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Letters of Transmittal

The Honourable Garde Gardom
Lieutenant Governor
Province of British Columbia


May it please your honour:

It is my pleasure to submit to you the annual report for the Ministry of Social Services for the period April 1, 1995 to March 31, 1996.



Dennis Streifel
Minister of Human Resources

The Honourable Dennis Streifel
Minister of Human Resources
Province of British Columbia


I am pleased to present to you the annual report for the Ministry of Social Services for the period from April 1, 1995 to March 31, 1996.



Brenda Eaton
Deputy Minister of Human Resources

Notes to financial report:

1. The sum of figures in columns may not agree with indicated totals due to rounding.
2. Child Tax Benefit payments from the federal government.
3. The Special Needs Day Care budget was transferred to the Ministry of Women’s Equality in the fall of 1993. It continues to be administered by the Ministry of Social Services through a protocol agreement. Ministry of Social Services expenditures are covered by transfers from the Ministry of Women’s Equality.
4. Includes support for professionals, parents and special needs children as well as homemaker services.
5. Details of Supplementary Allowance expenditures are located on page 25.
6. The budget for day care subsidies was transferred to the Ministry of Women’s Equality in the fall of 1993. Administration of the program remains with the Ministry of Social Services through a protocol agreement. Expenditures were recovered by a transfer from the Ministry of Women’s Equality.
7. Deputy minister’s expenditures include $746,061 for audit services and $1,076,959 for public information.

• Statutory Director
  • Statutory Deputy Directors
  • Audit and Review
    
• Chair, Child and Family Review Board
  
• Chair, Minister's Advisory Council on Income Assistance
  
• Service Quality Advocate

Deputy Minister
• Senior Executive Assistant
• Director of Executive Operations

ADM, Income Support Programs
Income Assistance
Health Services
Federal/Provincial Activities
Prevention, Compliance & Enforcement

ADM, Community Support Services
Community Support Services
Community Placement
Woodlands
Information and Privacy
Services for Community Living

ADM, Child, Family & Community Services, and Regional Operations
Regional Management Services
Regional Operations

• Regional Directors (9)
Executive Director CF & CS
Child, Family and Community Services
Adoption Services
Child Protection Consultation Services

Exec. Director, Policy, Planning & Research
Policy Planning and Legislation
Research Evaluation and Statistics
Aboriginal Negotiations
Emergency Social Services

ADM, Management Services
Administrative Services
Financial Planning
Human Resources
System Services
Contract Management
Audit Response

Communications

Regions

Child, Family and Community Services

With the implementation of new legislation in January 1996 and the establishment of an advocate for children, youth and families, the position of Superintendent of Family and Child Service was replaced by a Director of Family and Child Service. The deputy superintendent became assistant director. Children who need protection or guardianship come into the care of the Director of Family and Child Service and are referred to in the ministry and in this report as "children-in-care." The Director ensures standards for social work practice are met in the delivery of ministry services. The Audit and Review Division conducts audits, which assess the overall performance of district offices, reviews individual cases such as those involving the death or serious injury of a child and makes recommendations to improve service and practice.

During 1995-96, the ministry established a coalition of stakeholder groups to help with the implementation of new Child, Family and Community Service legislation. It included representatives of youth, parents, foster parents, and First Nations. The act will be phased in over three years. Additional funding for staff positions and programs will be required to support the process.

Highlights

• In May 1995, the Legislature appointed Joyce Preston as its first Child, Youth and Family Advocate. The position was created under the Child, Youth and Family Advocacy Act which passed in the previous fiscal year.

• In June 1995, amendments to the Child, Youth and Family Advocacy Act were introduced to address some of the concerns contained in an April 1995 interim report of the Inquiry into Child Protection conducted by Judge Thomas Gove. The amendment allows the advocate to speak publicly about an issue, prohibits retribution against people who bring cases or issues before the advocate and sets the advocates salary as equivalent to the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court.

• In June 1995, amendments to the Child, Family and Community Service Amendment Act were introduced as a result of recommendations contained in the April 1995 interim report by Judge Gove. Language was strengthened setting out child protection as the prime goal of the child protection legislation, rules around supervision orders at child protection hearings were changed, time limits for temporary custody orders were extended and an unambiguous legal obligation was placed on anyone who has knowledge of a child being abused or exploited to report it to the ministry.

• In November of 1995, Bernd Walter, Assistant Deputy Minister for Family and Children’s Services and Superintendent of Family and Child Service, was appointed to chair the new Child and Family Review to be established under the new Child, Family and Community Service Act. The board will review specific cases to ensure young people and others are treated fairly. Six of the board members were appointed in February 1996 and up to eight more may be appointed in the next reporting period. The board began operation on January 29, 1996, the day the Child, Family and Community Service Act which established it was proclaimed; the board had received a number of complaints by the end of the reporting period.

• In November 1995, the Gove Inquiry into Child Protection report was received by government and released to the public. The report’s recommendations emphasized prevention of child abuse and a re-organization of the delivery system to ensure protection for children. Responding to the report’s recommendations, action was taken immediately to ensure that all newly hired social workers have a bachelor of social work degree and undergo a comprehensive 20-week training program in the ministry before taking on cases. A commitment was made to upgrade the training of all existing social workers. The staffing and mandate of the Audit and Review Division were enhanced based on the Gove recommendations.

