2003/04 – 2005/06 SERVICE PLAN Ministry of Children and Family Development

Consistency with Government
Strategic Plan

Government Goal 1: A Strong and Vibrant Economy

Government Strategy: Innovation and Economic Growth (all ministries)

Develop and implement a long-term economic development strategy

• This Service Plan is the second of MCFD’s annual three-year Service Plans, to publicly establish the ministry’s key accountabilities, performance measures and targets for service delivery.
• The ministry will continue to focus on its fiscal 2004/05 budget target. Over the next two fiscal years, the ministry’s budget will decrease. It is critical that the ministry meets its target while preserving service delivery to the most vulnerable children and families of the province.
• The ministry will continue to reconfigure its contracts and services to advance and support a community-based system of family development services to promote innovation, equity and accountability.

Expand partnerships with the federal government to promote growth and economic development in British Columbia

• The ministry will continue to work cooperatively with the federal government to develop and/or maintain initiatives including areas such as early childhood development, youth justice, mental health and prevention of sexual exploitation of children and youth.
• The ministry is committed to a cross-ministry, integrated early childhood development strategy, to facilitate families and communities to be better able to enhance outcomes for their children.
• Early childhood development (ECD) will continue to be a priority. The ministry is investing in a full range of ECD programs and services that can provide a child a lifetime of benefits.
• With a provincial government early childhood and family development spending increase of $20 million in 2002/03, new and existing programs are being supported, such as strategic investments to help parents learn to keep their children safe and strengthen their developmental health.
• The ministry will continue working to develop new strategic partnerships with the federal government and participate collaboratively in vital programs in others areas, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder preventative awareness initiatives.

Government Strategy: Management of Government
(all ministries)

All ministries will meet their budget and Service Plan targets

• The ministry will remain committed to preserving services to vulnerable clients while achieving all budget and Service Plan targets.
• The ministry will continue its commitment to promoting family and community capacity to care for their own vulnerable children, families and adults with developmental disabilities, with a focus on resiliency-building.
• The ministry will continue seeking new and innovative ways to serve vulnerable clients through services with evidence-based outcomes while achieving budgetary and performance targets.

Reform the province’s Crown corporations so that they focus on public services, efficiency and effective service delivery (all ministries)

• The ministry will continue to focus on sustaining positive, productive working relationships with relevant Crown corporations within its commitment to high-quality services based on principles of effectiveness and efficiency.

Promote and sustain a renewed professional public service (all ministries)

• The ministry is dedicated to promoting and sustaining a renewed professional public service that will be characterized by service excellence, work environment excellence, and people excellence.
• Over the three-year period of this Service Plan, the ministry will focus on successfully achieving the goals and outcomes identified in its Human Resource Management Plan (page 28).

Establish public-private partnerships or other alternative service delivery arrangements for capital infrastructure and program delivery (all ministries).

• The ministry will continue to make rapid progress in working collaboratively with committees, planning groups, community-based partnerships, and other governments and organizations to develop community governance. An interim community living authority, five interim chief executive officers and regional planning committee chairs are established, and a parallel process is leading to five separate regional Aboriginal authorities.
• The Minister of State for Early Childhood Development established the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Legacy Fund at the Vancouver Foundation in 2001/02. By the end of March 2002, the ministry had invested $5 million in the fund, to help community groups build local capacity to serve children up to age six and their families. It is anticipated that businesses, foundations, individuals, non-profit and professional groups in the private sector will build the fund to approximately $10 million by 2005, to benefit province-wide community-based ECD initiatives.
• For 2005/06, the ministry has targeted an expanded number of public/private/community partnerships to promote ECD initiatives to a total of eight, up from only one in 2001/02.
• The ministry is ensuring resources are focused on protecting children at risk in their own homes whenever possible, and will continue developing new strategies to increase the number of adoptions of children in permanent care. Resources are being dedicated to building family capacity through supports rather than removing children from their homes.
• A provincial authority for pooled administrative services may achieve some economies of scale by sharing resources for information technology infrastructure and administration.
• A permanent provincial community living authority will be established in fall 2003.
• In 2004/05, five permanent child and family development regional governance boards and chief executive officers will have been recruited and the full transfer of staff, contracts and resources to the permanent boards will be complete. Five Aboriginal regional authorities are anticipated for 2005/06.

Government Goal 2: A Supportive Social Fabric

Government Strategy: Flexibility and Choice

Facilitate a community-based approach to ensure access to high-quality and cost-effective health, education and social services.

• Consultation with communities and citizens that led to the introduction of the Community Services Interim Authorities Act has been one of the most extensive in the development of social policy programs in Canada.
• A memorandum of understanding signed between the Province and Aboriginal leaders established the Joint Aboriginal Management Committee representing all major Aboriginal organizations and the provincial government. The committee will make decisions about issues relating to the safety and well-being of Aboriginal children and families as government transfers child protection and family development resources and services to regional authorities, as will the work of the regional Aboriginal planning groups.
• The ministry will examine new opportunities for parental education initiatives in areas such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder awareness and infant development programs, to help build family and community capacity and resiliency.
• Legislative changes allow for enabling agreements with a family’s relatives and close friends and new family conferencing provisions. In most cases, children can be best cared for within their families.

