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Community Living Coalition - June 11, 2003 1pm
Minutes
1. Introductions were made around the room
2. Update on the Senior Parents Forum: There was a Forum held on April 8th,
2003 that was attended by over 90 people. A working group developed a
brief and then a delegation presented their report to the board of the Interim
Authority. There will be a follow-up forum on July 4, 2003 - New
Westminster Library - 10am where the committee will receive and discuss the
response from the Board of the Interim Authority.
3. Update on Transitions Forum: May 31, 2003 - 22 people showed up - quick
update on Interim Authority progress, then brainstorming on the issues and
possible solutions for individuals and families facing the transition from
children's services to adulthood. There will be a report developed that
will be circulated through the coalition mailing list to gather input from
around the province. The final report will be sent to the Interim
Authority board to ensure they are considering the transition issues that
families are facing.
 | What about other transitions in adults' lives? The transitions
people face as they age? The transitions people face as their family members
pass away? |
| Waiting lists for young adults create huge challenges for people who have
been used to the structure of school. The need to focus on people's
deficits to get access to programs is particularly discouraging to families
and individuals. |
| People discussed wanting "a life" not "a day program". |
4. Interim Authority Update:
| Children's Services for Community Living staying with Adult Services:
While there was an agreement on April 17, 2002 on keeping Children's and
Adult's Community Living Services together, there seems to be some discussion
within the Ministry of reviewing that decision. |
| Reference Groups: There will be an invitation to participate in reference
groups for families, self-advocates and service providers posted on the
Interim Authority site this week. There will be people from each of 17
areas currently being considered for Community Living Centres selected for the
Family, Self-Advocate & Reference Group members. |
| Community Information Sessions: The Interim Authority will be hosting a
series of information sessions across the province in July and August.
Watch the Interim Authority site for more information. |
| Budget information update: In April, the Treasury Board initiated a review
of the three year budget plan, concerned about implementation of this year's
budget and the plan for fiscal year 2004-2005. There is concern across
the Ministry about the inability the inability to reach the budget targets for
next year. Ministry staff have worked with Treasury Board to develop new
strategies for achieving those budget targets, but many of those strategies
would put children, adults and families in danger. Treasury board has
tentatively committed to providing a response to the budget review by June 17,
2003. This is only a tentative date. |
| Families and self-advocates are meeting with their MLA's to build
understanding of the issues facing families and self-advocates. |
| Safeguards: Discussion around what families should do if they need
assistance: the Ministry is responsible for current service delivery and
planning for individuals. Families should go to their social worker to
address concerns. If there is a restructuring initiative causing a
disruption to your service that you are unhappy with, you can approach Jane
Holland, the Service Quality Advocate. Her office has received
additional resources to respond to family and self-advocate concerns about
changes to services. To reach her:
 | In Vancouver, call 604-775-1238 |
| In Victoria, call 250-387-6121 and ask for transfer to 604-775-1238 |
| In other parts of the Province, call 1-800-663-7867 and ask for transfer
to 604-775-1238 |
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Safeguards for individuals who don't have friends and family acting as
advocates: There are many people in community living services who are
disconnected from family. How can the community respond to ensure all
people have access to advocacy, relationships, and community membership?
In particular, when service providers are proposing changes to services, who
will assist vulnerable individuals to provide informed consent to changes?
Volunteers are needed to create a forum on the issue of individuals in service
who don't have family connections. Richard Faucher volunteered and will
approach Jack Styan. Cathy Grant, Jo Dickey and Jordan Thurston are also
interested but may not have time. If you are interested in participating
in this working group, call Richard Faucher at Burnaby Association -
604-299-7851 or rfaucher@bamh.org .
5. Communications Committee: A small committee that needs more help.
Linda Perry, Maria Glaze, Brian Salisbury, Ernie Baatz and Lorraine Ward - but
people have limited time to address ongoing communication needs of the
coalition:
| Supporting Community Facilitators - 30 people across the province
attempting through person-to-person contact to increase understanding of the
goals of the coalition |
| Enhancing communications efforts around critical issues to ensure the
coalition membership can address them effectively |
| Creating new ways to communicate the coalition message across the province
and enhance the dialogue. |
6. General Updates:
| Dialogue on Citizenship - Who Cares? June 24, 2003 - 7pm to 9:30pm - Wosk
Centre for Dialogue |
| Social Co-ops and Social Care: A new model for serving vulnerable
individuals: June 26, 2003 - 7:30 to 9:00pm - SFU Harbour Centre |
| Tertiary Care Working Group - Family members had concerns about how the
working group was working with Willow and with Mental Health teams? Is
there a need for the urgent timeline of closure by March 31, 2004 when the
buildings will exist til summer 2005? It was suggested we invite Nancy Hall,
the consultant to the Tertiary Care Working Group to come to the next
coalition meeting to discuss their workplan. The chairs will contact
her. |
| BCACL update: last weekend was AGM - New president is John Kehler.
New board members are Nancy Hoyano, Star Mahara and Darryl Harand. |
| Family Support Institute: New president is Donna Diggens. |
| Woodlands Abuse Report: The Minister, Gordon Hogg, made an apology for the
mistreatment of individuals at Woodlands and announced a Legacy Fund that will
allow individuals who lived at the provincial institutions to receive therapy.
BCACL and families expressed concern that the apology seemed to minimize the
abuse people experienced, and feel the legacy fund should not limit
individuals' abilities to pursue redress for past abuse. There are two
class actions being pursued in provincial court. A hearing has taken
place before a judge. The judge will rule on which class action is
allowed to proceed. Other families would like to pursue a negotiated
settlement that avoids court, but cannot proceed until the class action
process is confirmed. Once the process is confirmed, individuals can opt
out of the class action process. The coalition will continue to share
information as it arises. |
7. Next Meetings:
| Senior Parents Forum - July 4, 2003 - New Westminster Library |
| Coalition Meeting - July 9, 2003 - Burnaby Association - 1pm to 4pm |
| Coalition Meeting - August 20th, 2003 - Burnaby Association - 10am to 2pm |
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