This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information.
The B.C. Government and General Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) report, Choose Children, highlights deficiencies in youth and family services across the province.
ancouver (17 Nov. 2014) — Hiring an additional 130 new staff in B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) is a positive step forward, but more needs to be done to alleviate the crisis in the province’s child and family welfare system, says the B.C. Government and General Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE).
Increased funding and adoption of caseload standards can help to improve youth and family services
“The government has recognized that front-line workers are unable to fulfill their child protection mandate at current staffing levels. The addition of 130 new staff by 2016 is a positive step in the right direction,” said BCGEU President Stephanie Smith. An additional 70 temporary staff working on integrated case management (ICM) will be made permanent this year.
“But more needs to be done, including the adoption of caseload standards, and the restoration of $44 million lost to MCFD funding cuts since 2008,” said Smith. Front-line workers are buried under massive caseloads and constrained by severe staffing shortages compromising services for vulnerable children, youth and families at risk, says Choose Children, a report released today by the BCGEU/NUPGE.
Eighty per cent of child, youth and family workers have caseloads beyond the recommended monthly best practice
Eighty per cent of front-line child, youth and family workers in B.C. have caseloads beyond the recommended best practice of 20 child protection cases per month. A third of surveyed workers were also carrying someone else’s caseload over and above their own, the Choose Children report reveals.
The Choose Children report gives voice to the concerns of B.C.’s children, youth, and family services workers through surveys from 3,418 front-line staff, as well as through face-to-face meetings with 412 workers in 14 communities. The report includes six recommendations directed to government covering staffing levels, caseloads, budget, occupational health and safety, ICM and training.
“Front-line workers can’t always get to those who most urgently need help. Quite simply, there are neither enough resources, nor enough staff and the volume of work—measured by caseloads—is intolerable. That’s wrong,” says Smith.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE