Strategic Context

Throughout 2005/06, the Ministry of Children and Family Development served a wide range of clients from communities throughout British Columbia, including some of the most vulnerable people in the province. Our mandate was to advance the safety and well-being of children and youth; to advance early childhood development; and to support a sustainable, flexible, community-based system of family services that promote innovation, equity and accountability.

The following section provides a summary of challenges, risks and mitigation strategies, and highlights the external and internal factors that affected the ministry throughout 2005/06.

Challenges, Risks and Mitigation Strategies

A number of factors posed significant risks to the ministry's ability to meet its goals, objectives and performance targets in 2005/06. A number of the ministry's programs and services are demand driven (e.g., child care subsidy, child care operating funding). Other programs are provided to meet health and safety needs (e.g., particular services for children with special needs) or are required through legislation (e.g., child protection services, youth justice). It is often challenging to accurately predict and plan for services. Ongoing challenges include: changing demographics, reporting capacity and meeting the changing expectations for services from clients, their families and the public.

The ministry's service delivery system is complex and is dependent on a diverse range of community-based contracted service agencies. Challenges included the potential for inconsistent service delivery, as 53 per cent of ministry services are delivered through approximately 5,600 third party contracts. An additional challenge is a lack of adequate information systems infrastructure that compromises the integrity of the data used to monitor and report on performance; including data provided by contracted service providers.

The following strategies were used in 2005/06 to help the ministry manage and address identified risks and challenges:

The ministry also emphasized and applied research-based approaches and practices in order to provide staff, service providers and community partners with the tools they need to support the planning and delivery of services and, ultimately, to support better outcomes for children, youth and families.

External Factors

Independent Reviews of Ministry Services

In the fall of 2005, significant public concern centered on the tragic death of a First Nations child. At the time the child was being cared for by relatives under a "kith and kin" agreement facilitated by a delegated Aboriginal child welfare agency.

Throughout the fall, five external reviews were initiated. Three of the five reviews have now been received by government. The first two reviews were completed by the Child and Youth Officer and focused on the administrative aspects of the ministry's internal review of the case. These two reports are available at: http://www.gov.bc.ca/cyo/popt/javascript_version/investigation_reports.htm.

The third review, B.C. Children and Youth Review, available at: http://www.childyouthreview.ca/down/BC_Children_and_Youth_Review_Report_FINAL
_April_4.pdf was completed by the Honourable Ted Hughes and relates to advice on the system of reviewing child deaths, child advocacy, the monitoring of the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the public reporting aspects of those issues. The remaining two reviews will look at the systemic issues related to "kith and kin" agreements and service delivery by Aboriginal agencies and the particular circumstances related to the decision-making on the placement of the sibling of the First Nations child.

Some early feedback received during 2005/06 was consistent with the series of improvements the ministry had already begun to make internally. These improvements primarily addressed the issue of quality assurance in the child welfare system and included: implementation of a common audit tool for Aboriginal agencies to support reviews of specific child welfare practices; continued development of management information systems to improve the tracking of fatalities, critical incidents and recommendations; and new online case audit supports for social workers. The ministry also evaluated and revised practice standards for delegated Aboriginal agencies.

There will always be risks associated with serving children and families, many of which are beyond the ministry's control. However, improvements to quality assurance and the planned implementation of recommendations from external reviews will help to mitigate these risks in the future.

Change in Federal Government

In 2002/03, an estimated 54 per cent³ of B.C. children aged 0–12 (approximately 300,000 children) received child care services while their parents worked, went to school or participated in community activities. Since then, demand for child care has continued to rise. In recent years, B.C. has partnered with the federal government through multi-lateral agreements to provide accessible, affordable quality child care.