• In January 1996, Cynthia Morton was appointed transition commissioner to design, recommend and implement a new child welfare system by 1999 in accordance with the recommendations of the Gove Inquiry into Child Protection. The commissioner was directed to report directly to the premier and make regular reports to the Minister of Social Services. The commission’s work is to be monitored by an all-party committee of the legislature.

• On January 29, 1996, the new Child, Family and Community Service Act was proclaimed, the culmination of a five-year process of consultation and drafting. The central guiding principle is that the safety and well-being of children is paramount. It establishes an improved definition of the ministry’s child protection mandate, clearer definitions of a child in need of protection, newly defined rights for children in care, a wider range of options for judges hearing child protection matters and a guarantee that aboriginal communities and extended families will participate in decisions involving their children. In addition, police will report serious criminal activity of children under the age of 12 to the ministry to ensure home circumstances are not a negative factor in their behaviour.

• A consulting firm was hired by the Audit and Review Division to research the latest "quality assurance" thinking in child welfare following proclamation of the new Child, Family and Community Service Act. A shortage of qualified staff, which had resulted in a suspension of audits in the previous year, was rectified by February 1996.

  * A recruitment campaign across the country focussed on hiring B.S.W. graduates as per the Gove recommendations.

Core Activities

• During 1995-96, the ministry employed 929 social workers in 170 offices throughout British Columbia to:
  • investigate more than 21,000 reports of child abuse and neglect;
  • over the course of the year, arrange care for more than 13,000 children and youth whose families were unable to care for them;
  • facilitate 199 adoptions; and
  • provide support services such as parent training, respite care and day care for teen parents to about 17,000 families and 7,000 youth.

• The number of voluntary requests from families for support services has increased for the past four years. In 1995-96, the number of voluntary requests for service totalled 23,338, up 1.3 per cent from the previous year. The number of protection investigations resulting from complaints of abuse and neglect increased by 6.1 per cent in 1995-96, to 21,497.

• Admissions of children to the care of the ministry, at 6,831, increased 10 per cent in 1995-96. During the year, 6,072 were discharged from care. At year end, there were 7,278 children in care, up eight per cent over the previous year.

• The toll-free Helpline for Children, Zenith 1234, received 30,829 calls during 1995-96.

• 27 case reviews were completed by the Audit and Review Division during the reporting period. At year’s end, another 18 were in progress. As a result of completed reviews, about 200 recommendations were made.

Child Protection Investigations

Children Admitted to Care

Children-in-Care

Children-in-Care

Children-in-Care

Children Discharged from Care

Type of Resources	Physical Handicap		Mental Handicap		Behavioural Problems		Other Problems
	Number	Capacity	Number	Capacity	Number	Capacity	Number	Capacity
Family Care Level 2	7	7	113	120	971	1,279	-	-
Family Care Level 3	2	2	212	232	267	314	-	-
Special Care Homes	-	-	6	6	12	12	-	-
Intensive Child Care	-	-	-	-	21	35	-	-
Bed Subsidy Homes	-	-	-	-	-	-	26	55
Group Homes	-	-	12	33	152	661	12	61
Specialized Resources	3	15	108	179	409	896	29	149
Total	12	24	451	570	1,832	3,197	67	265

Youth Services

Highlights

• In November 1995, an interactive workshop on the dangers of street life and the recruitment of youth into the sex trade was released for used in public schools in the Lower Mainland. If It’s Too Good to be True includes monologues, interactive discussions and theatre games to raise issues.

Core Activities

• As of March 31, 1994, there were 33 Reconnect programs across the province.

• Rehabilitation resource programs throughout the province during 1995-96 provided support to youth in dealing with social and emotional difficulties at a cost to the ministry of $15.5 million. These programs were delivered in school settings in partnership with school districts.

• 30 non-profit networking groups were in operation in 1995-96 by and for youth from 14 to 24 years old.

Adoption

Highlights

• In July 1995, the Legislature passed the new Adoption Act. Its provisions regulate all adoptions in B.C., ensure that children aged 7 to 11 will have their views considered in an adoption, require consent of any child 12 or older to his or her adoption, provide for licensing of adoption agencies, provide standards for international adoptions, allow for adoption by a single or any two adults and set a new balance between access to adoption information and the wish for continued confidentiality. The new act gives access to identifying information on adoption records to adopted adults and birth parents, gives them a veto on release of information if the adoption took place under previous legislation and, if under the new act, a "no-contact declaration" indicating they do not want to be contacted by the other party. Stiff penalties are prescribed for those violating a no-contact declaration. The new legislation was scheduled for implementation in November 1996.

Core Activities

• In 1995-96, the ministry placed 73 healthy infants and 126 children with special needs in adoptive homes. The total, 199, up 40 per cent over the 142 adoptions completed in B.C. in 1994-95.

• At March 31, 1996, there were 1,300 homes registered, though not necessarily approved, for adoption placements. In 1995-96, 416 families applied to the ministry for adoption; most were placed on a waiting list. As of March 31, 1996, 379 families were approved for adoption and waiting for a child. Of homes approved, 27 had requested a child with special needs.

