Strategic Context
The Ministry of Children and Family Development is establishing an integrated system of services designed to meet the needs
of children and youth. The continuum of services encompass all of the Ministry's programs, including: prevention initiatives,
early intervention and child and family development, and child protection services. As part of a comprehensive transformation
process, all programs will be thoroughly evaluated and, where needed, changed to reflect a more efficient, flexible, culturally
relevant, effective approach to services for children, youth, families and communities. The Ministry continues to build on
successes to date, ongoing learning and best practices.
All communities, families, children and youth — regardless of the difficulties they may face — have substantial strengths
and can contribute to their own well-being. The Ministry is taking an approach that focuses on these strengths and addresses
the holistic and developmental needs of children and their families.
Federal Government Commitments
British Columbia works in partnership with the federal government to support early childhood development and child care services.
Recent changes in federal funding to the province to support child care have resulted in a loss of $455 million over the term
of this Service Plan. This reduction in funding to the province will challenge the Ministry and its partners to find new and
innovative ways to deliver services effectively.
The Ministry is committed to ensuring B.C. families have a range of quality, flexible, inclusive child care options, recognizing
that child care is a shared responsibility. The Ministry looks forward to strengthening its partnerships with stakeholders
including: parents, Aboriginal communities, school districts and community agencies to encourage the creation of more child
care spaces, and to support the needs of B.C. children and families.
British Columbia continues to receive funding from the federal government under the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning
and Child Care to support early childhood development. The province is working with the federal government to secure a continuation
of the federal contribution to support these services.
Independent Reviews of Ministry Services
During 2006/07, the Ministry received feedback from a number of external reviews concerning child welfare practices. Reviews
have been forward looking, constructive and focused on continual improvements in the protection of children and youth. The
Ministry has already made significant progress in implementing improvements to its practices. The Ministry remains committed
to ongoing review of practices and policies to ensure that it builds on current successes and that services reflect best practices.
Increasing Integration and Collaboration with Other Ministries
In collaboration with other ministries, the Ministry leads the following priorities to support its goals:
- working with the Ministries of Health and Education to examine and improve service delivery for children and youth with special
needs and their families. This includes: reviewing best practices around the world to improve access to services, establishing
common criteria for eligibility, and achieving accountable, quality service delivery. This collaborative approach is currently
guiding planning in the areas of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and early hearing and intervention
services;
- working with eight partner ministries to develop a new Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Provincial Plan for 2007/08 to 2010/11.
The plan will summarize government-wide progress, establish government-wide priorities to address Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder,
and in consultation with community groups including Aboriginal organizations, incorporate the development and delivery of
culturally appropriate services to Aboriginal children, youth and families; and,
- implementing (in 2007/08) year five of the Child and Youth Mental Health Plan for British Columbia to improve the effectiveness
and efficiency of existing services and provide significant enhancements to service capacity.
The Ministry is working in collaboration with other ministries on the Social Sector Integrated Information Management Project
to support the integrated, coherent delivery of social services. The project will include operational, front line and aggregate
information for decision-makers at the program, ministry and sector level in a secure, privacy protecting manner.
Community Engagement
The Ministry continues to shift away from "top-down" service delivery to a more responsive system where community engagement
in decision-making and service delivery are key priorities. The Ministry is proceeding with the devolution of authority and
decision-making to the local level.
The Ministry is supporting Aboriginal people in developing their own governance models. As the first phase in this process,
those Aboriginal planning committees that are ready to move forward to Interim Authorities will be supported to proceed as
a Ministry priority.
Quality Assurance
The Ministry has — and oversees the use of — a wide range of quality assurance mechanisms including: the accreditation of
service delivery organizations, audits, case reviews, evaluation, monitoring and reporting to ensure that planning decisions
are linked to client satisfaction, efficiency, effectiveness and access. Staff and service providers follow local and international
best practices to continually improve the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of services.
The Ministry is adopting comprehensive quality assurance mechanisms that are more integrated with ministry practices and build
on the strengths of the Ministry, agencies and service providers. The Ministry is also assessing existing quality assurance
mechanisms to ensure they align with the new approach. The Ministry will continue to support the accreditation of ministry
and Community Living British Columbia contracted service providers and the implementation of performance-based contracts to
help ensure that contracted service providers deliver efficient services that benefit children, youth, families and communities.
Demographic Changes
The following shifts and projections for the B.C. population may affect the demand for ministry services:
- The total population of children and youth (aged 0-18 years) in B.C. is approximately 900,000. Since 2000/01, this population
has declined by 5 per cent and is projected to continue to decrease through to 2009/10;
- B.C.'s population of children aged 0-6 is projected to increase by 2.1 per cent from 2005/06 to 2009/10;
- Aboriginal children accounted for 9.3 per cent of the total child population in 2005/06 — up from 9.0 per cent in 2000/01;
and,
- Aboriginal children continue to be disproportionately represented among children in the Ministry's care. Overall, the number
of children in care declined by 11.3 per cent between 2000/01 and 2005/06 while the number of Aboriginal children in care
increased. Of the B.C. child population, approximately 1 in 100 children are in the Ministry's care. Approximately 1 in 20
Aboriginal children are in the Ministry's care and approximately 50 per cent of all children in care are Aboriginal (Chart 1).
Chart 1. Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Children in Care Caseloads
Workforce Changes
The Ministry is well served by a committed and professional workforce and is finding ways to support staff, particularly those
who work in direct service delivery. However, as the workforce ages, a higher number of staff with significant experience
are planning for retirement. There will be increasing competition for qualified staff, creating challenges for ministries
and government, especially in rural communities. The Ministry's workforce issues vary from those of other ministries, particularly
in the move to Aboriginal led service delivery.
To address these challenges and support the Ministry's workforce, ministry activities will include: building workforce capacity
to support the move to Aboriginal led service delivery; enhancing capacity at the direct service delivery level to improve
practice and develop skills that ensure an adequate level of social work services are maintained; and, defining the Ministry's
future service delivery through collaborative consultation with community partners and regions. The Ministry is also addressing
these challenges through its contribution to the government's Corporate Human Resources Plan. The plan can be viewed at:
http://www.bcpublicservice.ca/hrplan/CHRP_Oct06.pdf.