A3
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: March 24, 19
Dept. File No.
C.C. File No. 4102-1
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Child and Youth Advocate
SUBJECT: Advocate's Workplan
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve the Child and Youth Advocate's workplan for
1997/98 as outlined in this report.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
In April 1995, Council approved the hiring of the third successive
Children s Advocate for the City of Vancouver for a three-year term with
an option to extend that term for up to two additional years. The
position title was changed to Child and Youth Advocate and the position
was given a direct reporting relationship to Council and its Committees.
SUMMARY
This report highlights the workplan and priorities of Vancouver s Child
and Youth Advocate for the coming year. The body of the report provides
further discussion and outlines the Advocate s planned activities in
relation to various issues.
The Advocate has selected four priorities:
A. Collaboration and cooperation in strengthening the network of child
and youth services
The social service system for children and youth in Vancouver is in
an intense state of flux and uncertainty as the new Ministry for
Children and Families (MCF) Regional Operating Agency takes shape,
bringing in programs from five different provincial ministries.
Services outside the MCF are pondering how they will relate to the
Ministry s planned multidisciplinary service teams, and everyone is
anxious about retaining the services that are working well, while
changes are made to those that are not.
The Advocate s work in this area will focus on lobbying for civic
and senior government investment in prevention services, both
existing and new, strengthening links between school-based,
community centre-based and community organization-based child and
youth workers to address the needs of "at risk" youth, and
promoting broader community responsibility for child and youth
safety and protection.
B. Supporting Parents and Families
Recognizing the primary responsibility of parents and families,
however defined, for the care and well-being of our children and
youth, we have a social obligation to create supportive
environments for carrying out this responsibility. The Advocate
will focus her attention on three key areas of support for parents
and families in this caregiving role. The first is the delivery
of, and improved access to, parenting education and counselling
support. The second is raising awareness of the role of local
employers, including the City of Vancouver, in validating and
supporting their employees parenting responsibilities through
formal and informal means. The third is collaborating with
anti-poverty groups and members of the community around reducing
the number of children and youth living in poverty.
C. Inclusion of aboriginal and culturally diverse populations
Initial consultations have confirmed that we still have a long way
to go to achieve a service system for our children and youth that
reflects their diversity of backgrounds and needs. In all her work
the Advocate will look for opportunities to forward an agenda of
inclusion, respect for diversity and equity of outcome.
Specific work will be done in the areas of building and
strengthening bridges between aboriginal community members and/or
organizations and key institutions serving aboriginal children,
youth and families, building recognition of ethno-specific and
culturally competent services as integral components of core
services delivery, and meeting the urgent needs of gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered youth for support services.
D. Public education and civic consultation
The Advocate has an on-going responsibility to enlist the support
of the community at large and the whole of city government in
promoting the enhanced well-being of children and youth in our
community. This work will take a variety of forms including:
- sustaining the Civic Youth Strategy to promote the involvement
of youth in matters that affect them and encourage them in
their role as a resource to the City;
- public speaking and education about the value of children and
youth in our city, their inherent rights and specific issues
affecting them;
- working with civic departments in reviewing their policy
development and budgets from the perspective of impact on
children and youth
- producing an updated fact sheet on Vancouver s children for
internal civic and public distribution.
PURPOSE
This report informs Council of the Child and Youth Advocate s workplan
and priorities and requests their approval.
BACKGROUND
The Child and Youth Advocate position grew out of the Mayor s Task Force
on Children, which released its report in May, 1988. The first
Advocate, Rita Chudnovsky, was hired in April, 1989, and served a
three-year term. The second Advocate, Penny Parry, served a four-year
term from May, 1992, to May, 1996. The third and current Advocate,
Adrienne Montani, began her term August 1, 1996.
The work of the first two terms has been broadly defined to include
issues like the impact of poverty on children s lives, advocacy and
education about the rights of children and youth, mental health
services, coordination and planning for delivery of services to children
and youth, and how the work of various civic departments relates to
issues affecting children, youth and families.
In addition each Advocate has brought a principle focus to the work.
The first Advocate focused on younger children and developed significant
policy initiatives now in place as the Civic Childcare Strategy, the
Vancouver Children s Policy and Statement of Children s Entitlements.
The second Advocate expanded the focus to youth issues and developed the
Civic Youth Strategy adopted by Council in March, 1995.
Both Advocates undertook a variety of activities in carrying out their
mandates - reports to and for Council, initiating and facilitating
meetings across community organizations and civic departments, providing
consultation and advice to diverse community organizations and civic
departments, relating to initiatives and actions of senior levels of
government, and general trouble shooting and problem solving.
