View Child, Family and Community Services Act: http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96046_01
What is the purpose of this act?
What powers are conferred on the state or its agents?
How does this act benefit society?
List governmental and community based agencies that work within this legislated act.
What issues may be associated with the administration of this act?
How would you support and advocate for your clients in relationship to this act?
Identify community resources in your area that may assist clients to navigate through legal systems.
What is the purpose of this act?
- To ensure that children are protected from abuse, neglect and harm or threat of harm.
- That the family is the preferred environment for the care and upbringing of children and the responsibility for the protection of children rests primarily with the parents.
- If a family can provide a safe and nurturing environment for a child, support services should be provided.
- The child's views should be taken into account when decisions relating to a child are made.
- Kinship ties and a child's attachment to the extended family should be preserved if possible.
- The cultural identity of aboriginal children should be preserved.
- Decisions relating to children should be made and implemented in a timely manner.
What powers are conferred on the state or its agents?
- Providing or arranging the provision of support services to the family.
- Supervising the child's care in the home.
- Protecting the child through removal from the family and placement with relatives, a foster family or specialized residential resources.
How does this act benefit society?
- The Act requires that anyone who has reason to believe that a child may be abused, neglected, or is for any other reason in need of protection, must report it to the Director or a delegated social worker.
- The Act monitors the overall protection and safety of children, families, and their surrounding communities. If the people within the community of the neighbourhood are safe, than so is the community as a whole.
List governmental and community based agencies that work within this legislated act.
- Ministry of Children and Family Development: http://www.gov.bc.ca/mcf/
- The United Way of Canada: http://uwgv.ca/
- Pacifica Housing: http://www.pacificahousing.ca/
- YMCA Community Health and Outreach: http://www.victoriay.com/youth_outreach.php
What issues may be associated with the administration of this act?
- Certain children or youth may not want to speak up about issues in their family home due to the fear of being removed.
- It is not always possible to preserve children's cultural ties upon removal, especially in cases dealing with Aboriginal children. It is often a matter of finding a placement, and the cultural component is secondary.
- Due to large caseloads, service providers, such as child protection workers or social workers, may not be able to ensure the care or proper investigations that are required in certain cases.
How would you support and advocate for your clients in relationship to this act?
- I would encourage my clients to familiarize themselves with this document, as it can serve as an umbrella document, that ties together many aspects of different acts, such as the Adoption Act, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- The vocabulary is stated plainly, in a manner that is easy to comprehend, which will facilitate the relationship parents and family members can develop with this Act.
- This Act is meant to be on my clients side, it is there to protect them, I would work from this angle with my clients, so that they do no fear the Act, but can use it as a tool to help them through their situations.
Identify community resources in your area that may assist clients to navigate through legal systems.
- Pacific Center Family Services Association: http://www.pacificcentrefamilyservices.org/
- Ministry of Social Development, The Healthy Kids Program: http://www.eia.gov.bc.ca/publicat/bcea/Healthykids.htm
- Surrounded by Cedar: http://surroundedbycedar.com/services/family-preservation
- The Ministry of Children and Family Development published a user-friendly pamphlet to assist youth in care in understanding their rights.
Describe and explain current or historical events as seen through the media that relate to this act, convention or charter. Provide a related link or copy of a newspaper article.
Foster homes should be 'open books', association says
CBC News, July 31, 2012
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2012/07/31/sk-foster-home-association-120731.html
The head of a group representing foster families in Saskatchewan says all homes that take in children should disclose everything about their situation, including details on who else is in the home.
Demand high for Calgary non-profit helping families make low-cost meals
CBC News, February 27, 2009
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2009/02/27/cgy-community-kitchens.html
A Calgary program that helps families prepare meals together to save money is expecting a surge in people needing their help, but says there isn't enough space in church and community centre kitchens. The Community Kitchen Program of Calgary groups together eight to 10 families, helps them put together a two-week menu for healthy and affordable meals that can be frozen, then buys the groceries and finds kitchen space.
Foster homes should be 'open books', association says
CBC News, July 31, 2012
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2012/07/31/sk-foster-home-association-120731.html
The head of a group representing foster families in Saskatchewan says all homes that take in children should disclose everything about their situation, including details on who else is in the home.