British Columbia signed the most recent of these, the Early Learning and Child Care Bilateral Agreement-in-Principle in September 2005. It provided the framework for integrated early learning and child care where children and families benefit from increased quality, more developmental programs, and greater early learning and child care opportunities. The agreement was to provide $633 million over five years to enhance early learning and child care in B.C. in regulated settings for children under the age of six. In February 2006, a new federal government was elected and subsequently cancelled the Early Learning and Child Care Bilateral Agreement-in-Principle. The Province will receive funding for 2006/07 but it will be the last year of federal government support under this agreement.

The new federal government has made commitments to child care through a universal child benefit plan. The provincial government remains committed to its vision to provide access to quality early learning and child care in B.C. communities. The ministry will continue to work with the federal government, and with other provinces and territories, to encourage the creation of more child care spaces, and to advocate for the needs of B.C. children and families.

3	The April 2006 release of Statistics Canada's Summary of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth shows that the number of families using child care increased to 54% in 2002/03, up from 42% in 1994/95.

Demographic Changes

In British Columbia, the child and youth population (aged 0–18 years) is approximately 900,000 or 21 per cent of the province's total population. Since 2000/01, the child population has declined by 5 per cent. The non-Aboriginal child population declined by 5.4 per cent, while the Aboriginal child population declined by 1.2 per cent. As a result, Aboriginal children make up a growing proportion of the total B.C. child population, increasing from 9.0 per cent in 2000/01 to 9.4 per cent in 2005/06. See Table 1.

The number of children in care decreased by 13.6 per cent from 2000/01 to 2004/05, while increasing slightly in 2005/06. The number of Aboriginal children in care has increased while the number of non-Aboriginal children in care has decreased. See Chart 1.

Aboriginal children continue to be disproportionately represented and account for 49 per cent of children in care. Therefore, the ministry continues to work with Aboriginal communities to enhance their capacity to support the well-being of Aboriginal children, youth and families.

Table 1.

Data Source: Decision Support Branch, MCFD; Total Child population is based on 0–18 population data from BC STATS.

 

While the number of youth aged 12 to 17 years has remained relatively stable (325,086 in 2001/02 and 319,913 in 2005/06), the rate of youth in custody has declined from 7.9 to 4.2 per 10,000 over the same time period. Aboriginal children represent 38 per cent of youth in custody.

Children and Youth with Special Needs

There are approximately 52,000 children and youth with special needs in B.C. These children require medical, health, educational and social supports to participate fully in family, school and community life. Improvements in diagnostic tools, in addition to increased public awareness of special needs and advances in medical science and technology, have contributed to increased demand for services. Demand for services are driven by the often complex needs of clients.

The ministry will continue to address demand in this area by increasing access to services and reducing waiting times; improving service delivery using current research to improve both outcomes and service efficiency; increasing emphasis on early identification of special needs and early intervention; maintaining a skilled and responsive workforce; assisting in the development of recruitment, retention and training strategies; and furthering cross-ministry coordination and collaboration at provincial and regional levels.

Children and Youth at Risk

Despite everyone's best efforts, some children experience negative influences that affect their well-being. Some develop serious mental health problems. Others are abused, neglected, sexually exploited or at risk for other reasons. As it is in our common interest to see the children and youth of B.C. thrive, the ministry provides services to prevent and reduce these risks, and to support the positive growth and development of children and youth.

Government receives approximately 30,000 reports of children and youth in need of protection every year. While this number has remained fairly constant since 2001/02, the numbers of children and youth in ministry care have been declining — from 10,498 in March 2001 to 9,157 in March 2006. These figures include children and youth with special needs and those in care by parental agreement. There are fewer children in care primarily due to practice shifts that encourage the placement of children and youth at risk with extended families, friends or community members, rather than the ministry. The ministry continues its efforts to find adoptive homes for children in permanent care.

The ministry also serves children and youth affected by mental illness and those youth considered to be high-risk. Approximately 140,000 (15 per cent) of B.C.'s children and youth experience some form of mental disorder that impairs their functioning at home, at school, with peers and in the community. An estimated one per cent of 16–18 year-olds (about 1,700 individuals) are considered high-risk and are in situations that jeopardize their safety and well-being. These individuals have particularly complex needs, often compounded by a growing desire for independence as they approach adulthood, which can encourage resistance to accessing services.

