B.C.'s children's watchdog raps government for lack of action

from The Canadian Press

VICTORIA - B.C.'s children's watchdog says the government is not working hard enough to make changes to the province's child protection system.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said Monday she hasn't seen enough progress on children's issues in the 18 months since the release of a major report calling for the overhaul of B.C.'s child protection system.

She said she can only provide a mixed review at best for the government's efforts.

"We've lost valuable time," Turpel-Lafond said, while appearing before the government's all-party select standing committee on children and youth.

She tabled a 50-page progress report on the government's implementation of the 62 recommendations of the April 2006, B.C. Children and Youth Review by former judge Ted Hughes.

Turpel-Lafond was appointed B.C.'s representative for children and youth after the report.

"I am concerned by the lack of sustained action on the agenda Mr. Hughes provided," said her report.

The report particularly raps the Ministry of Children and Family Development for its lukewarm efforts to implement Hughes's recommendations over the past 18 months.

"While progress has been encouraging in some areas, I must report that I have found too little evidence within the Ministry for Children and Family Development of a co-ordinated effort to implement numerous Hughes recommendations where its leadership is required," said the report.

Children's Minister Tom Christensen delivered a letter to the standing committee prior to the release of Turpel-Lafond's report.

The letter said there is a difference of opinion of the progress issue at the children's ministry when it comes to implementing the Hughes report.

"There appears to be a difference in view regarding the progress MCFD has made in the past year-and-a-half in transforming the child welfare system," said Christensen's letter. "It concerns me greatly, as I'm sure it does the committee, to hear that the representative feels there is inadequate communication with the ministry."

Turpel-Lafond's report said no progress has been made on 22 recommendations of the 62 recommendations even though the Hughes report is 18 months old and the government promised to implement all the recommendations.

Moments after appearing before the committee, Turpel-Lafond said the government's effort on the Hughes recommendations suffer from "insufficient leadership."

But she did not name people who she says may not have been providing their full commitment to the issue.

Hughes found that B.C.'s child protection system had been stretched to the limit, and he urged the appointment of an independent children's representative to advocate for children and change.

He said a revolving door in senior leadership positions, major shifts in practice and funding cuts created a climate of instability and confusion that harmed the children's ministry's work on behalf of children.

Hughes called for the appointment of a Representative for Children and Youth to advocate for change and monitor the child welfare system. Turpel-Lafond was appointed last year.

The Liberal government admitted a system-wide reorganization and funding cuts early in its first mandate created major organizational and funding problems in the children's ministry.

One scandal resulted when more than 700 incomplete files reviewing children's deaths were found in a Victoria government warehouse.