there are more than 1,000 BC children and youth in the care of the province who are awaiting adoption. The first report followed 450 children waiting for adoption and 457 prospective adoptive families over a six-year period. Of the 450 children in the study group, only 260 were adopted. The average wait time was 31 months after being brought into care. Only 197 of the 457 prospective families completed an adoption or had a child placed with them. The average wait time from the date of applying to be an adoptive family to the finalization of an adoption was 26 months. 240 families withdrew from the program along the way. The study indicated


that an Aboriginal child waits eight times longer to find permanency in the province, and if they are in the care of a delegated agency, the wait is twenty times longer. As a result, many children are aging out of care without ever finding adoption permanency.

The Representative highlighted her recommendations to: require the Ministry of Children and Family Development to present an annual review in the Provincial Court of BC of all actions taken by the Ministry of Children and Family Development to realize adoption or other permanency measures for each child under a Continuing Custody Order; produce annual reports to each First Nations Chief and Aboriginal community on the status of children from their community who are eligible for adoption or other permanency options; and implement a simplified home study process for prospective adoptive families to replace multiple home studies.

The Representative stated that the Ministry of Children and Family Development has accepted all of the recommendations. From her perspective, 20 percent have been completed or implemented. The two subsequent monitoring reports outline progress on adoptions in the province as well as the need for continued work to address outstanding challenges.

The Representative also discussed her Office’s work with the Ministry of Children and Family Development and community stakeholders to increase the number of adoptions. This included a joint project between her Office and the Ministry of Children and Family Development to promote adoptions. In early 2015, the Representative, the Minister, and Directors of the Delegated Aboriginal Agencies hosted a forum in Nanaimo on reconciliation and the promotion of adoption and permanency for Aboriginal children. The forum was attended by over 200 front line and Delegated Aboriginal Agency staff, senior leadership from the Ministry, First Nations chiefs, and representatives from community organizations. The Ministry also led a social media campaign in November 2014, and received two $2 million funding grants to address the backlog of home studies.


Committee Members asked about the current status of plans of care, outcomes from the two $2 million funding grants provided to the Ministry of Children and Family Development to address the backlog of home studies. The Representative and Deputy Representative explained that there are inconsistencies among the Ministry offices in terms of plans of care. The complete rate is about 30 percent, and the Representative has asked the Ministry to set a standard with regard to care planning. With regard to the backlog of home studies, while the Representative and Deputy Representative did not provide detailed numbers, they explained that their office has asked the Ministry to undertake analysis on how long it takes to do a


home study and the number of staff required to complete the outstanding home studies given this.

The Committee also inquired about the Representative’s decision to step down from the Children’s Forum, and why an investigation was not conducted into the death of a specific child in 2014. The Representative responded by asserting that from her perspective, the Children’s Forum was not a collaborative process as it was designed to be.

Representative for Children and Youth Report: Paige’s Story: Abuse, Indifference and a Young Life Discarded (May 2015)

Released on May 14, 2015, Paige’s Story: Abuse, Indifference and a Young Life Discarded is the Representative’s report of an investigation into the life and drug overdose of a 19-year-old Aboriginal girl living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, appeared before the Committee on November 23, 2015 to discuss the report. She was accompanied by Dawn Thomas-Wightman, Deputy Representative; Bill Naughton, Chief Investigator and Associate Deputy Representative, CID and Monitoring; and Alan Markwart, Associate Representative, Monitoring and Review. Paige’s aunt and uncle were also in attendance to observe the Committee proceedings.


The presentation focused on Paige’s life, and how her experience with the child welfare system in BC highlighted systemic issues that may apply to other children in care in the province. Paige was born to a teenage mother who was the victim of domestic violence and suffered from serious and persistent substance abuse issues. Paige was the subject of more than 30 Ministry of Children and Family Development reports, although in the Representative’s view there should have been hundreds of reports to the Ministry. From the Representative’s perspective, Paige’s experience identified a repeated failure in the duty to report by people who work on the front lines of the system, including social workers, police officers, health care workers, educators, and those employed in the court system.

Despite the multiple reports that were made, Paige remained in the care of her mother which resulted in Paige being shuttled between homeless shelters, safe houses, detox centres, couch-surfing scenarios, foster homes, and single room occupancy environments. Paige attended 16 different schools in multiple communities, with grade seven being the last year


she completed. Seventeen different social workers were assigned to Paige’s file, but only one developed a significant relationship with her.