• There were 1,466 applications for active or passive searches received by the adoption reunion registry during 1995-96, compared with 2,122 the previous year. Passive searches, where both parties applied to the registry, resulted in 124 matches, while active searches, where only one party registers and the registry seeks consent from the other party, facilitated 471 reunions. In 189 cases, active searches did not end in reunion, because the subject was either deceased or refused to reunite.

Aboriginal Child Welfare

Highlights

• The new Child, Family and Community Service Act which was proclaimed in January 1996 placed increased importance on preserving cultural identity and involving aboriginal communities in the child welfare process. As a consequence, aboriginal services became more focused during 1995-96 on facilitating the development of aboriginal child and family services and on social worker training which would respond to the needs of aboriginal communities.

• By March 31, 1996, 21 agreements, protocols or memorandums of understanding regarding aboriginal child welfare had been signed by First Nations/aboriginal communities and the ministry.

Core Activities

• The Superintendent of Child and Family Services signed an agreement with the Sechelt Indian Band on September 11, 1995 for the partial delegation of authority for child welfare matters from the ministry to the Band.

• A partial delegation of authority was concluded in an agreement signed October 13, 1995 between the ministry and the Cariboo Tribal Council in Williams Lake.

• Partial delegation of authority of the Superintendent was achieved in an agreement signed November 9, 1995 between the ministry and the Lake Babine Band at Burns Lake. Under the agreement, the Nedut’en Family and Child Services agency is responsible for managing and operating family and child welfare services.

• In May 1995, the ministry provided $50,000 to the Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society for a project to identify the needs among aboriginal children for community and cultural support.

• In September 1995, the ministry provided $60,000 to the Interior Friendship Centre in Kamloops to fund a full-time family support worker and two street youth workers.

Income Support Programs

Increased levels of unemployment across Canada over the past decade, concurrent with tighter Unemployment Insurance regulations, have increased the number of people unable to support themselves without some form of assistance. At the same time, federal government support for income assistance has been systematically decreased, leaving the province to bear a much greater portion of the increased income assistance costs.

During 1995-96, the ministry responded to these challenges with a major restructuring of the province’s social safety net based on recommendations that came out of the Premier’s Forum on New Opportunities for Working and Living. The BC Benefits program, launched in November 1995, moved away from a 'one size fits all' approach, to a 'life-cycle' approach that considers what people need at various times in their lives and that protects services for the most vulnerable (children, families, seniors and persons with disabilities).

Highlights of B.C. Benefits

• A Family Bonus provides a monthly cheque for low and modest income families with children. Support for children is no longer paid for out of the income assistance system.

• A Healthy Kids program provides dental and optical benefits for children in low income families.

• A Youth Works program ends welfare for people aged 19 to 24 and supports recipients participating in mandatory job search and work preparation programs.

• A Welfare to Work program for adults provides access to work training and experience as well as support for preparation and search for jobs.

• A new Act for people with disabilities will be developed which separates people designated as disabled from regular income assistance and maintains benefit levels.

• Teens who have left home will no longer be served through the welfare system. They will be provided new supports under the Child, Family and Community Service Act.

• New measures such as early detection programs and expanded data matching will prevent welfare fraud and abuse before it starts and track it down where it exists.

Income Supports

Income assurance (1) provides the minimum level of income necessary on a long-term basis for people with disabilities and seniors.

Specialized programs provide allowances and grants that supplement regular assistance for those in need due to unique circumstances. Allowances include diet, guide dogs, burial costs, camp fees, school start-up and natal allowances.

Hardship assistance helps those who are not eligible for basic income assistance but who have exhausted all other means for meeting their needs and are experiencing extreme hardship.

Supportive services help those in need to secure court-ordered maintenance payments, to pay user charges for long-term care and drug and alcohol treatments and to secure temporary emergency shelter. They are also provided with home support when they are unable to care for themselves. Eligible seniors and people with disabilities are provided with bus passes at reduced rates. Health services ensure that low income is not a barrier to adequate medical services, equipment and supplies.

(1) Program was replaced by BC Benefits effective January 1, 1997. Data reporting under BC Benefits will begin with the beginning of the 1996-97 fiscal year.

Temporary Income Assistance

Highlights

• In December 1995, the ministry imposed a three-month waiting period for welfare applicants arriving in British Columbia from other parts of Canada. The saving was expected to be $25 million each year. The federal government responded by withholding $46 million in transfer payments to the province and the provincial government decided to put the matter before the courts.

• In February 1996, the ministry began offering welfare applicants transportation fare back to their province of last residence if they do not qualify for assistance because of B.C.’s new three-month residency requirement.

• In December 1995, the ministry stopped replacing lost or stolen welfare cheques or cash, and implemented a policy of limiting funds for work clothing and work transportation to only those cases where income assistance recipients have confirmed employment. These measures were expected to save up to $7 million annually.

• The GAIN Act was amended to enable establishment in December 1995 of an Income Assistance Appeal Board to review tribunal decisions that may be in error of law or inconsistent with previous tribunal decisions. Administrative changes enabled the ministry to establish a list of persons qualified to chair tribunals and to pay tribunal members.

• Effective October 30, 1995, welfare eligibility requirements were changed. Allowable asset levels for single employable people were reduced to $500 from $2,500. Allowable asset levels for a childless couple dropped to $1,000 from the previous $5,000. Primary cars and homes are exempt.