The Director of Social Planning s April, 1995, report of a review of the
Advocate s position recommended a third Advocate be hired, with some
changes to the position s title, term and reporting relationship. It
was also recommended that each Advocate be allowed to define the focus
of the term s work, within the broader responsibilities of the position.
DISCUSSION
As has been noted in previous Advocates reports to Council, the first
six months after appointment is a time of intense learning for the new
Advocate. Becoming sufficiently familiar with internal aspects of the
City structure, functions, responsibilities and historical stances on
issues to advocate effectively for children and youth is a large and
on-going task. Social Planning staff, and staff in other departments,
have been extremely helpful to the new Advocate in this regard.
A variety of community members, organizations and interest groups have
been consulted in the preparation of this workplan. This consultation,
while still on-going, has presented a vast array of issues for the
Advocate to focus on and a clear message that there is intense interest
in the directions the work will take. It is encouraging to see how many
articulate, community-based advocates there are for the rights of
children and youth. The decisions about what the Advocate will focus on
have taken into account where community advocacy is already strong, and
therefore can be built on for real impact, and where more community
development is needed to strengthen the voices of parents, children and
youth in need.
The work of the previous two Advocates has also been important in
directing the workplan of the current Advocate, as policies adopted
require effort to be put into practice and strategies begun need to be
sustained and developed.
The choice of issues has also been shaped by the depth and speed of
changes being made to the social safety net and child and youth service
delivery systems by senior government actions.
Finally, following from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child, to which Canada is a signatory, the Advocate has taken
Council's advice to previous incumbents that the needs of the most
disadvantaged, vulnerable and at-risk children and youth should be a
priority.
Priority Principles
The well-being and healthy development of the children and youth in our
community depend on a complex range of interconnected supports and
services. Similarly, there are complex relationships between the risk
factors, like living in poverty or having a disability, that can limit a
child or youth from reaching his or her full potential. In confronting
these complexities, the Advocate has chosen two key beliefs to guide the
focus of her work for the coming year. These beliefs are:
- It is in the best interests of children and youth to invest our
social and financial resources in preventing problems from
developing, where possible, preventing their escalation through
early identification and intervention, and preventing greater harm
when escalation has already occurred. Setting up debate over
allocation of social resources between prevention/early
intervention and crisis intervention/treatment is divisive and
diverts our attention from our fundamental responsibility to
nurture all of our children and youth. We cannot afford to neglect
some in order to serve others.
- We have an obligation to the diversity of families and children in
our community to create a service delivery system that reflects
this diversity, is culturally competent, inclusive and
non-discriminatory.
Priorities
The Advocate s work in the coming year will focus on the following
areas:
A. Collaboration and cooperation in strengthening the network of child
and youth services.
B. Supporting parents and families.
C. Inclusion of aboriginal and culturally diverse populations.
D. Public education and civic consultation.
A. Collaboration and cooperation in strengthening the network of child
and youth services.
At the present time there is significant activity among service
providers, both governmental and community-based, to share
information better and work together more strategically. While
much of this work is necessarily focused on the development of the
new Ministry for Children and Families Regional Operating Agency
for Vancouver, it is included in a broader context of networking
among and between community-based, neighbourhood-based and
issue-based service providers.
The forum for much of this activity is a variety of committees and
planning groups. The Child and Youth Advocate s planned
involvement with these groups is outlined below:
- continue working as a member of the Vancouver Regional
Planning Group for the Ministry for Children and Families;
- continue working closely with the Vancouver Coalition of First
Line Children and Youth Service Providers, created in January
1996 to assist in the development of a coordinated approach to
the delivery of preventative services;
- continue working as a member of the Vancouver Regional Child
and Youth Committee, as it redefines its role, and with the
Interministerial Street Children s Committee;
- assist in bringing together children s funders from three
levels of government, the United Way of the Lower Mainland and
private foundations, for a second meeting to share information
on funding strategies and priorities.
- work with the Child and Youth Population Health Advisory
Committee of the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board;
- liaise with Area Service Teams and the City s Integrated
Service Teams as they relate to child and youth issues.
Among the issues that have been brought forward in these forums
that will be the focus of the Advocate s attention within the next
year are:
- the difficulty governments, especially senior levels of
government, have investing in prevention services. In the
face of federal and provincial government cuts to the social
safety net, the City of Vancouver faces growing pressure to
pick up social service costs, in a climate of fiscal
restraint. Preventative services, many of them
City-supported, are placed at risk by the ensuing competition
for scare service dollars.
ACTIONS ARISING: The Advocate will work with community groups
and service providers to focus funders , and the public s,
attention on the value of preserving and enhancing existing
preventative programs and services for children and youth,
such as childcare, recreation, perinatal health care, child
and youth mental health services, family support and poverty
reduction. The City of Vancouver has a crucial role to play
in making sure that children and youth do not suffer as a
result of the shifting of government responsibilities.
