Federation Response to New RCY Report, Don’t Look Away

Dear Members,

Today, Tuesday, July 16, the Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) released Don’t Look Away – How one boy’s story has the power to shift a system of care for children and youth, which calls for collective responsibility and action in five key areas: enhancing child well-being, addressing violence, supporting families including kinship carers, enhancing accountability, and supporting jurisdiction. Links to the full report and other resources are included below.

The Federation had the privilege of attending today’s report release and having our board president Tim Veresh serve as one of four invited witnesses to listen to and speak about what he heard in today’s ceremony. Tim reflected on the call to action and title of the report – “Don’t Look Away” – and asked all in the room to ensure they carry this call with them every day moving forward.

We support the recommendations and thank Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth, RCY researchers and staff, Indigenous leaders, and a committed group of advisors for amplifying the voices of children, youth, and their families who deserve better. Many of the calls to action echo feedback given by Federation members over many years. We look forward to diving deeper into the report and the stories, experiences, and research shared within it.

MCFD Minister Grace Lore received the report on behalf of the Government of British Columbia and committed to implementing its calls to action with her government colleagues, including a new multi-departmental team to work on implementation.

The Federation calls on government to ensure that the “cross-ministry group of senior officials” invites social service partners, Indigenous nations, and others from communities across BC to the table for mutually respectful collaboration in “the development of a new direction” and to “map out new strategies”. We are altogether better, and the provincial government alone cannot solve the systemic issues raised by the RCY. With a provincial election ahead, we hope that the next government – re-elected or newly elected – will bring a commitment to doing this work together with us.

Government has also notably committed to “exploring the reconfiguration of child and family services across ministries including for Children and Youth with Support Needs (CYSN) and Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH)”, an issue that the Federation expects to closely follow and engage on in the months ahead given our members’ ongoing concerns about implementation of CYSN and CYMH transformations within MCFD.

This work is just beginning. It will require new approaches to doing good work. It will include difficult conversations. The Federation is committed to being part of this important work and ensuring our members are updated regularly, via emails like this one and at in person events. We will not look away.

To this end, today’s publication will be followed by another report expected next Tuesday, July 23, from the RCY about Ministry of Children and Family Development staffing and workloads, an interconnected issue to child well-being, which we will monitor and react to. We will share updates as they happen and ensure these topics are included in Federation events and meetings.