Core Activities

Family Size	Employable	Unemployable	Single Parents	Handicapped/Seniors
Single	$500 (2)	$596	N/A	$771
Single (age 55-59)	$546	$596	N/A	$771
Two persons	$811 (2)	$953	$982	$1,128
Couple (age 55-59)	$903	$953	$982	$1,128
Three persons	$1,096	$1,146	$1,175	$1,321
Four persons	$1,239	$1,289	$1,318	$1,464
Five persons	$1,392	$1,442	$1,471	$1,617
Six persons	$1,525	$1,575	$1,604	$1,750
Seven persons	$1,658	$1,708	$1,737	$1,883
Eight persons	$1,781	$1,831	$1,860	$2,006
Nine persons	$1,904	$1,954	$1,983	$2,129
10 persons	$2,027	$2,077	$2,106	$2,252
11 persons or more	add $123 for each person	add $123 for each person	add $123 for each person	add $123 for each person

1. The rates listed are all for one month and include the maximum shelter allowance.

2. Only these figures changed from previous GAIN rates. The previous single employable rate was $546; the previous rate for two employable persons was $903.

Income Assistance cases and recipients

	Single Men	Single Women	Couples	Two Parent	One Parent	Total Cases	Total Dependent Children	Total Dependent Spouses	Total Persons Benefitting
Temporary Income Assistance
Basic Temporary IA	72,876	30,207	5,451	15,356	55,913	179,803	126,974	20,807	327,584
Child in the Home of a Relative	2,165	2,011	-	-	-	4,176	-	-	4,176
Age 60-64	2,140	1,974	968	167	77	5,326	363	1,135	6,824
Total	77,181	34,192	6,419	15,523	55,990	189,305	127,337	21,942	338,584
.
Income Assurance
Handicapped Benefits	11,502	8,741	1,538	646	1,032	23,459	2,684	2,184	28,327
Seniors Benefits	228	715	675	36	10	1,664	58	711	2,433
Families with an OAS component	-	-	104	41	15	160	98	145	403
Mixed Handicapped/Seniors/OAS	-	-	87	7	-	94	10	94	198
Total	11,730	9,456	2,404	730	1,057	25,377	2,850	3,134	31,361
.
Total	88,911	43,648	8,823	16,253	57,047	214,682	130,187	25,076	369,945
Employable						150,528
Unemployable						64,154

Note:
The number of temporary income assistance cases (not including dependents of the recipient) in March 1996, 189,305, was 9,196 or 4.6 per cent less than March 1995.

Income Assurance

Highlights

• During the reporting period, the number of people receiving the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement resumed its steady decline over several years after a small increase in the previous year. The decline is due to increased pension incomes, with a consequent decrease in the number of seniors needing the supplement.

• The Seniors Supplement ceased to be a Ministry of Social Services program at the end of 1995-96. It was transferred along with the bus pass program to the Ministry of Finance.

Core Activities

• At year end, 28,472 individuals designated as handicapped under GAIN regulations were receiving handicapped benefits from the ministry. The benefits recognize the extra expenses incurred by people with disabilities for special diets, transportation and medical equipment and supplies.

• In the last quarter of the fiscal year, the supplement brought a single senior’s income to $913.19 each month and a senior couple’s to $1,521.16.

• As of March, the number of provincial Seniors Supplement recipients totalled 38,446, a decrease of 507 from the previous year. Expenditures for the fiscal year were $18,543,072.

Specialized Programs

Supplemental Allowances - Expenditures (millions)

	1995-96	1994-95	1993-94	1992-93	1991-92	Rates (applicable during 1995-96)
Crisis Grants	$18.0	$26.0	$22.4	$15.8	$10.8	No set rate
Christmas Allowance	$10.5	$9.9	$9.5	$8.2	$6.6	$35/single, $70/couple, $10/dependent.
School Start-up	$3.7	$3.4	$3.2	$2.6	$2.1	$42/students 5 to 11, $58 /students 12 +
Repatriation	$0.21	$0.14	$0.11	$0.10	$0.08	No set rate
Camp Fees	$0.68	$0.87	$0.80	$0.69	$0.57	No set rate
Diet	$2.0	$1.7	$1.5	$1.6	$1.5	$20/month
Natal Allowance	$1.9	$1.6	$1.5	$1.4	$1.3	$25/mo., up to $40/mo.
Comfort Allowance	$5.4	$5.4	$5.3	$5.0	$4.7	$82/mo.
Burials	$1.8	$1.8	$1.8	$1.5	$1.3	$917 for adult, $690 for children
Guide Dog	$0.39	$0.37	$0.027	-	-	$62/month

Hardship Assistance

Highlights

• Eligibility rules were tightened for hardship benefits, paid to those who do not qualify for regular income assistance but are without resources to provide for the basic necessities. Under the new guidelines, people who refuse to work or who quit their jobs are no longer be eligible for hardship benefits. Those who receive hardship benefits are required to repay the ministry when they return to work, liquidate assets or receive other income.

Core Activities

• Hardship assistance expenditures during 1995-96 totalled $155.7 million, a decrease of 13 per cent from $180.0 million in 1994-95. On average, the grants benefitted 33,966 individuals each month during the year - 23,517 recipients and their dependents. Both figures were down 12 per cent from the previous year.