Provide individualized funding, service and support options to children, youth, families and adults with developmental disabilities.

• New treatment options increased the number of children under age six years receiving early intensive therapies for autism, from 75 to 500. The new options include an individualized funding program to help families with the cost of behavioural treatment and interventions of their choice. Also, other families can use contracted services under the ministry’s early intensive behavioural intervention program.
• Intervention services for children and youth with autism will be moving to a provincial authority for community living services once it is established.
• Board members were appointed for the interim authority for community living services in winter 2002, and a work plan will be developed with initiatives regarding individualized funding undertaken as part of the plan.

Government Strategy: Access

A sustainable child care system in which families can choose from a range of available, affordable, safe, quality child care options that meet their diverse needs; that support families to achieve their educational and employment goals and that support the healthy development of children.

• The refocused Supported Child Care program will continue to be a key component of government’s early childhood development services; it is available to eligible families whose children need extra support to take part in the broader child care system due to one or more challenges.
• The Children and Family Development and Human Resources ministries are collaborating to help low income families with identified child protection risks receive more timely financial assistance regarding the child care subsidy.
• The ministry will continue to work with other ministries and partners to promote a high-quality, sustainable child care system for the families of British Columbia.

Government Strategy: Results-oriented and Evidence-Based Accountability

Implement and manage performance-based accountability agreements for publicly funded agencies including health, education and social services.

• The ministry will continue to focus on strategic investments in programs that are evidence-based, produce measurable results and empower children, families and their communities toward real and positive change in the quality of their lives.
• The ministry is reconfiguring its contracts and services to advance and support a community-based system of family services that promotes innovation, equity and accountability.
• The ministry’s three-year Service Plan provides certainty, including through the use of specific performance measures and targets for key programs and services, to enhance accountability and a results-based orientation.
• The Corporate Accountability and Performance Framework has been developed in advance of the ministry moving to community-based governance and can be viewed on the ministry’s web site (www.mcf.gov.bc.ca).
• Once the permanent regional and provincial authorities are in place, both the ministry and authorities will be required to produce annual three-year service plans, annual service reports; and develop and implement performance management systems within their respective organizations. They will also be required to adhere to program standards, and demonstrate compliance with service-related legislation and regulations, and maintain performance agreements.

Government Strategy: Enhance individual and community capacity

Provide supports and incentives to enhance local responsiveness to community and family needs.

• The provincial authority for community living services, five regional child and family development authorities, and five regional Aboriginal authorities are being created to improve front-line community service delivery.
• Creation of the authorities will allow reform to be driven at the community level where services can be tailored to unique local needs and strengths.
• Government added $20 million in new funding for early childhood and family development in fiscal 2002/03.
• The ministry’s expanding Make Children First learning sites initiative, together with many provincial communities, will continue to help improve early identification of young children needing added educational, physical or social support before they reach school age.
• New legislation is expanding the range of support options available to social workers, by allowing a child to be placed in the custody of extended family members or friends of the family.
• The ministry will continue to focus on promoting and developing the capacity of families and communities to care for and protect their own vulnerable children and youth, and support adults with developmental disabilities. Over the past year, the average number of children in the care of the ministry has declined, for the first time in about a decade. As well, the number of children in permanent care placed in adoptions has grown, from 162 in 2000/01, to 227 in 2001/02 — and a further 250 adoption placements are targeted for 2002/03.

Enhance social development for Aboriginal people

• The signed memorandum of understanding between the Province and Aboriginal leaders symbolizes the Province’s commitment to working with First Nations to provide them with greater authority over child care decisions and work to achieve this goal will continue.
• Aboriginal transition committees will work with Aboriginal communities to enhance their capacity to deliver a full range of family support and developmental services.
• The number of Aboriginal communities with early childhood development programs is targeted to increase to 29 communities by the end of 2002/03; and further increases are planned over the next three years.

Government Goal 3: Safe, Healthy Communities and a Sustainable Environment

Government Strategy: Community Services and Infrastructure

Establish workable relationships with First Nations communities

• Regional Aboriginal authorities will be able to support better services for Aboriginal children and families. Five Aboriginal regional planning groups, supported by the Joint Aboriginal Management Committee, will guide this work. Permanent regional Aboriginal authorities are anticipated for 2005/06.
• The ministry will continue to actively support the principles of the memorandum of understanding between the Province and B.C.’s Aboriginal leaders, and is dedicated to working collaboratively with First Nations communities to help them build greater capacity to care for their own children and families. The ministry fully supports the need for Aboriginal communities to be empowered to assist their own children and families to ensure more positive outcomes.