The Committee heard that once Paige and her mother relocated to the Downtown Eastside, the approach of the Ministry was to put the onus on Paige to ask for support. Paige became, in effect, her mother’s support person and protector. She also developed serious substance abuse issues, and was involved in over 40 police files during the three years she spent on the Downtown Eastside. The effects of substance abuse were compounded by Paige’s other medical conditions.

Paige’s aunt and uncle wanted to assist Paige and provide a home for her, but the Ministry did not support them. Four months before she turned 19, Paige was found in serious condition and placed in a foster home. She aged out of care to an apartment in a building for youth at risk, and the Ministry instructed her last foster parent to bring her belongings to the last school Paige had attended. Shortly after Paige aged out of care, she died of a drug overdose in the Downtown Eastside.

The report makes six recommendations, beginning with a recommendation that the province of BC, led by the Ministry, address the professional indifference shown to Aboriginal children and youth by many professionals who work in the field including some social workers, police, health care workers and educators. Related to this, it was recommended that the Attorney General review the reasons for a lack of enforcement of the statutorily required duty of all British Columbians to report child abuse and to take steps to promote compliance.

Recommendations in regard to Aboriginal children include: ensuring timely decisions with respect to permanency in the case of all Aboriginal children and youth in care, including the development of a fund to support Aboriginal extended family members to allow them to do kinship care; working with the Ministry of Education and the First Nations Education Steering Committee to create a system that ensures school attendance; and enhancing services to vulnerable Aboriginal children and youth in the Downtown Eastside and within the City of Vancouver. The Representative stated that the Ministry has accepted all of the recommendations contained in the report.


Committee Members asked questions and made comments about statutorily-required reporting, including resources and developmental supports to increase accountability and achieve better results; secure care; early intervention and continuing supports for children in care; communication protocols between schools and the Ministry of Children and Family Development; challenges in providing services in single room occupancy environments; the


allocation of funding for services in the Downtown Eastside; funding to support Aboriginal extended family members in the provision of kinship care; and systemic attitudes toward Aboriginal people.

The Committee heard that the Representative has called on the Ministry and the Attorney General to launch a substantial and meaningful public awareness campaign to address statutorily-required reporting. The Representative and Deputy Representative also explained other challenges, including, from their perspective, a lack of cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Representative for Children and Youth Monitoring Report: The Thin Front Line: MCFD Staffing Crunch Leaves Social Workers Over-Burdened, B.C. Children Under-Protected (October 2015)

Released on October 8, 2015, The Thin Front Line: MCFD Staffing Crunch Leaves Social Workers Over-Burdened, B.C. Children Under-Protected is a monitoring report which reviews staffing levels and the ability of front line workers to respond effectively and in a timely way when concerns about child safety are reported.

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, appeared before the Committee on November 23, 2015 to discuss the report. She was accompanied by Dawn Thomas-Wightman, Deputy Representative; Bill Naughton, Chief Investigator and Associate Deputy Representative, CID and Monitoring; and Alan Markwart, Associate Representative, Monitoring and Review.


The Representative explained that the report focused on Ministry of Children and Family Development staffing, including qualifications of staff and recruitment and retention issues. A particular focus was whether the current number of social workers on the job were meeting the timelines for services set out in legislation, policy, and standards. Interviews were conducted with 50 front line child protection staff and team leaders. The report also audited child safety reports handled by four teams in three different offices and reviewed over 200 Ministry documents and data sources.

The report found that many child safety reports remain open past appropriate timeframes. There are fewer front line child protection workers in BC than there were in 2002, resulting in offices being significantly short-staffed. The report indicates 8,200 child protection incidents remained open after 90 days, whereas the time limit for a decision is 30 days.


The report makes five recommendations, three of which involve staffing. These recommendations include: a sufficient lift in funding to fully staff front line child protection work; address recruitment and retention concerns by developing a regular semi-annual report on the overall well-being of staff in each office, combining data from the Ministry’s Work Environment Survey, short-term illness utilization, and turnover; and make the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal staff at the Ministry a higher priority. Other recommendations are to update the ten-year-old work model and better track team performance and outcomes around quality and standards to ensure that compliance and intervention meet legislative and policy requirements.


Committee Members asked about social workers’ perspectives on frequent organizational change; staffing levels in Aboriginal agencies; and rural communities as training grounds for new social workers. The Representative explained that social workers needed support, including a full staff complement, and suggested strategies for retaining social workers in rural communities such as over-recruitment, and additional location pay.

