MOMS ACTION: Summary of cuts

Tell the BC government that investing in children is a top priority . (Deadline for 2010 Budget input: Oct. 23)

(Please distribute widely, with apologies for cross-postings!)

Vancouver, October 13, 2009

Premier Campbell's  forgotten promise:

BC government's 2006 - 2009 Strategic Plan: 5 Great Goals for the Golden Decade:

Goal #3 : ' Build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk, and seniors.'

Three years later, the BC government has forgotten all about about Great Goal #3. We've seen no improvements in supports for children and youth with special needs. Existing systems are being dismantled and services cut, with no effort to resolve long-standing service gaps:

• Intensive intervention programs for autism axed, despite overwhelming need & evidence these programs work well & expert advice that direct funding is not an effective alternative for many.
• Parents who effectively manage autism funding forced to switch to Ministry-administered payments . This will create new problems, including delays and higher costs
• Provincial offices that provide direct services including oversight, coordination, training and standards for community Infant Development Programs and Aboriginal IDPs to be axed.
• Axing of the provincial Supported Child Care office, which was recently created to resolve problems from the lack of oversight, coordination, training & consistency in local SCC programs.
  • URGENT NOTE : A month's notice won't allow SCC staff to properly transfer roles. Pls. urge govt to at least extend these roles to March 2010 to permit an orderly transition.
• Healthy Choices in Pregnancy program , which focussed on reducing FASD - axed
• Budget for children in care - reduced
• Youth mental health programs cut, along with programs for youth fighting addiction
• Capital grants and funded spaces for childcare programs - reduced
• $32 million in cuts to Ministry staff who manage & deliver programs and supports.
• Front-line agencies that deliver programs ordered to make further cuts totalling $3.6 million .
• Roots of Empathy program cut
• NO risk assessment or consultation with families & agencies about impacts of cuts!

Savings from these cuts are NOT being used to expand services to children currently waitlisted or denied access to services & family supports (e.g. children with Down Syndrome).

• Young adults still denied services on the basis of IQ, contrary to promised policy change.
• Thousands of children still denied urgently-needed services or waitlisted. Govt has failed to document waitlists and service gaps or to demonstrate any progress in resolving these despite years of promises.
• MCFD has spent over a year restructuring services for children with special needs - again! - with no effort to consult families who are the primary partners in delivering most children's supports.

We can afford to do better

The BC government argues this "belt tightening" is needed because of tough economic times. Yet:

• Premier Campbell failed to strengthen front-line services and supports for children and youth with special needs and their families despite record budget surpluses in recent years.
• His government continues to waste millions on endless restructuring of children's services
• The Premier has committed $14 billion to new capital spending in his 2010 budget at the same time that vital children's programs are being cut.
• Premier Campbell remains committed to spending $20 million on bricks and mortar to help construct a new autism building in Vancouver, after BC families overwhelming stressed in a MOMS survey last year that maintaining and enhancing services was by far the top priority.

MOMS get Militant again

Concerned BC parents formed Moms on the Move (MOMS) in 2001 to fight drastic cuts to children's services and we've become the largest family network supporting children with special needs in BC. Parents have urged MOMS to speak up again, and an expanded MOMS advocacy committee met October 10 and agreed that:

• MOMS will re-organize and work with other groups to lead a broad-based campaign to alert families, the public and MLAs about growing gaps and new cuts affecting children & youth with special needs, contrary to govt claims that it's protecting/enhancing services.
• MOMS will put the 'Militant' back in our name to convey families' frustration over the province's failure to address serious gaps and further erosion of support. BC's moms and dads are determined to hold Premier Campbell accountable to his promises to BC's children.

Advocacy campaign: Phase 1 :

ACTION 1: Urge the Provincial Budget Committee to reverse these cuts and address serious service gaps for BC's most vulnerable children and youth

Please join those speaking up for BC's vulnerable children. The Finance & Government Services Committee is accepting public input on budget priorities for the 2010 BC Budget. Anyone can email comments or simply complete a quick online survey until the October 23 deadline .

Answer the quick online survey here :

Or e-mail your comments to: [email protected] (Please include your contact information)

ACTION 2: If you haven't already done so, copy your comments to your local MLA - or to every BC MLA at once, by copying and pasting the email list below. Ask your MLA what he/she will do to respond. Ask to meet in person if you have time. Let them know how many voters in your family and circle of friends agree that BC's vulnerable children deserve better.

MOMS is setting up a new Web site and provincial organizational structure and connecting with provincial and community partners to support families in ongoing advocacy - stay tuned for more. We're also seeking volunteers from across BC, so please let us know if you wish to get more involved in supporting further advocacy initiatives!

Dawn Steele & Cyndi Gerlach, for

Militant Moms on the Move

MLA Email list