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children and youth with disabilities

B.C. families feeling forced to surrender children to access disability services, report finds

Jan 30, 2025 | 5:20 PM

KAMLOOPS – A new report from British Columbia’s Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) reveals a disturbing reality — some families in the province are being forced to surrender their children to government care just to access critical disability services.

The report, entitled “Too Many Left Behind: Ensuring Children and Youth with Disabilities Thrive,” paints a grim picture of B.C.’s disability support system, describing it as underfunded, disconnected and inadequate. According to the findings, tens of thousands of children are left without the care they need.

“A significant number of families are not able to access the much-needed services and supports for their children to thrive, and that ultimately is leading to them being at what you might call a breaking point,”

The report’s statistics are alarming. It shows that 41 per cent of children in government care have disabilities.

Bonnie McBride, a Kamloops parent raising five children, four of whom have disabilities, shared her firsthand experience with these challenges.

“We are one of those families that has had to look at that,” said McBride. “And it’s never not on the table for us because we have been afforded a starvation diet of services that barely keep us able to function as a family.”

The issues outlined in the report are not new. The RCY has made more than 50 recommendations over the past 18 years, yet families continue to struggle.

When asked why these recommendations haven’t been implemented, B.C.’s minister of children and family development, Jodie Wickens, said, “I understand it’s frustrating. I’m very new in my role. And so my expectation as the minister is that we do this right in partnership with families, [and] Indigenous communities.”

Wickens cited increased funding for therapies and respite care as examples of progress being made. However, she acknowledged the challenges ahead.

“We are in very challenging financial times,” Wickens said. “But we’ve heard loud and clear what communities are looking for.”

One of the most significant concerns highlighted in the report is the difficulty families face when trying to access help.

“[Families] often say it’s not their child’s disability that creates the struggle for them,” Charlesworth explained. “It’s trying to get the services that is the struggle.”

McBride echoed this sentiment, adding, “It’s very hard and it’s incredibly inequitable how you can actually find out how to receive service. Families have also made it very clear that the government has left them in a position where they have to be very vulnerable to get service.”

As the government considers its response to the report, families like the McBrides are demanding immediate action.

“It’s time now. We need to stop having consultation and we need to start calling for action as families,” McBride urged.