"Overall,
my observation is that the story of this Director's case
review is not a story of conspiracy and cover-up, but rather
one of organizational failure."
Child
and Youth Officer Jane Morley, February 15, 2006
The
BC
Association of Social Workers isn't buying Morley's
apology for the Campbell government. In its February 27th
news release, its spokesperson Paul Jenkinson suggested
Morley didn't ask the right questions:
"Morley
cites no evidence of political interference in her report.
However, Jenkinson wonders whether, if the concern had been
reframed to "were there political considerations taken
into account during the writing of the Ministers Review",
this question would have generated a more accurate answer
for the public. BCASW is concerned that Morley's report
leaves the impression that changes to the Terms of Reference
that eliminated a review of the Ministry and focused instead
on the aboriginal agency was not politically motivated.
Yes, the Ministry was within its mandate to change the Terms,
but Morley fails to identify why the Ministry would do so.
A Ministry unencumbered by political concerns would want
to know what happened, why it happened and to work with
its aboriginal partners to rectify any practice errors as
soon as possible. It seems that the Ministry exhibited politicized
motives, changing the terms of reference and shifting blame
away from the Ministry, the Minister and budget cuts implemented
by the Liberal government."
Stan
Hagen, Minister of Children and Family Development, who
likes to duck ministerial responsibility by hiding behind
social workers and saying they work hard and shouldn't be
criticized, should probably pay attention to what their
professional association is saying. Individual social workers
employed by the government could be penalized for saying
what their professional association is broadcasting.
Where
was Jane Morley, the watchdog who replaced the Children's
Commission, during the period when the ministry was, according
to her words, experiencing "organizational failure"?
It is hard to find a word that is critical of the Campbell
government in the 2003-2004
Annual Report for the Child and Youth Officer. Subtitled
"Stay the Course" the report argues that previous
attempts to transform the ministry were cut short when they
encountered "frightened reactions to system failures".
Is it more than a coincidence that Morley spoke of organizational
failure in her February 2005 special report? In her 2003-04
Annual Report, she said: "My team and I have heard
from many service providers as well as service users and
their advocates that budget cuts have reduced communities'
capacity to provide needed services." She then went
on to apparently dismiss the concerns by saying that: "Sufficient
resources are a prerequisite for an effective service delivery
system. Yet there is never enough money to fund health,
education and welfare needs, including the needs of child
welfare systems." She neglected to add that there was
even less money in the year covered by her report as a result
of budget cuts made by the Campbell government in order
to fund its dramatic tax cuts.
Morley's
2004-2005
Annual Report was released after the public was made
aware of the failure to complete reviews of children's deaths.
She ducked the issue in her Annual Report by saying: "I
will be providing input through my membership on the panel
that has been appointed to look at child death reviews,
monitoring and public reporting." Shortly after the
release of that Annual Report, the panel was changed to
a single member, Ted Hughes. At a time when the Ministry
was descending further into chaos, Morley's Annual Report
limited its criticism to the government not moving rapidly
enough in its effort to decentralize governance of child
welfare services. She called for bipartisan support for
regionalization, support that has always been there but
not without criticism of the government that sabotaged the
regionalization with its budget cuts. Morley and the Campbell
government appear to stand alone in not accepting the need
for reinstating the Children' s Commission, a Commission
whose credibility would flow from a requirement that the
appointment follow the unanimous recommendation of a legislative
selection committee representing both government and opposition.
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