Demand high for Calgary non-profit helping families make low-cost meals
CBC News, February 27, 2009
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2009/02/27/cgy-community-kitchens.html
A Calgary program that helps families prepare meals together to save money is expecting a surge in people needing their help, but says there isn't enough space in church and community centre kitchens. The Community Kitchen Program of Calgary groups together eight to 10 families, helps them put together a two-week menu for healthy and affordable meals that can be frozen, then buys the groceries and finds kitchen space.
know_your_rights_guide.pdf | |
File Size: | 79 kb |
File Type: |
The following video is from the National Children In Care Network. You will hear the voices of several different you in care. Hearing their personal stories humanizes the laws surrounding youth in care.
Why is it important that you understand the rights of children in care of the state?
It is important to be well-versed in the rights of children in care of the state because these children currently overwhelm the work of CYC practitioners, among other social service workers. We are their advocates, it is through us that they will have access to the information and opportunity to gain their rights. In many cases, the children and youth are not at the age, or stage in development to access this information, leaving them ill-informed, and ready to be taken advantage of.
As a CYC worker, what would you do and who would you contact in the event that a child or a youth you were working with was experiencing a violation of their Section 70 rights?
Because the youth is in care, my primary contact would be to their social worker, as it is the social worker who has custody (in lieu of the state) over the child. If I am unable to reach the social worker, and the youth is in a safe and capable state, I would have the youth contact 310-1234, which is a direct line to the Kids Helpline. The will be transferred directly to a social work. In the event of an emergency, such as if the youth is in immediate danger, I would contact 911 first and foremost, and soon after, I would contact the youth's social worker.
If I am suspect of a violation of Section 70, I would contact the Ministry of Children and Family Development and speak to a social worker there, or the representative of children and youth, or I would contact the youth's social worker directly if I felt safe and comfortable doing so. Cases where I would not contact the social worker, is if the violation was suspected to be due to the work of the social worker. This is a case where I would contact MCFD directly.
How does social justice apply to the rights of children in state care?
Under Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child it states the following:
1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
2. States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures.
3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.
Children are protected under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Their rights are protected, although, once in care, they are cared for by the state, and have to hope that they have a strong advocate on their side, who is looking out for their best interests. Their social justice relies on the advocacy of practitioners in their lives, such as CYC practitioners, Social Workers, the Representative for Children and Youth, the current standing government, and all the other people in their lives that are looking out for their well-being. Without this advocacy and support, a child can slip through the system's cracks and lose their rights to social justice.
It is important to be well-versed in the rights of children in care of the state because these children currently overwhelm the work of CYC practitioners, among other social service workers. We are their advocates, it is through us that they will have access to the information and opportunity to gain their rights. In many cases, the children and youth are not at the age, or stage in development to access this information, leaving them ill-informed, and ready to be taken advantage of.
As a CYC worker, what would you do and who would you contact in the event that a child or a youth you were working with was experiencing a violation of their Section 70 rights?
Because the youth is in care, my primary contact would be to their social worker, as it is the social worker who has custody (in lieu of the state) over the child. If I am unable to reach the social worker, and the youth is in a safe and capable state, I would have the youth contact 310-1234, which is a direct line to the Kids Helpline. The will be transferred directly to a social work. In the event of an emergency, such as if the youth is in immediate danger, I would contact 911 first and foremost, and soon after, I would contact the youth's social worker.
If I am suspect of a violation of Section 70, I would contact the Ministry of Children and Family Development and speak to a social worker there, or the representative of children and youth, or I would contact the youth's social worker directly if I felt safe and comfortable doing so. Cases where I would not contact the social worker, is if the violation was suspected to be due to the work of the social worker. This is a case where I would contact MCFD directly.
How does social justice apply to the rights of children in state care?
Under Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child it states the following:
1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
2. States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures.
3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.
Children are protected under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Their rights are protected, although, once in care, they are cared for by the state, and have to hope that they have a strong advocate on their side, who is looking out for their best interests. Their social justice relies on the advocacy of practitioners in their lives, such as CYC practitioners, Social Workers, the Representative for Children and Youth, the current standing government, and all the other people in their lives that are looking out for their well-being. Without this advocacy and support, a child can slip through the system's cracks and lose their rights to social justice.