Premier funds her friends’ $20 M centre, while families, kids denied autism services
The provincial government today announced a $20 million government grant to help cover construction costs for a proposed private facilty in East Vancouver that will house autism service providers.
Today's announcement confirms a personal commitment that former Premier Gordon Campbell made in a private meeting with hotelier Sergia Cocchia shortly before the February 2008 Throne Speech, following private lobbying by the Cocchia/Lisogar family, who have a child with autism and who are staunch political backers/donors to the Premier and her BC Liberal party. The Cocchias invited Christy Clark adviser Pamela Martin and wealthy BC Liberal political donors such as the Aquilini family to establish the Pacific Autism Family Centre (PAFC) Foundation to advance their project following Campbell's 2008 commitment. Provincially-funded autism service agencies were recruited to help rally support for the proposed centre, with promises of new offices, elaborate facilities and expanded influence in overseeing provincial autism services.
The provincial government has never publicly consulted families on the proposed centre, undertaken any needs assessment or requested competing bids or proposals for the $20 million grant. The Province has already provided several million dollars to finance PAFC's project development costs and to help the foundation conduct its own provincial "consultations" in an effort to rally community support -- at a time when provincial funding for autism services has been cut and urgent autism support needs continue to outstrip budgets.
When the proposal was first announced in 2008, MOMS undertook a Web survey that showed most families would rather see new Provincial dollars go to boosting services, not constructing a new building. PAFC and Provincial authorities declined to respond.
In 2011, MOMS and other organizations, including the BC Association for Child Development and Rehabilitation and the BC Association for Community Living, challenged the proposed investment, citing the Province's failure to understake any needs assessment.
Critics also questioned investing scarce Provincial dollars in a Vancouver building that would be inaccessible for most families struggling to support individuals with autism in rural BC communities, where access to appropriate supports is often most difficult. Best practices in autism intervention also emphasize the delivery of services right in the individual's home, school or community wherever possible.
MOMS received threatening letters from provincial officials after leaking internal ministry documents citing advice from senior bureaucrats, who warned that PAFC's proposed business model would further erode operating resources for critical Provincial programs such as autism diagnosis and assessment.
The $20 million grant will not go towards any actual services or supports for individuals with autism or their families. The entire amount will go to construction costs.
Premier Christy Clark's "families first" policy seems to mean "buildings first" or "friends first." Why else would she invest in a building proposed by her political friends when her government continues to deny or reduce program funding for services and supports to children, youth and adults with autism and their families around the Province, including:
- Infants and children denied autism assessment and diagnostic services, with lengthy waitlists due to rationed BC Health ministry funding.
- Preschoolers with autism denied intensive early intervention, after the Ministry for Children & Families eliminated intensive early intervention (EIBI) programs in 2008.
- Chilren and youth with autism shut out of community daycare and afterschool programs due to rationed Provincial funding for specialized supports, without which daycare operators won't accept children with special needs.
- BC students with autism denied access to public school and/or special education supports critical to academic progress, due to a decade-long erosion of provincial Education funding for special education.
- BC youths with autism denied post-secondary education and training opportunities, career planning and employment supports due to inadequate Provincial program funding and supports.
- Adults with autism denied residential and living supports due to the ongoing CLBC funding crisis.
- Many youths and adults with autism being denied adult supports due to IQ eligibility criteria that ignore key functional challenges for people with autism.
- Families supporting high-needs individuals with autism denied critical respite and family supports, as CLBC and MCFD budgets continue to lag the rapidly-growing incidence rates of autism.
MOMS has repeatedly urged Premier Clark's government to invest in critical front-line services and support programs, not a bricks & mortar project that will do nothing to mitigate the severely-strained support structure that's causing so many individual and family crises in BC.
Today's announcement is a profound waste of scarce tax dollars and a shameful betrayal at a time when Premier Christy Clark and her government continue to turn their backs on BC families and individuals with who are struggling to cope with the challenges of autism.
Dawn & Cyndi, MOMS
Background reading on the $20 million autism funding announcement
- Province, city announce support for autism centre
- Autism groups debate investment in a provincial autism centre
- MOMS restores links to leaked ministry document challenging claims about PAFC plan benefits
MOMS wants your feedback: Is the CLBC action plan working for you?