Supportive Services

Core Activities

• During 1995-96, family maintenance staff worked with income assistance recipients to obtain their maintenance and child support payments from spouses. During the year, 2,047 new orders were obtained against delinquent spouses with a total value of $637,467, compared with 1,376 the previous year at a total value of $315,216. Clients receiving income assistance can receive up to $100 income each month without reducing benefits.

• The ministry paid $24.1 million to alcohol and drug treatment facilities, recovery homes and long-term care facilities on behalf of income assistance recipients during 1995-96, up 2.5 per cent from the previous year. Another $7.2 million was paid for income assistance recipients requiring special care, for comforts and clothing allowances.

• The ministry paid emergency shelters $10.1 million during 1995-96 for room and board for transient income assistance recipients or others who were in crisis and required accommodation. In all, there are 34 hostels with a total contracted capacity of 475 beds. 'Single persons' received $6.3 million and emergency shelters received $3.6 million. Capital grants given to hostels and shelters totalled $0.2 million.

  * Annual passes for public transit are offered at a reduced rate of $45 to seniors and people with disabilities. BC Transit is reimbursed for the number of passes issued but total payment is limited to the amount in the budget appropriation. The large majority of pass holders, 27,269 out of a provincial total of 35,583, lived in Greater Vancouver. In Greater Victoria, 4,260 residents held passes. As of the end of 1995-96, the bus pass program is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.

Health Services

Highlights

• The criteria which define who is to receive the disability designation were changed. The definition was broadened 1) by eliminating the requirement that a person be unemployable and 2) by replacing the requirement that the disability be permanent with a criterion based on the duration of the disability.

• Eligibility for the diet allowance was revised to capture a broader range of disabilities.

• New rules governing trust funds were introduced to enhance the support available to people with disabilities. Under the new rules, non-discretionary trust funds up to a lifetime limit of $100,000 are no longer considered assets in determining eligibility for disability benefits.

• As part of the Healthy Kids Program, children in low income families were provided with optical and dental benefits.

• The ministry put in place measures to ensure clients use alternate resources prior to receiving benefits from the ministry and to ensure a fair and effective eligibility review process. Monitoring of program expenditures was also increased with a view to improve targeting of benefits.

Prevention, Compliance and Enforcement

Highlights

• Many provincial Income Assistance clients may be unaware of federal income support benefits to which they are entitled. A project was initiated to determine the eligibility of income assistance clients between 60 and 64 years of age for federal Old Age Security, Widowed Spouses’ Allowance and Canada Pension Plan benefits. About 10,000 clients were to be contacted in an initial phase and expected savings were to reach $3 million. A second phase would see 42,000 contacted with projected savings of $9 million.

• An early detection program began October 1, 1995 at 16 pilot sites with 27 ministry staff conducting pre-eligibility investigations of selected high-risk applicants. Initial results showed that in 52 per cent of the investigations, denial or reduction of benefits was recommended.

• Data matching initiatives were expanded to include the coroner’s office, Immigration Canada, the Province of Quebec and the City of Montreal. The names of Lotto BC winners were checked manually against MSS information. The first check found that of 202 clients who had lottery winnings, only two declared their wins as income.

• A number of new compliance projects were introduced during the year, including home visits and review of hardship claims and shelter costs.

Core Activities

• During the reporting period, staff resources increased by 50 per cent to 158 FTEs, with major additions of investigators, eligibility officers and verification officers.

• Ministry investigators looked into 18,939 cases where fraud was suspected. There were 12,746 new cases in 1995-96, 11, 221 completed and 7,718 carried forward to the next fiscal year. At year end, there had been 141 fraud convictions, with 169 cases still before the court. Almost 5,000 repayment agreements had been reached with a value of $9 million. The largest single fraud type continued to be 'undeclared income'. The total value of investigations for 1995-96 was $14.9 million.

• The estimated value of all prevention, compliance and enforcement activities for 1995-96 was estimated at $52.4 million, based on actual savings and repayments plus costs to the ministry if the problems had not been corrected.

• Savings from investigations, repayments and court-ordered restitution during 1995-96 were estimated to total $14.94 million.

Federal/Provincial Activities

Highlights

• Program staff supported the minister in her role as the 1995-96 chair of the provincial-territorial social services ministers.

• Program staff chaired the interprovincial working group responsible for developing proposals for integrated national income support for children.

• Program staff analyzed and responded to the federal government’s Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST), which replaced the cost-sharing basis of the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) with block funding in April 1996. In the reporting period, program staff helped prepare the ministry for the transition.

• The program provided support in the restructuring of the province’s social safety net by developing policy related to the BC Benefits program.

Community Support Services

Services for Community Living

Highlights

• As part of a realignment process that began in the previous year, Services for Community Living was trans-ferred from the Ministry of Health in April 1995, with a commitment to the continuity of services to clients. The purpose of the move was to offer one high quality service rather than two separate, parallel services, the other being Services to People with Mental Handicaps already within the Ministry of Social Services.

Core Activities

• At the end of 1995-96, the branch was supporting about 55 children and 325 adults with 314 contracts. All services were maintained throughout the transfer between ministries.

