June 24, 2008

Clear Cutting CLBC and Welfare

A usually reliable source reports that after being appointed responsible for welfare, Rich Coleman was asked about the proposal to raise income assistance rates. His answer was that the Campbell government hasn't had enough credit for the raises it has already made. It looks like Coleman only took minutes to do to welfare what he took weeks to do to forestry.

Campbell not only shuffled ministers, he also shuffled responsibilities between ministries. Coleman's new Ministry of Housing and Social Development's responsibilities include the BC Lottery Corporation, the Liquor Distribution Branch and welfare together with adult community living services (CLBC), transition houses, mental health and addictions services coordination, and landlord-tenant dispute resolution. Under Coleman's leadership the vulnerable in BC have to wonder whether they will be treated like forest workers and discarded. In his first term Campbell created the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services, dubbed the Ministry of People We Hate by some pundits. This time it looks like Campbell has created the Ministry of People We Disregard.

One might be tempted to congratulate the government on removing gaming promotion from gaming regulation until a closer look is taken at the shift in responsibilities. Coleman is responsible for the BC Lottery Corporation, gaming policy and the responsible gaming strategy. In other words, the Campbell government hasn't learned its lesson and it is still putting the fox in charge of the henhouse, only this time those who suffer most from irresponsible gambling are also part of the responsibilities of the "responsible" Minister. Perhaps instead of naming the new ministry the Ministry of Housing and Social Development, it should have been named the Ministry of Human Suffering and Exploitation.

The cruelest joke in Campbell's shift in responsibilities is giving Coleman responsibility for Community Living BC (CLBC). The Campbell government wasn't honest enough to clearly say that; instead it removed CLBC from the agencies responsible to the Minister of Children and Family Development, and rather than adding it to the list of agencies responsible to Coleman, it added "Adult Community Living Services" as one of his general responsibilities. Does that mean that the Campbell government plans even more organizational changes for those who need community living services? Will Coleman say they haven't thanked the Campbell government enough, so let them eat cake?

In February Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond , the Representative for Children and Youth, strongly criticized the Campbell government's provision of services through CLBC. The key concerns in her report included:

• service delivery system is complex and fragmented;
• lack of support for families/caregivers who require or want help planning for, implementing or coordinating services/supports available to them;
• wait times - from assessments to intervention services - are problematic;
• eligibility criteria inappropriately precludes some children and youth from some services;
• confusion around the roles and responsibilities between the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) and Community Living BC (CLBC) when there is a need for an out-of-home placement;
• limited data on services for children and youth with special needs and an inability to assess whether services have been effective. It is not possible to know who is getting what service(s) by whom, and with what outcome.

She also said eligibility criteria exclude many children whose ability is severely impaired, on the basis of a few points of IQ. There is little or no chance that Coleman will make improvements for clients of CLBC while his attention is focused on gambling, liquor and welfare. Turpel-Lafond has to begin anew with a rough new minister and a new bureaucracy.