Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux released the following statement in response to the Representative for Children and Youth’s (RCY) latest report:

“The Representative for Children and Youth’s report focuses on the difficult, complex and often life-changing work of B.C. social workers, and we agree with the report’s findings around caseload challenges, recruitment and retention difficulties, as well as the complex issues our front-line workers deal with every single day. However, the report’s data, which was gathered between November 2014 and January 2015, is now dated and no longer aligns with the current state of ministry offices because many of the concerns and challenges the RCY raises in the report have already been, or are currently being, addressed.

“The RCY’s recommendations are in line with what the ministry has already identified through our own extensive staff engagement, client feedback, and our collaboration with the BCGEU. As per our usual process, ministry staff regularly update the RCY. She is well aware of the steps the ministry is taking to support our social workers so they can provide the best possible service to vulnerable children, youth and families in B.C.

“For example, like any complex, high-pressure and emotional job, there are often challenges with recruiting and retaining staff, particularly in rural and remote communities. That’s why we’re speeding up employee hiring through a new centralized approach that allows the ministry to recruit child-protection workers for rural, remote, high-needs and other positions either as a group on a quarterly basis, or individually as positions become available. In fact, we have hired 110 new child-protection workers across the province since last November – that’s 11% more workers focused on direct services to children and youth in this year alone.

“We have also simplified business functions for our front-line staff, including expanding our successful centralized screening to more of our ministry offices to help free up social workers’ time so they can focus on tasks that require their expertise and insight, such as meeting with clients and preparing comprehensive care plans.

“We will continue to work with ministry offices throughout the province to ensure we place new employees in the locations that need the most support. We are recruiting for priority front-line positions, and – for the first time ever – the ministry is bringing a direct focus on recruitment for senior leadership positions to help attract interest from Aboriginal applicants and qualified people from across Canada.

“Since these latest changes have taken place, we have been hearing positive feedback from staff and team leaders. And, as more child-protection workers are hired and the new processes continue to take effect in Service Delivery Areas, we expect that we’ll continue to receive positive feedback from local offices.

“There is no question that this government is trying to manage growing demands for services while also balancing our budget. My ministry is committed to balancing our budget, and balancing it in a way that meets the needs of our programs and services, and in turn, the vulnerable children, youth and families the ministry serves. It’s about using what we currently have more effectively and efficiently, both now and in the future.”