Committee Members commented on the importance of training and supervision of front line social workers; Aboriginal staffing levels in the Ministry of Children and Family Development; timelines in regard to vulnerability assessments in some rural areas; and factors that contribute to poor service timelines, including challenges in gaining access to First Nations reserves and delays in the court system.

Representative for Children and Youth Report: Children at Risk: The Case for a Better Response to Parental Addiction (June 2014)

Released on June 24, 2014, Children at Risk: The Case for a Better Response to Parental Addiction is the Representative’s report on a 10-year-old boy who suffered serious head and spinal injuries in a motor vehicle incident when he was the passenger in a vehicle with his mother and her boyfriend who had both been drinking.

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, appeared before the Committee on November 23, 2015 to discuss the report. She was joined by Dawn Thomas-Wightman, Acting Deputy Representative; Bill Naughton, Chief Investigator and Associate Deputy Representative, CID and Monitoring; and Alan Markwart, Associate Representative, Monitoring and Review.



The Committee heard about the 10-year-old boy’s care being assigned to his grandparents, and the challenges that grandparents experience when they step in to care for grandchildren whose parents have addictions, including enforcing supervised access for parents. The Representative explained that grandparents need additional tools and supports to be able to keep respectful and appropriate boundaries between the child and parents when there are addictions.

The first recommendation from the report is that the Ministry of Children and Family Development should ensure that child protection practice is focused on serving the best interests of the child, including cases where it may not be desirable to preserve the parental family unit. The Ministry should engage specialist substance use consultants to assist in safety planning for children and develop strategies and support for family members who care for the child.

The second recommendation is that the Ministry work with the Ministry of Health to create a comprehensive addictions strategy and a system of care for parents with substance abuse issues as a way of strengthening the support structure around children.


Committee Members asked about the response of the Ministry of Children and Family Development to the recommendations in the report and were advised that progress was being made on enhanced access to addictions specialists and on the review and revision of policy and practice directives to support front line work. Members also asked about follow-up with parents following release from a treatment centre; and gaps in training for social workers. The Associate Deputy Representative, CID, indicated that the Office was looking at social worker training, and acknowledged that it is possible to get a degree in social work in BC without any addictions training. Committee Members also commented on: the stress experienced by grandparents who look after young children; the importance of grandparents and the need for supports for extended family members; and the need for effective substance abuse treatment.


Representative for Children and Youth and the Provincial Health Officer Monitoring Report: Growing Up in B.C—2015 (June 2015)

Released on June 18, 2015, Growing Up in B.C. – 2015 is a joint report by the Representative and the Provincial Health Officer. It is a follow up to the first Growing Up in B.C. report that was issued in 2010, and examines the state of B.C.’s children and youth over six areas of well-being, with the voice of experts and youth prominent throughout.

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, and the Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, appeared before the Committee on April 14, 2016 to discuss the report. The Representative was joined by Dawn Thomas-Wightman, Deputy Representative; and Bill Naughton, Chief Investigator and Associate Deputy Representative, CID and Monitoring.

Joint Presentation by the Representative and the Provincial Health Officer

The Committee heard that this report looked at what, if any, improvements had been made in the past five years for children growing up in B.C., and examined gaps or differences in experience among B.C. children and youth. The report looked at six key areas of well-being: child physical and mental health; family economic well-being; child safety; child learning; child behaviour; and family, peer, and community connections. Input was solicited from academic and community experts as well as youth.

The Representative explained that, while there were some areas of improvement, there was no improvement overall, particularly for the most vulnerable children in B.C. She emphasized the need for a coordinated, government-wide plan for children (a “poverty reduction” plan) that would address the areas of deepening vulnerability, and suggested that B.C. is the only jurisdiction in Canada that does not have such a plan in place. She further explained that material deprivation or poverty is one of the key factors that leads to child vulnerability.

The Provincial Health Officer focused on indicators that influence a child’s healthy start, and highlighted some positive indicators, including: a decrease in maternal pregnancy smoking; a decrease in the number of high birth weight babies; a steady infant death rate; and a steady number of low birth weight babies. However, the Committee also heard that the number of children living under the low income cutoff rose to 11 percent in 2012, and using the market basket measure (the cost of a market basket of food instead of a low-income, after-tax measure), 21 percent of children in B.C. were living with marked material deprivation in 2012.

Turning the focus to youth, the Provincial Health Officer explained that most get an adequate amount of physical exercise and fruits and vegetables; 72 percent feel good about themselves;


86 percent had never met anyone online who made them feel unsafe; high school completion rates were increasing; and the rates of teen pregnancy, and serious violent crimes, including serious property crimes, had decreased. However, one in three children and youth reported experiencing stress or extreme stress in the last 30 days, and the rate of recurrent abuse and neglect remained steady at 20 percent.

