CLC Meeting Minutes

April 14, 2004

10:00 am to 12:00 pm

BCACL Offices - 300 - 30 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

1. Introductions: People introduced themselves around the room.  One person asked for an update on Seniors issues that were identified at the Seniors Forum in April 2003.

2. Life Long Supports: a few weeks ago, the Deputy Minister met with a group of families and Interim Authority staff to hear about the need for life long services, not just therapy and intervention, but also family supports such as respite.  At the end of the meeting, there were no commitments, but the Deputy Minister expressed an understanding of the needs for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to have early and ongoing and uninterrupted access to community supports.  There have been ongoing discussions with the Ministry regarding the Updated Readiness Assessment.  Doug Woollard explained that he cannot discuss the Ministry's position or background until the report is released, but he can explain the Interim Authority's position in the discussions.

1.     Intensive Treatment services for children with Autism:  Because there is a case before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Interim Authority has agreed that changing the current service delivery should not occur while the court case is being considered.

2.     The Interim Authority's position on services for families with young children is that when there is a clear developmental disability diagnosed in a child, the family would be served by Community Living British Columbia.  The generic child and family support services are available to all families through Children & Family services - IDP, early intervention, therapy, etc...

3.     At Home Program: The program needs a public review of the program as it has grown and has been accessed in many different ways since it was introduced in 1989.  With a public review, there can be a discussion of what the priorities of the program should be, and how the program should be accessed.

4.     The Interim Authority's position is that the Ministry would transfer family support services to Community Living BC.

Issues of concern raised by Coalition members:

1.     How will the transfer of funding and services affect families who have children with a different label - eg. Children with physical disabilities and attention deficit disorder? They should not lose access to services they have been using because of a label and a new boundary to services. 

2.     Program funding versus person-centred funding: With program funding, agencies are moving more and more to group activities that limit the ability of individuals to explore the community on their own terms.  Community Living BC wants to move to funding person centred plans, not funding programs, but that is a long incremental implementation process.  

5.     Motion: Taking into account the cautionary issues above, the coalition is in support of the general direction that the Interim Authority is moving with the Ministry on children's services.  Moved by Laney, seconded by Liz CARRIED.

3. CLBC Governance: The historical position of the Coalition has been that the board be composed of at least 50% plus one of family members and self-advocates with at least one person who is a self-advocate.  The Coalition also supports specifically the inclusion of a self-advocate on the board.  In a meeting with the Minister yesterday, BCACL reports that the Ministry is uncomfortable with the concept of a self-advocate on a governance board with fiduciary responsibility for a $600 Million organization.  The Ministry did seem more committed to meeting the 50% plus one obligation by including people with family members with developmental disabilities or some close connection to community living movement.  The legislation is still in legislative council and there is an opportunity for the Minister to make small changes but the bill will be introduced to the house without an opportunity for public review.  To specifically exclude self-advocates would be a breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  What strategies can the coalition take on to make the government aware of the community's strong stand on this issue?

4. Budget Issues: The budget for health and safety responses to people in crisis was overspent last year, leaving only $3 Million for this year 2004-05.  BCACL met with the Minister and Deputy Minister and expressed extreme concern about this budget line - that people will be put at risk without some change to this number.  The waitlist issue has been at the forefront for the past 6 years and the critical situations have been addressed through health and safety responses.  Every year, the amounts expended get mostly  annualized as the person in crisis is met with a response that is an ongoing need.  Over the past two years, the agencies have been forced to expand their capacity without additional funding but are now at their limit.  This will not be an option for the coming year.  Many agencies are running a deficit budget this year because they are implementing a 3 - 4% funding cut due to the new collective agreement that only provides significant savings over time.  The Interim Authority Board has been focused on this budget issue for the past two months and is frustrated with the lack of concrete information - they won't have final expense figures for 2003-2004 until the end of June 2004.  The Budget Reference group involved with the Ministry reviewed the budget for 2004-05 and kept asking for the details of the Health & Safety budget.  This information was only revealed in February 2004.  The Ministry's position is that the budget is adequate.

5. Strategies for items 3 & 4:

6. Coalition Response to Attorney General on Representation Agreements: A draft was presented to members present.  A final draft will be completed this week and submitted to the Attorney General.

7. Joint Policy Directorate: Meeting held yesterday - one year review completed in January - but remains on the desk of the ADM - have been frustrated that meetings are being cancelled, no information being shared - and have asked the Minister for some confirmation of the role of the Joint Policy Directorate.  The function for which is was created still exists, but the parties and the services to be covered have all changed and there needs to be a re-design of the Joint Policy Directorate - but it does need to exist.

7. Date of next meeting: Monday, May 10, 2004 - 10am to 1pm

Meeting adjourned at 1:05pm.