I don't hold out any hope that Christy and her other colleagues will be much moved by his plea for immediate action

For the past several years, concerns have been raised by community groups dedicated to helping those with disabilities.  Recent headlines from the BC Community Living Action Group (BCLAG) have screamed out:

BC government wasting $1,000/day as CLBC refuses to approve group home placement

CLBC waitlist figures unreliable says stakeholder group … BC-CLAG urges external review of CLBC’s mandate and operations

One-time $6 million in new funding inadequate to stem BC’s community living crisis

$70 M needed immediately to stem community living crisis … CLAG partners urge Premier to address growing risks, restore confidence

The Executive Director of the BCLAG is Faith Bodnar and she has stated that … the situation is as desperate as anything she has ever seen. Disabled individuals are being re-evaluated and stripped of services, at the same time as others are moved out of their group homes.   A recent news story quoted her saying, “We are in crisis here … people are desperate. It seems the system of services and support is being dismantled before we really realize what we’re doing.”

This is NOT new news!!  

 On October 10^th, 2010, a joint letter was written by Moms on the Move, BC Family Net Society, the BC Government and Service Employees Union, the Developmental Disabilities Association, and the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities – the letter was written to Jane Holland, Office of the Advocate for Service Quality.  In it, this group of six began by saying, “We write to express our urgent concerns regarding the current administration of provincial government services and supports for adults with developmental disabilities in British Columbia, and to call for actions to address these matters”

So what has happened at Community Living BC … a group that started with such promise?   The CLBC was established in 2005 following four years of talks and planning.  As the CLBC website states, they were mandated under the Community Living Authority Act and originated from a grass roots movement led by families and self-advocates who wanted a government funded organization to focus on their unique needs.

The website goes on to further say, in their overview, that; Community Living BC (CLBC) delivers supports and services to eligible adults and their families in British Columbia. Adults with developmental disabilities or who meet the Personalized Supports Initiative (PSI) criteria are eligible for supports through CLBC. We believe that individuals and their families know best when it comes to their needs, goals and planning for the future.

People with disabilities for years stood on the sidelines of society --- they were marginalized – and often hidden away.  In recent decades that slowly changed, and as groups organized and came together, government support for families and caregivers came into being; this included Community Living BC.

So what went wrong with a group that had a set of strong stated values they were going to uphold and support – and what were those goals and values?  To respect the important role of family and friends in people’s lives … that they were going to support people with disabilities in making their own decisions and to achieve their dreams for the future .  The values of CLBC also indicated the peoples with disabilities should have the opportunity for life-long learning, development, and contribution, and that should be done in a culture of responsibility, respect and trust.   

Here’s the kicker, if you read the values section on the CLBC website it also says that they are going to be accountable to the people they serve … they will strive for quality … they will be open, honest and fair in all aspects of our work … they will work cooperatively with others … and they will also inspire creativity and innovation.

Well we all know how well that seems to be working!! 

The government has admitted there are nearly three thousand people waiting to receive services … and there was so much negative news surround the CLBC that the organization itself fired CEO Rick Mowles late last week.   Mowles didn’t get canned however before Social Development Minister Harry Bloy, whose ministry oversees the CLBC, was himself removed during a cabinet shuffle by Premier Christy Clark late last month.

“I thought it was time to make a change,” Clark said, explaining her mini-cabinet shuffle.  “Particularly in this ministry, it’s important that the minister is communicating changes, which are very difficult, particularly for vulnerable clients, they’re communicating those changes to the clientele and to the families that might be affected.”

This is one story that simply refuses to go away however, and now even members of her own government are standing up to say something MUST be done. 

Yesterday in the legislature Liberal MLA Randy Hawes said there must be a review of Community Living BC.  The Times Colonist stated;  Liberal backbencher Randy Hawes ripped into his own government Monday for its treatment of adults with developmental disabilities and saying his government has misled the public about problems in the sector. 

That was quickly followed in the Globe and Mail (Liberal MLAs decry group home closures) with news of another Liberal backbencher, Gordon Hogg, who was also expressing his concerns on how Community Living BC was meeting the needs of those with disabilities.  The Globe and Mail news story indicated Hogg had said some of the decisions made by CLBC have hit at society’s core values “and [they have hit at] them in a way which I’m not comfortable with.”

It also said that he was referring to well-publicized recent examples which had distraught parents questioning removal of their developmentally disabled adult children from group accommodation, where they had been comfortable, to private homes.  “They give us all cause for concern – perhaps more than cause for concern,” Mr. Hogg was quoted as saying in the BC Legislature.

The job, goal, and function of Community Living BC is to, “… build communities where you can feel safe and welcome. Feeling safe and welcome can mean having a good job, a comfortable and safe place to live, and the chance to make friends in the community where you live.”

Faith Bodnar, who as mentioned is the executive director of BC Community Living Action, said the government needs to halt ongoing changes and involve all stakeholders in a re-evaluation of CLBC policies.  “Let’s press the pause button,” she said. “People are desperate. It seems the system of services and support is being dismantled before we really realize what we’re doing.”

It’s not just Faith Bodnar … the families of the disabled … and the caregivers who are speaking out.  Hundreds and hundreds of others are as well, including a friend of mine from the lower mainland who said … 

“It's a terrible moment in B.C.'s social history when the insensitive treatment of its clients by CLBC has to be raised by a member of the government. Randy Hawes must be recognized for his political courage but I don't hold out any hope that Christy and her other colleagues will be much moved by his plea for immediate action.”

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative on this round ball we call planet earth.