BC Child Advocate says boost in funding is deceptive
Posted February 22, 2017 7:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – BC’s Ministry of Children and Family Development has been plagued by problems in recent years, and a new cash injection in yesterday’s provincial budget is meant to help restore some accountability.
“Certainly the ministry doesn’t have a great track record and so there is good reason to be concerned,” admits Bernard Richard, BC’s new child advocate.
But even though he’s trying to look at the positives, Richard says that reputation will be hard to shake.
He adds not all of the funding should necessarily be looked at as an increase.
“The ministry quite frankly has been battered by the government over the years. So in a sense, we’re restoring funding that was previously there, I think we have to be wary of that,” says Richard, who was only officially confirmed last week.
Richard points out there are several promises that haven’t been fulfilled.
“Last year at this time, the ministry had undertaken to hire 100 more social workers and the last numbers we confirmed with the ministry was that at the end of December, they had 20 hired.”
So he’s not sure the funding will provide the immediate help necessary in many cases.
Still, the 65-year-old tries to look on the bright side.
“I do want to be optimistic. Clearly, there is a significant need in British Columbia for improvements to child protection services, support for vulnerable families. So there is lots of work to be done.”