- the need for more information-sharing and cooperative planning
to meet the needs of diverse populations of "at risk" youth;
ACTIONS ARISING: The Advocate will work to build and enhance
links between school-based workers (Youth and Family Workers,
First Nations Support Workers, Multicultural Home-School
Workers, Inner City Schools workers) and Parks Board Youth
Workers and other youth workers based in community agencies.
The Civic Youth Strategy for the City of Vancouver, though
broader in focus than this one issue, encompasses much of this
work. Progress on the Strategy as a whole will be the subject
of a more detailed report to Council in May, 1997.
- community responsibility for child and youth safety and
protection, including the need to provide protection to
sexually exploited and sexually procured youth;
ACTIONS ARISING: Recognizing that child protection is largely an
area of provincial jurisdiction, and that there are around 1400
Vancouver children in the care of the Ministry for Children and
Families, the Advocate will support the involvement of local
community advocates, including aboriginal representatives,
multicultural representatives and youth, in the re-design and
reform of the child protection system, with particular emphasis on - 2 -
the rights of children, youth and family members to information and
participation in decision-making, and the quality of care for
children and youth after apprehension. This will include
monitoring local follow-up on recommendations made by the
provincial Children s Commissioner, and working closely with the
Provincial Child, Youth and Family Advocate s Office.
She will work with local representatives of the child
protection, health and school systems, as well as community
organizations, to strengthen early identification and support
strategies for children and youth whose safety and well-being
are in question.
The Advocate will also support community and government
initiatives to remove obstacles to the prosecution of adults
who purchase sex from minors and/or act as procurers. She
will work with the community to build broader understanding
among the public and justice system of sexually exploited and
procured youth as victims of abuse, rather than as consensual
sex trade workers.
B. Supporting Parents and Families.
If we start from the understanding that children s and youth s care
and well-being are primarily the responsibility of parents and
families, however defined, we can then recognize our social
obligation to create supportive environments for carrying out this
responsibility. Parents and families deserve to have their work,
and many challenges, in this caregiving role recognized and
validated in other spheres of their lives and in society at large.
- The need for greater access to parenting education and support
has been repeatedly brought to the Advocate s attention by
youth, parents and service providers. Focusing on this need
does not imply blaming parents for "poor outcomes" (e.g.
children or youth with difficult behaviours), but rather an
understanding that community members can and should support
each other and that the challenges and choices facing parents
in this era are often new, stressful and changing.
ACTION ARISING: The Advocate will research the issue of
parenting education and support in the city, looking at formal
and informal delivery systems, stigma, program accessibility
and availability, relevance for different populations
(minority cultural communities, teen parents, foster parents,
etc.) and interest. The object of this research will be to
identify barriers parents and caregivers are facing in
obtaining the information and support they need, build on
successful delivery strategies and to make recommendations for
better meeting the learning and counselling support needs of
parents and other caregivers, particularly those experiencing
the challenges of poverty and/or intergenerational cultural
change.
- The role of employers in supporting, or not supporting
parenting employees is a critical concern for working parents.
Employers and unions can acknowledge the importance of their
employees / members parenting responsibilities through formal
and informal means.
ACTION ARISING: The Advocate will work with the Childcare
Coordinator to research family-friendly employment practices
in place locally and in other jurisdictions, with a view to
promoting innovations that serve children and families well.
This will include exploration of the City of Vancouver s
current efforts to support families in its role as employer.
- Poverty remains the crucial factor placing over one quarter of
Vancouver s children and youth at risk. There are areas in
the City where over half of the children, and their families,
live in poverty. In fact, 1991 statistics indicate that 16
out of 22 neighbourhoods in Vancouver have a child poverty
rate of more than 20%. These statistics call into question
our stated commitment to ensuring the rights of our children
to the basic supports they need to develop into healthy
adults.
ACTION ARISING: The Advocate will work with community-based
anti-poverty groups and movements, such as End Legislated Poverty,
First Call and Campaign 2000, government and business
representatives, parent groups and youth groups, to advocate for
increased family incomes and independent youth support, both
through higher government-funded income support levels and adequate
support for parents and young people s attempts to enter or
re-enter the labour force.
This work will include public education about the effects of
poverty on children s development and working with the media
to counter messages that stigmatize and blame poor people.
It will also mean analysing social policy initiatives such as
BC Benefits and the proposed National Child Benefit.