It's been 6 months since the Minister launched a series of internal reviews of CLBC and more than 3 months since the Premier announced $40 million in new funding and an action plan to resolve the crisis in community living. The announcement followed a 2-year campaign by MOMS and other community partners to draw attention to the crisis facing many families, caregivers and adults, in the face of government denials that the growing crisis was the result of a stealth policy to cut costs in community living.
MOMS wants your feedback on whether the BC government's action plan and new funding are achieving the intended results.
Please limit initial responses to 2-3 sentences per question, as we can't analyze lengthy case histories to identify key challenges (e.g. denial or reduction of supports, denial of appropriate choices in living supports, waitlists, ineffective complaint resolution mechanisms, service quality concerns, lack of coordination between CLBC and other servicces, youth transition problems or failure to respond to a service request)
Please email your answers to [email protected] Your feedback will guide our advocacy efforts and those of partner groups such as the BC Community Living Action Group, which has played a key role in raising awareness of challenges in community living.
Community Living Survey:
1. Has the BC government's response alleviated your concerns? (Yes, No, Somewhat, Minimally, Mostly, or No - Situation Has Worsened)
2. State briefly what were the concerns re your personal situation and what has/has not improved:
3. If you sought help from the Client Support Team or the Advocate for Service Quality, were they able to resolve the concerns to your satisfaction? (Yes, No, Somewhat, Minimally, Mostly, or No - Situation Has Worsened)
4. Have you experienced any improvement in coordination of services between CLBC and other agencies/programs?
5. Have you experienced any improvement in challenges linked to age 19 transitions?
6. If you have unresolved problems in accessing the supports and services you need, briefly state what those relate to. (e.g. denial or reduction of supports/contracts, service quality, waitlists, lack of coordination between agencies, transition challenges, failure of complaint resolution mechanisms, denial of choice in living supports, unresponsive bureaucracy, etc)
7. To which specific program(s) do your concerns relate (e.g. residential, respite, day program, employment supports, CSIL, individualized funding, individual planning, transition supports, mental health/ dual diagnosis or Personalized Supports Initiative for adults with IQ over 70)
8. From what you have seen so far, does government's action plan give you more confidence in the ability of the following to meet your community living support needs, now or in the future:
A) CLBC
B) Client Support Team
C) Advocate for Service Quality
D) The Premier's Action Plan
9. Are you willing to share your experiences with the media and/or Minister Stephanie Cadieux and/or Opposition Critic for CLBC Nicholas Simons? If so, please provide your email and/or telephone number below, as well as the name of your community (e.g. Vancouver, Cranbrook, etc)
Thank you for taking the time to complete our survey - please invite others who may have experienced past challenges to do the same. We will report a summary of the feedback but your individual comments will not be shared with anyone but MOMS coordinators Dawn Steele and/or Cyndi Gerlach without your express permission.
Have a great day!
Dawn & Cyndi, MOMS
Times Colonist named for prestigious national award for CLBC reporting
The Victoria Times Colonist is one of six national finalists for this year's prestigious Governor General's Michener Award for Community Service Journalism. The nomination, announced today , was for the newspaper's coverage of the crisis in BC's community living sector, which was first exposed by Times Colonist reporter Lindsay Kines almost two years ago.
Here's how the Michener Awards Foundation described the Times Colonist's entry:
"The Times Colonist in Victoria used its resources and expertise to expose a stealth policy by the B.C. government that forced people with developmental disabilities to move from group homes to cheaper accommodation. The newspaper’s sustained campaign – featuring many personal stories of developmentally disabled individuals and their families struggling with government cutbacks – spoke for the powerless and the voiceless. The coverage forced the province to change course and commit $40 million to improve services, demote the minister of social development and announce policy changes. As well, the CEO of Community Living BC resigned and an internal audit of its operations were ordered." ( Read more )
MOMS was one of many family groups and individuals who worked with Mr. Kines and other reporters to help expose CLBC's "stealth policy," which involved forcibly moving people with developmental disabilities from their homes, forced contract/support reductions and other harsh measures ordered by the BC government to cut community living costs.
Read MOMS' letter in support of the Times Colonist entry, commending the critically important role played by Mr Kines and his colleagues at the Victoria newspaper in holding the BC government accountable for the crisis created by these "stealth policies."
The winner of the 2012 Michener Awards will be announced in Ottawa on June 12.
MOMS congratulates the Victoria Times Colonist on the prestigious nomination and for its demonstrated commitment to excellence in journalism.