Risks in this area include that services are driven by client needs that are often complex and the system's capacity to provide those services is finite. The ministry addresses these risks by working to continually improve its service delivery practices, consistent with current research to improve both outcomes and service efficiency; maintaining a skilled and responsive workforce; progressive implementation of B.C.'s Child and Youth Mental Health Plan; and providing tools to support effective and accountable service delivery by ministry staff, community partners and contracted service providers.

Internal Factors

Great Goals for a Golden Decade

The government's Strategic Plan for 2006/07 – 2008/09 is built around Five Great Goals:

These goals provide an overarching focus and direction for all provincial ministries and agencies. MCFD's work in 2005/06 focused on supporting the first three Great Goals.

MCFD assumed a leadership role with other government ministries and agencies to identify opportunities to strengthen linkages between and among early learning, child care and early childhood development initiatives to improve school readiness and school performance. These initiatives will help make British Columbia the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent.

The ministry contributed to Great Goal 2 through health and physical fitness initiatives in child care centres and, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, through the ActNow! BC initiative. ActNow! BC is a comprehensive health promotion program combining cross government and community-based approaches to address common chronic disease risk factors through programs and initiatives that support healthier eating, physical activity, ending tobacco use and promoting healthy choices during pregnancy.

MCFD contributed to Great Goal 3 through its ongoing commitment to, and improvements in, child protection, family support, implementation of the Child and Youth Mental Health Plan, services to children and youth with special needs and their families, and services for individuals with developmental disabilities. MCFD worked closely with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to improve prevention, screening, assessment, diagnosis, intervention and support services for children and youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and other complex developmental behavioural conditions. The ministry continued to review and make improvements to its service system with its ministry partners to improve developmental and educational opportunities for vulnerable children and youth.

MCFD worked in collaboration with other ministries to review and identify opportunities that will help support the needs of children and youth in the province to ensure that they have the strongest start possible.

Quality Assurance

During 2005/06, in tandem with independent and external reviews, the ministry reviewed areas in which it could improve its performance and services. Quality assurance was a focus, and the ministry developed a number of strategies to strengthen service monitoring, reporting and accountability. Quality assurance is the assessment and review of whether a ministry service meets pre-determined standards, policies, practices and legislative requirements. The ministry improved contracting practices by moving to performance output-based contracting.

The ministry also supported the accreditation of 161 contracted agencies. Accreditation is a requirement of agencies that receive $500,000 or more annual ministry funding. Provincial Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services also became accredited and the accreditation process was well underway for the Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre and the Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre. Achieving and maintaining accreditation means that the organization meets internationally recognized service standards that focus on effectiveness, efficiency, accountability and accessibility, and benefits adults with disabilities, children, youth and their families.

Community Living Services

On July 1, 2005, Community Living British Columbia (CLBC) was formally established as a provincial Crown agency, dedicated to ensuring that individuals with developmental disabilities have opportunities to participate in, and contribute to, their communities and to live a full and valued life. CLBC is responsible for directing operations, enforcing standards and managing funds related to the delivery and transformation of services. The ministry retains responsibility for funding, performance agreements, and monitoring and assessing accountabilities for the agency. For further information regarding CLBC please go to: http://www.communitylivingbc.ca.

During 2005/06, CLBC was the main point of contact on behalf of MCFD for children's community living services. MCFD and CLBC worked together during the year to support CLBC's vision of providing independent planning support and family support services for children and youth with developmental disabilities and their families in accordance with the Children's Agreement.⁴ We will continue to work together to ensure those with developmental disabilities and their families are well served.

4	For additional information on the Children's Agreement: http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/about_us/pdf/fs_childrens_agreement.pdf.