• The total budget for the branch was $41 million, 98.5 per cent of which is taken up with field operations.

• Per diems for care of children averaged about $110. For adult care, the costs ranged from $3,000 to $110,000 annually per individual.

Adults with a Mental Handicap

Highlights

• During 1995-96, the division began working with individuals, families, communities, service providers and advocacy groups to refocus training and support services for adults with mental handicaps. A Provincial Refocus Committee was formed in July 1995. The first part of the process included converting subsidies for achievement (training) centres to contractual agreements, developing standards for training and support programs and developing closer coordination in the provision of services.

Day Services

Highlights

• As a result of refocusing of ministry training and support options, supports for achievement centres were written into contractual agreements. Subsidies based on client-hours were discontinued.

Residential Services

Self-Help Skills

Participants and Expenditures
1991-92 to 1995-96

	1991/92	1992/93	1993/94	1994/95	1995/96
Particpants	2,800	3,000	3,300	4,146	4,099
Expenditures (millions)	$26.2	$32.4	$40.3	$45.8	$55.9

Supported Work

Participants and Expenditures
1991-92 to 1995-96

	1991/92	1992/93	1993/94	1994/95	1995/96
Participants	822	900	1,000	1,456	1,422
Expenditures (millions)	$4.6	$5.7	$6.7	$7.3	$7.7

Achievement Centres

Expenditures
1991-92 to 1995-96

	1991/92	1992/93	1993/94	1994/95	1995/96
Expenditures (millions)	$5.3	$4.9	$4.1	$3.9	$3.7

Professional Supports for Service Providers

Expenditures
1991-92 to 1995-96

	1991/92	1992/93	1993/94	1994/95	1995/96
Expenditures (millions)	$3.9	$5.0	$5.6	$5.9	$6.6

Community Placement Project

Core Activities

• During 1995-96, the last 37 residents of Glendale Lodge near Victoria moved into the community. The last resident moved out on March 29, 1996. The facility was scheduled to close. Thirty-nine residents moved from Woodlands into the Greater Vancouver community, leaving 58 still in the facility at year end. During the year, the unit also moved into the community 10 residents of Riverview Hospital diagnosed with both mental illness and mental handicaps.

• As of March 31, 1996, all residents of Woodlands were expected to have moved into the community by December 1996.

Support for Children with Special Needs

Highlights

• In August 1995, the ministry began hiring social workers to fill 30 additional permanent positions for children with special needs.

• In January 1996, the division undertook a revision of its policies on Children with Special Needs to ensure conformity with the new Child, Family and Community Service Act, proclaimed in the same month.

Residential Services

Infant Development

Community Services

Highlights

• Kelowna hosted the Biennial provincial conference of Senior Citizen Counsellors in October 1995. Workshops were offered on subjects related to the volunteer work of counsellors, financial support, housing, health services, communication skills and dealing with grief and loss.

• During 1995-96, Employment Initiatives for the Handicapped assisted 579 individuals as a cost of $156,000. The Community Volunteer Program assisted 2,599 individuals at a cost of $2.5 million.

Senior Citizen Counsellors

Community Projects

Administration

Administrative Services

Highlights

• The division analyzed those findings of the Inquiry into Child Protection which involved recorded information management and developed strategies to support their implementation.

• During 1995-96, the division provided recorded information management policy support for implementation of the Adoption Act.

Core Activities

• At the start of 1995-96, 146 relocation or major renovation projects were underway. During the year, 140 new relocations or major renovations were identified and 188 projects were completed. The co-ordinator of special needs housing was involved in completion of 30 new homes which provided 144 additional beds. The coordinator also provides on-going maintenance and repair for 157 existing special needs housing units.

• During 1995-96, the division processed 3,211 boxes of records and 13,753 file requests, including 2,163 searches and retrievals in response to freedom of information requests and 1,518 searches and retrievals for the Adoption Reunion Registry. In all, 189,171 requested documents were copied.

Audit Services

Core Activities

• The division completed 32 audits of district and resource offices, seven audits of non-profit organizations, and two systems audits.

Communications

Highlights

• The division was called upon to respond to ongoing media and public attention on the child welfare system as a result of the Inquiry into Child Protection. Policy and legislation information was provided as well as support for the commission’s work and public information on the deaths of other children known to the ministry but not necessarily in legal care.

• Substantive reforms to the welfare system resulting from the introduction of the BC Benefits program required aggressive communications activities directed at staff and the general public. The program involved several ministries; the division co-ordinated interministry communications and set up a 1-800 telephone line for access to information.

• With the passage of new adoption legislation, division work focussed on producing materials describing the changes to help inform public discourse and on responding to inquiries from across the province and across Canada.

• The division began to issue news releases to build greater public awareness of grants and contracts supporting social welfare programs across B.C.

Core Activities

• The division publishes approximately 100 pamphlets, posters, booklets and reports on behalf of the ministry. About 34 publications were revised or reprinted during the year, and three new ones were added. Clarity and plain language were priorities, as were cost-effective production, printing and distribution.

Employment Equity

Highlights

• The development of a three-year plan for employment equity culminated in March 1996 with its approval by the ministry executive.

• A new vision, mission and values statement was created which reflected the ministry’s responsibility as an employer, including the value of diversity.

