Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

Advocate warns of impending 'crisis' in B.C. child welfare staffing

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Jul, 2024 04:05 PM
  • Advocate warns of impending 'crisis' in B.C. child welfare staffing

British Columbia's child welfare system is either in a state of crisis or close to it with understaffing and unmanageable workloads, the province's representative for children said.

A report released by Jennifer Charlesworth Tuesday said the environment for social workers at the Ministry of Children and Family Development is unhealthy for staff, characterized by undue stress, burnout and fear, and there's no time for the government to wait to address the "critical circumstances." 

The latest investigation comes days after her report on the torture death of an 11-year-old boy who died at the hands of relatives after not being checked on by a social worker for seven months.

Charlesworth said the boy's death happened within the context of a child welfare office that was not fully staffed, had unstable and changing local leadership, and had an extended period of social worker medical leave with no backfill.

Her office conducted a survey of 700 social workers and managers and more than 80 per cent said they are unable to properly do their jobs because their caseloads are too high.

She said many reported not having enough supports or resources and not having places to turn to refer families in need.

"If you can put yourself in the workers' position here, you're feeling you can't fulfil your responsibility, and you can't even refer out to fulfil your responsibility. That's going to add to a tremendous amount of feeling of stress and overwhelm," she said.

Alan Markwart, the author of the report, told a news conference Tuesday that data from 2021 showed B.C. needed "several hundred" more social workers in order to meet their work requirements 85 per cent of the time. The government has stopped collecting that data, he said.

"The ministry used to also track offices that were staffed at 50 per cent or less, but they stopped tracking that in 2022," he said.

"Both of those, in our view, are crucial metrics that … they should be gathering, but they don't."

Children and Family Development Minister Grace Lore said at a news conference after the report was released that the number of staff doing front-line work has increased 17 per cent "in recent years" and 200 people have been added since September.

She said the ministry has created a mentorship program and has a remote team to help with administrative tasks so social workers can focus on families.

Lore said she agrees with front-line workers who say they need more services to support families, adding that the ministry needs a "fundamental rethink" of its services.

"Because while recruiting, and retaining and supporting staff is and has to stay a priority, so is making sure that they as social workers, as front-line staff, have access to the services and supports that families need," she said.

When asked about the decision to abandon the government's workload analysis tool in 2021, Lore said the ministry is developing a "workforce strategy."

She said it is important to think about not just the number of vacancies, but "how those roles exist."

"What is really important is the changing complexity of this work. That we know the depth and breadth of needs of families has changed over recent years. We know that what they need from us has changed and so that workforce strategy is about identifying and meeting that need," she said.

The report credits the ministry with taking action to improve working conditions and compliance with the requirement for in-person visits following the boy's death, but says more work must be done to support current staff and recruit and retain more social workers.

The office says the staffing issues are not confined to just rural and remote communities.

"Currently it's in every area of the province. It's the Okanagan, it's Victoria, it's the Lower Mainland. There were 46 offices in July of 2022 that were staffed at 50 per cent or less, and they were throughout the province in urban and rural areas. Of course it's more acute in rural areas " Markwart said.

Charlesworth said she meets frequently with government officials, including Lore, and while her findings "may sting a little," they won't be a surprise.

She said she's hopeful the government will follow through on her recommendation, adding there are a number of things already being worked on to address the issues she has raised.

"Social workers in this province have incredibly difficult jobs and to see how understaffed and overworked they are is truly disturbing,” Charlesworth said in a statement accompanying her report. 

“We have known about chronic understaffing at this ministry for decades, yet successive governments have not addressed these challenges. Now, here we are yet again, reeling from the death of a child that was entirely preventable."

MORE National ARTICLES

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing
A man convicted of murdering a 13-year-old Burnaby, B.C., girl has repeatedly told a pre-sentencing hearing that he didn't kill her, after refusing to listen to his interpreter during an impact statement by the girl's father. A portion of the recorded statement was being played to test equipment ahead of Friday's sentencing hearing for Ibrahim Ali, who faces a life term for the 2017 killing.

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing

Drop in drug overdose deaths

Drop in drug overdose deaths
Drug overdose deaths are down by 24 per cent between April last year and this April, but still B-C’s Coroner says 182 people died. Fentanyl remains the primary killer, with the drug detected in 82 per cent of test results for those who died so far this year. 

Drop in drug overdose deaths

Vancouver police crack down on stolen goods that turn up on downtown sidewalks

Vancouver police crack down on stolen goods that turn up on downtown sidewalks
Vancouver police say a crackdown on the sale of stolen goods that turn up on the sidewalks of the city's Downtown Eastside has led to five arrests and turned up more than $650,000 in cash, drugs and stolen property. Insp. Mario Mastropieri says a shoplifting "epidemic" is fuelling an illicit market in stolen goods run by organized criminals, that's affecting small businesses, their staff, and customers.

Vancouver police crack down on stolen goods that turn up on downtown sidewalks

Vancouver mayor grieves stabbing death of 32-year-old chef near Chinatown

Vancouver mayor grieves stabbing death of 32-year-old chef near Chinatown
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has issued a statement saying police are working tirelessly to find the person responsible for a fatal stabbing near the city's Chinatown early Wednesday.  Sim says the city is grieving the loss of 32-year-old Wataru Kakiuchi, a talented chef in a Yaletown Japanese restaurant. 

Vancouver mayor grieves stabbing death of 32-year-old chef near Chinatown

Police in B.C. arrest two for theft of $2.5M worth of stolen vehicles

Police in B.C. arrest two for theft of $2.5M worth of stolen vehicles
Two men face more than a dozen charges each after British Columbia's provincial auto crime team recovered 29 high-end vehicles valued at $2.5 million. RCMP say in a news release that they started their investigation in February when numerous newer-model trucks and SUVs were stolen across the Lower Mainland.

Police in B.C. arrest two for theft of $2.5M worth of stolen vehicles

Drones, dogs, helicopters and ground crews search for missing mountaineers in B.C.

Drones, dogs, helicopters and ground crews search for missing mountaineers in B.C.
The search and rescue team in Squamish, B.C., says helicopters, groundcrews, drones and avalanche dogs are involved in the search for three mountaineers missing for nearly a week. A social media post by the team says the search resumed at 5:30 a.m. Thursday in the area on Mount Garibaldi where the trio was last seen on May 31.

Drones, dogs, helicopters and ground crews search for missing mountaineers in B.C.