Firing the advocate

Feb 10, 2002

Government Prepares to Fire Independent Advocate for Children

Do you suppose the new Children's Officer who will report to the Attorney General will ever send a letter like this? Do you suppose that having the courage to send such a letter contributed to the decision to rescind the Child, Youth and Family Advocate Act?

Note: Since the following letter was written the Ministry released its service plan on January 17, 2002 - Black Thursday. It calls for the number of staff in the Ministry to be reduced from 5,076 to 1,191 - a reduction of 77.1%. 2,800 will be transferred to new children's aid societies (not seen in BC since the early 1970s). The Ministry's budget is to be reduced by 23%. At a staged cabinet meeting on February 7, 2002, the Attorney General indicated that the position of Child, Youth and Family Advocate will be eliminated once legislation to that effect can be introduced.

An Open Letter to Children and Youth in Care in British Columbia

Just before the New Year, the Minister of Children and Family Development (MCFD), Gordon Hogg, said that the budget for children and youth services would be cut by 30%, or $460 million. Children and youth who are in government care, and the people who care about them, have been phoning my office. They are worried about this cut and the changes in government that they are hearing about. I'm worried, too, and that's why I'm writing to you today.

Nobody really knows what these changes are, but there are lots of rumours.

During this time of change, it's really important to remember that your rights as a child or youth in care can protect you. These rights are in fact laws. They are meant to guarantee that you will be treated well while you're in care and that you get what you need. You aren't guaranteed a Nintendo™ player or season's tickets to the local hockey team games. But, your rights do guarantee you the services and opportunities that you need — for example, opportunities to participate in school field trips or join a soccer team, or services such as counselling or tutoring to help with your school work.

If you're reading this letter and thinking that your life in care is going pretty well and the services are there when you need them, that's great! Hopefully, this reminder about your rights will help you in the future, if things change for you.

But, if things aren't working well for you now, there are things you can do. If you don't know about your rights or how they work, ask your social worker or foster parent and they can talk to you about them. You can also find a copy of your rights and other stuff at our website, (www.advokids.org). Your foster parent and social worker need to listen and take seriously what you have to say about what you need. That's one of your rights — "to be consulted and to express your views… about significant decisions." In our experience, most foster parents and social workers listen well most of the time. But, like all of us, they may be having a bad day or hearing from their bosses that there is no more money, so it might be hard for them to listen to you.

If you disagree with their decision, you have a right to ask them or their boss to have another look at it. Now, telling a person in power that they may have made a mistake can be a hard job. Ask for help from people you know and trust — teachers, youth workers, friends, your family — anybody who knows how things work and can help you safely figure out what to do.

If you don't know someone who can help you, call our office (1-800-476-3933). Usually we can give you the information and support you need to make your views known, or we can support someone you trust to help you with the problem. Sometimes we become directly involved, if you want, by talking with your social worker or their boss. Our job is to make sure your views about what you need are heard and taken seriously by people who can do something about your problem. As one youth in care told us, "Advocacy is about having my say but not always getting my way."

We also tell the government in Victoria about the important things that you, foster parents and social workers tell us you need. For example, we have said that children and youth in care are very clear that the services they receive are important to them. We've told them that older youth in care continue to need services that work for them. We've told them that there should not be budget cuts in child and youth services.

If you have views about what we should be telling the people who make decisions in Victoria, write or call us at:

Ms. Laverne MacFadden
Acting Child, Youth and Family Advocate of British Columbia
Box 6, Suite 600, 595 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
V6C 2T5
Phone: 1-800-476-3933
Fax: 604-775-3205
Email: info@advokids.org

Or write to the boss of all the foster parents and social workers. His name is:

Mr. Gordon Hogg
Minister of Children and Family Development
STN Prov Govt, PO Box 9057
Victoria, BC
V8W 9E2
Phone: 1-800-660-2421
Fax: 250 387-9722
Email: Gordon.Hogg@gems3.gov.bc.ca

And remember, if you have problems getting the services you believe you need, you can call us at 1-800-476-3933.

Yours truly,

Laverne MacFadden
Acting Child, Youth and Family Advocate of British Columbia

February 7, 2002

Children at Risk

Children and their families will be put at serious risk if government proceeds with its plan to eliminate independent checks on the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Attorney General Geoff Plant is proposing to fire the Children's Commission and the Child, Youth and Family Advocate. They will be replaced with a staff person who reports to him. That will be someone who could be fired if they blew the whistle. Of course government is about to demonstrate that it can also fire indepedent officers of the legislature by rescinding the legislation that establishes the position. Does that send a message to other "independent" officers?

The pending hatchet job was set up by a lawyer appointed by the Attorney General to write a report on "Core Services" of the Children's Commission. The report recommends that the Children's Commission's complaint process be replaced by going up the pecking order with the staff who made the decision - from the social worker, to the supervisor, and so on until the Regional Executive Director is finally reached. While they are at it they might as well eliminate the courts and have the police rule on who should go to prison - oops, they are closing court houses and prisons.

Premier Campbell and his gang, who mercilessly beat on the former government for every disaster that struck a child, now wants to go into hiding at the same time that it is cutting services and putting children at risk.

The proposal establishes a new "Children's Officer" to replace the advocate. The report's author recommends:

"With respect to complaints, the children's officer will, for the most part, not provide direct individual advocacy services to children and families, but will have an important role in removing barriers to children advocating for themselves and family and interested community members advocating on behalf of children. The children's officer's goal will be to ensure that in the child welfare system, the child's perspective is always considered and the child's interests are the focus of the decision-making process." (emphasis added)

Government is seriously proposing that families who have difficulties with the Ministry of Children and Family Development advocate for themselves after the independent authorities have been fired - if they don't like it they can work their way up to the Regional Executive Director.

The same kind of nonsense is recommended for monitoring the Ministry. The report recommends that the role of the Children's Commission be replaced by the Ministry "alone carrying out systematic audits of plans of care." If that isn't having the fox guard the hen house, nothing is.