• A statement on 'zero tolerance' of violence and discrimination was developed and posters were sent to all offices. The poster read: "The Ministry of Social Services is committed to a workplace where everyone is safe, and is treated with courtesy, dignity and respect. Swearing, shouting, threats or violence will not be tolerated."

Core Activities

• An outreach strategy was implemented in regard to social worker recruitment. For example, comprehensive information brochures were sent to all applicants as well as to more than 900 organizations which represent designated groups.

• During the year, eight sessions of a two-day workshop on the management of a diverse workforce were held. As of March 1996, 354 senior managers and executives had completed the workshop.

• By March 1996, more than 600 managers and supervisors had taken training on how to deal with harassment complaints. Also, 350 employees had attended training on attitudes towards people with disabilities and 400 employees participated in Aboriginal awareness workshops.

• A review of all core training for equity issues and cultural sensitivity was completed in February 1996. Diversity issues had been, and continued to be, incorporated.

• In September 1995, the ministry participated in the development of a government-wide mentorship program. Twenty-eight employees were matched with mentors by March 1996.

Financial Planning

Highlights

• In October 1995, the division took responsibility for the Employee Recognition Program which replaced the Employee Suggestion Program. The new program recognizes employees who suggest ideas for improvements in service, operations and the work environment or who participate in successful renewal projects. During 1995-96, 23 employees received monetary awards totalling $22,660 for 18 adopted ideas which resulted in $624,813 in savings.

Core Activities

• In 1990, the federal government limited its annual Canada Assistance Plan payment increases to five per cent each year until 1994-95. Costs have risen more than five per cent each year. Ministry spending for 1995-96 totalled $2,880 million; $2,653.66 million was eligible for cost-sharing. CAP contributions totalled $882.17 million during 1995-96 or 33 per cent of shareable expenditures. (Under original CAP terms, the contribution should have been $1,326.83 million, half of shareable costs.

• In 1995-96, $14.5 million was reclaimed from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for services to aboriginal children-in-care.

Financial Services

Highlights

• A policy to recover security deposits issued to clients for accommodation, implemented in the previous year, meant about $17 million in deposits became collectible in 1995-96. The division collected $3.7 million in cash and processed claims for $7 million.

• The ministry recovered income assistance payments made to clients for periods when unemployment insurance was payable from the federal government. During 1995-96, recoveries totalled about $20 million.

Core Activities

• During each month of the reporting period, the division processed:
  • an average of 375,000 income assistance cheques;
  • about 19,000 billings from day care providers;
  • about 44,000 payments to contractors;
  • 12,000 payments under program areas of the Family and Children’s Services and Community Support Services divisions;
  • payments to foster parents for about 6,000 children-in-care;
  • 7,000 accounts receivable billings; and
  • pay cheques for 6,184 regular and auxiliary ministry staff.

Human Resources

Highlights

• Proclamation of the Child, Family and Community Service Act created recruitment activity in the hiring of the implementation team.

• The government decided social workers hired in future will require a bachelor of social work as a minimum qualification.

• The division introduced a comprehensive five-month training program for child protection workers, highlighting child-centred social work in response to the Gove Inquiry into Child Protection.

• The division mounted a massive cross-country recruitment campaign for child protection workers in February and March 1996. This recruitment freed up existing staff resources, enabling child protection workers to participate in the new five-month training program.

• A Corporate Human Resources and Payroll Information System was introduced in December 1995 and all employee data transferred to the new system.

Core Activities

• At the end of 1995-96, there were 5,342 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in the ministry, 348 or seven per cent more than at the start of the year. They included:
  • 3,974 FTEs assigned to field services (social workers, financial assistance workers and administrative workers);
  • 82 positions providing emergency services outside of office hours;
  • 961 positions located in headquarters offices; and
  • 325 positions assigned to Woodlands residential and training facility for adults with mental disabilities. The 20 per cent staff reduction over the reporting period continued a staff decline over several years as residents are relocated to community-based organizations. Woodlands was scheduled to close by the end of 1996.

Information and Privacy

Highlights

• A ruling by the information and privacy commissioner just before the start of the reporting period, that all non-identifying information contained in adoption records should be available to the parties involved, resulted in a dramatic increase in adoption enquiries.

• In late January 1996, the Child, Family and Community Service Act came into force. Its access to information and confidentiality provisions requires increased care in the review of information to be released.

Core Activities

• About 2,500 requests for information were processed during the reporting period, more than triple the number in any other ministry of the provincial government.

• Full-time staff increased to 23 from 19 between the start and the end of the reporting period.

Multiculturalism

Highlights

• Program staff concentrated in 1995-96 on incorporating multiculturalism into ministry core operations, such as:
  • including cultural competence training in the ministry’s core curriculum for all social workers;
  • including multiculturalism in policy development for all areas of the ministry; and
  • increasing the cultural diversity of ministry staff and redressing under-representation at all levels.

Core Activities

• Advanced training for supervisors and managers was provided to encourage ministry leaders to create an environment which welcomes and values diversity.

• Staff arranged delivery of culturally-specific education sessions for ministry staff in conjunction with community partners.

Policy, Planning and Research

• Policy, Planning and Legislation;
• Research, Evaluation and Statistics;
• Emergency Social Services.