The Representative emphasized that among Aboriginal families the levels of abuse, neglect, and maltreatment are elevated, and Aboriginal children account for nearly 70 percent of children in care, a number that continues to rise. Aboriginal children and youth are 12 times more likely than their non-Aboriginal peers to be in government care in B.C., and one in four will have contact with the child welfare system. Aboriginal children are also far more likely to receive a school leaving Evergreen diploma as opposed to a Dogwood diploma.

Both the Representative and the Provincial Health Officer highlighted gaps in data, and emphasized the importance of more comprehensive data going forward to allow for future research and analysis.


Committee Members asked about correlations between school readiness/early learning and early diagnosis, interventions, therapies and supports for young children. The Provincial Health Officer acknowledged the importance of early intervention, and added that children from low-income families who grow up in mixed-income neighbourhoods, even without additional programming, do better than children who live in low-income areas. City planning that has a mix of incomes in one neighbourhood has as much of an impact on children from low-income families as targeted social work intervention programs.

Committee Members also asked about the correlation between the number of Aboriginal children in care and the number of Aboriginal people who attended residential schools. The Representative reported that the correlation between the intergenerational impacts of the residential school experience and the involvement in child welfare is significant.

Committee Members asked about the decrease of children in care in the last five years, from 10,000 to 7,000, and other successful initiatives. The Representative explained that the number of children in care is not a stable indicator, and cautioned against viewing this statistic in isolation. Regarding successful initiatives, the Provincial Health Officer explained that the next report will include more examples of best practices; the Representative indicated that parts of the report in question highlighted promising practices, including HIPPY programs (home instruction for parents of preschoolers) and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Members commented on the number of households with children (16,000) that have severe levels of


food insecurity, and asked about the decrease from 2010 to 2011 in the median income for one-parent families.

Committee Members asked why post-secondary institutions had not waived tuition fees for certain vulnerable groups of youth as had been recommended by the Representative. The Representative clarified that 13 of 25 post-secondary institutions had either waived tuition, or had created some other type of program to lower the barrier and provide support.

Committee Members asked how ministries and provincial organizations were using the data from the report, and inquired about examples of jurisdictions that are taking a big picture approach by compiling data from various ministries to measure outcomes. While the Representative did not provide any specific examples, she emphasized that jurisdictions that have a “children’s plan” or a “poverty plan” have started to move away from a siloed approach to a focus on the “big picture.”


Special Project on Child and Youth Mental Health

In Fall 2013, the Committee agreed to undertake a special project examining child and youth mental health in British Columbia. The Committee’s November 2014 Interim Report on its first phase of the special project summarized the results of the extensive consultations undertaken by the Committee, and identified high priority areas needing improvement.

The Committee continued its special project during the reporting period. Phase two of the special project began on February 10, 2015, and focused on identifying concrete and practical initiatives to enhance child and youth mental health services and outcomes in BC. As part of the second phase in the special project, the Committee held five additional public meetings between April 13, 2015 and June 24, 2015 to hear from 23 witnesses and stakeholders, including educators, police, and clinicians.

In addition, the Committee invited written, video and audio submissions from the public over an approximately four-month period, ending on July 31, 2015. An online submission form and the following four consultation questions were provided to guide the input:

How could services for early intervention, assessment, treatment, and prevention of youth mental health issues be improved and/or integrated?

What new or enhanced community-based services is your community working on to better meet local needs? What are needed?

What services and supports are needed in schools to improve education, assessment, and treatment of youth mental health issues? What is your school district doing to help?

What actions are you taking to reduce stigma around youth mental health?

A total of 71 submissions were received from a wide range of individuals and organizations.

On January 27, 2016, the Committee completed more than two years of work on child and youth mental health with the release of its final report titled, Concrete Actions for Systemic Change. The report contains 23 recommendations, which focus on greater coordination, better accessibility, and improved service delivery. The recommendations include: the appointment of a new Minister for Mental Health to lead and coordinate child and youth mental health services; more school- and community-based hubs where mental health professionals work together in child- and youth-friendly settings; and the development of a coordinated, integrated system where there are “one child, one file” services for children, youth, and young adults.

Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth · 2016-10-24 · October 24, 2016 To the...

Documents

Transcript of Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth · 2016-10-24 · October 24, 2016 To the...