The needs of poor children and youth can also be addressed by
ensuring they have access to the educational, recreational,
health and family support programs offered in the city. The
Advocate will consult with low-income families and youth to
identify the barriers they face when using or wanting to use
these services and make recommendations for improving access.
C. Inclusion of aboriginal and culturally diverse populations.
Consultations with immigrant-serving agencies, aboriginal community
members, service providers working with specific cultural groups,
the City s multicultural planners, and "mainstream" institutions
and government services have confirmed that we still have a long
way to go to achieve a service system for our children and youth
that reflects their diversity of backgrounds and needs. In all her
work the Advocate will look for opportunities to forward an agenda
of inclusion, respect for diversity, and equity of outcome.
Specific areas of concentration in the coming year will be:
- building partnerships between aboriginal community members
and/or organizations and key institutions serving aboriginal
children, youth and families, e.g. schools, community centres,
the Ministry for Children and Families and the health care
system.
ACTIONS ARISING: The Advocate will support the efforts of the
aboriginal community to increase its participation in
decision-making, design and implementation of more effective
services for aboriginal children and youth.
This will include reviewing the City of Vancouver s commitment
to, and effectiveness in, addressing the service needs of
aboriginal children and youth in the city and providing
employment opportunities for aboriginal youth and youth
workers.
- building recognition of ethno-specific and culturally
competent services as integral parts of core child, youth and
family services, as opposed to viewing them as peripheral and
temporary.
ACTIONS ARISING: The Advocate will work with the
Ethno-Cultural Advisory Committee to the Ministry for Children
and Families to help the Vancouver Regional Operating Agency
re-design its services, and the services offered through its
contracted sector, to be more inclusive and culturally
competent in their work.
As part of this work, the Advocate will invite ethno-specific
and immigrant-serving agencies to come together to discuss
their programs and services for children, youth and families,
and compile this data for use in specific advocacy efforts,
increasing collaboration and program development.
This will include reviewing the City of Vancouver s current
levels of support for targeted or culturally competent service
delivery to children, youth and families in minority cultural
communities and working with these communities to recommend
improvements.
It will also include advocating for the representation of
diverse communities on decision -making bodies and influential
committees.
- meeting the urgent needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered (GLBT) youth for support services. Recent
studies indicate that 50% of successful teenage suicides are
by lesbian and gay youth and that GLBT youth are 14 times more
likely to reattempt suicide than heterosexual youth. Sexual
minority youth are frequently the victims of violence from
fellow students and family members. It is estimated that
25-40% of homeless youth now living in the West End, Granville
and Downtown Eastside areas of Vancouver are lesbian or gay.
Twenty-eight percent of lesbian and gay youth do not finish
high school and they are at higher risk of being drawn into
alcohol and drug abuse and selling their bodies to support
their addictions.
ACTION ARISING: The Advocate will work with members of the
GLBT community who have been offering youth support services
on a voluntary basis, to obtain a commitment from the
Vancouver school system and other counselling resources to
meeting the special needs of this population of youth.
D. Public education and civic consultation.
It is the on-going task of the Advocate to enlist the support of
the community at large for children and youth in our community.
Similarly, obtaining the cooperation of all civic departments in
promoting the interests of children and youth is an important
responsibility. The following areas of work remain on the
Advocate s agenda:
- sustaining the Civic Youth Strategy, adopted by Council in May
1995. (Annual progress report will be brought to Council in
May, 1997.) This includes reviewing how to build in adequate
civic support for the youth participants on the Civic Youth
Strategy Core Committee.
- accepting public speaking and media invitations as
opportunities to promote the value of children and youth in
our city and to advocate on specific issues affecting them;
- seeking and accepting opportunities to speak directly with
parents/caregivers and youth, including newcomers to Canada,
about their rights and responsibilities, including their right
to participate in decisions affecting them;
- working with civic departments in reviewing their policy
development and budgets from the perspective of impact on
children and youth.
- supporting the campaign to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal
Code of Canada, which sanctions the use of physical force as a
method of disciplining children, as an opportunity for public
education on children s rights to respect and safety.
- producing an up-dated fact sheet on Vancouver s children, for
internal civic and public distribution, and working as a
member of the Social Planning Department in maintaining
current statistical data and a social issues reference base
for use by the City and community;
- assisting individuals who request case advocacy to connect
with the appropriate body or service, recording all such
requests for the information of the relevant Ministry or
institution, and highlighting systemic or policy issues
identified by these requests for assistance.
CONCLUSION
This report outlines the workplan and priorities of the Child and Youth
Advocate for the coming year. Council should note that, due to the
responsive nature of much of the Advocate s work, some priorities will
change in subsequent years. The report is sent to Council for its
information to request Council approval of the workplan and priorities
as outlined.
* * * * *