Policy, Planning and Legislation

Highlights

• Security considerations for cabinet documents resulted in physical changes to the office area in Victoria, with controlled areas and locked file rooms introduced to strictly regulate access.

• A records management officer was hired during the year to undertake a major culling of files, a routine function that had been left undone for a number of years previous.

• The branch was instrumental in assisting an interministerial agency develop policy and legislation for a restructuring and renewal of the province’s social safety net under the BC Benefits program. The executive director of the division was seconded to the interministerial agency to assist in implementation.

Core Activities

• The branch provided continual reports to government on developments from the Gove Inquiry into Child Protection and assisted in development of strategic plans for implementation of its recommendations.

• The branch assisted in developing strategic plans for the implementation of the BC Benefits program.

Research, Evaluation and Statistics

Highlights

• The branch initiated an evaluation of the service quality advocate for adults with a mental handicap.

• Researchers supported an interministerial and intergovernmental evaluation of supported child care (such as special needs day care) as part of a process to develop a new framework for child care support.

• A major evaluation of the move of adults with a mental handicap into the community was initiated to discover how well the placements were serving client needs, the degree of family satisfaction and the implications of institutional downsizing.

Core Activities

• A large portion of branch energy was directed to supporting the implementation of the new Child, Family and Community Service Act and the BC Benefits program with existing information and new research.

• The branch initiated evaluations of residential standards for children in care and family support programs, and initiated an internal quality assurance program.

Emergency Social Services

Highlights

• The branch tested the ministry’s headquarters and regional disaster response plans through exercise Phoenix 1.

Core Activities

• Emergency Social Services responded to 172 incidents during the reporting year, of which 85 per cent involved people displaced by house or apartment fires. In June 1995, up to 1,000 people were evacuated and required emergency shelter in Fernie due to flooding. Thirty people required stress counselling following a bus accident in Kelowna in November 1995. Other incidents involved storms, flooding, landslides, power outage and dangerous goods.

System Services

Highlights

• Changes to the child protection area of the management information system, necessitated by the proclamation of the Child, Family and Community Service Act, were made early in 1996. In March 1996, three offices were brought onto the redesigned system; the remaining offices were to be brought onto the system in the next fiscal year. The new system provides province-wide access to child protection information held by the ministry, increasing access speed, reducing paperwork and supporting recommendations contained in the report of the Gove Inquiry into Child Protection.

• In January 1996, system changes were made to accommodate the Youth Works program as part of the BC Benefits initiative.

• In early 1996, system changes accommodated the delivery of the Healthy Kids program to provide optical and dental benefits to children of low income families.

Core Activities

• Upgrading of the ministry’s technical capacity continued with installation of microcomputers, software and local area networks (LANs). Significant upgrades were required to implement the Corporate Human Resource Information and Payroll System in late 1995.

Women’s Programs

Highlights

• In 1995-96, the Women’s Task Force disbanded and the Women’s Action Committee assumed responsibility for implementing the recommendations in the Task Force Report.

• Membership of the Women’s Action Committee was expanded to reflect the diversity of women in the ministry and include women with disabilities, aboriginal women and women of visible minorities.

• The Women’s Action Committee has an extensive network of contact persons at individual worksites who provide information on the agenda, issues and action plan of Women’s Programs to their colleagues. This role was expanded during 1995-96 to include providing information on Employment Equity and Multiculturalism programs. This has proven extremely effective.

Core Activities

• In conjunction with Employment Equity, two scholarships worth $5,000 each were awarded to women to participate in the Foundation Program in Management for Women in the Faculty of Business Administration at Simon Fraser University.

• Women’s Programs advocated for and provided input into development of:
  • a ministry-specific lateral transfer policy to support family relocation issues;
  • a temporary assignments policy and guidelines to ensure fair and equitable access to job opportunities for all staff; and
  • an electronic bulletin board to advertise temporary assignment opportunities to all staff.

• The ministry established a bibliography on career development and women’s issues in the staff library.

• Women’s Programs sponsored training and education throughout the province on occupational health and safety, prevention of violence against women, financial planning, gender communications, and the portrayal of women in the media and its impact on human service organizations.

• Women’s Program staff successfully piloted alternative work arrangements.

Legislative Authority

• provides statutory procedures for protection and care of children who are neglected, abused, abandoned or living without proper supervision or guardianship.

was implemented in January 1996 to replace the Family and Child Service Act as the statutory authority for protection and care of children. The act also established the office of advocate for children, youth and families.

• provides statutory procedures for protection and care of children whose guardianship is uncertain because of the death or incapacity of parents or legal guardian.

• provides the same rights and privileges for adopted children as for children born to parents in a family. The act was substantially rewritten and a new act passed during 1995-96, however, implementation was scheduled for the next fiscal year.

• provides for essential financial assistance and social services, including day care, family support services, residential care, counselling and rehabilitation services, for eligible individuals and families.

• empowers the government to establish human resource and health centres where provincial income assistance programs, social services and health services may be administered by boards composed of local citizens.

• requires municipalities to contribute to the costs of specific social assistance programs for persons in need. (There have been no cases where municipalities have had to contribute since 1982.)

• establishes the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Social Services in all matters relating to social and public welfare and income assistance.

• authorizes provincial grants to non-profit organizations for the development of residential facilities for children, disabled persons and seniors.