VICTORIA– A report released Friday from the Community Living B.C. board offers nothing but platitudes to families and individuals with developmental disabilities who have been underserved by the organization, and fails to address the root problem of Liberal government underfunding, say the New Democrats.
“It is clear to anyone paying attention to the crisis at Community Living B.C. that the problems run deep, and can be traced back to the B.C. Liberals’ failure to fund services,” said New Democrat critic for Community Living B.C., Nicholas Simons.
“Adrian Dix and the New Democrats have joined families and advocates to raise concerns, particularly around the closure of 65 group homes, failures in transitioning young people to community living when they ‘age out’ of the children’s ministry, and chronic underfunding.
“Instead of concrete action, this report only admits there are problems,” said Simons, pointing out the report states “CLBC lost sight of its core values and created stress and anxiety for individuals and their family.”
The report acknowledges that people were forced out of their group homes, even though the former Liberal minister responsible claimed “no one will be forced from their homes.” Simons also pointed out the board’s report lists a number of reasons CLBC might still force moves.
“The same excuses that CLBC has used to force 200 people to leave their homes are still listed as valid reasons to force moves. Nothing has changed,” said Simons.
The report admits that government funding is a problem, stating “demand for supports and services has been exceeding increases in funding.” It goes on to point out CLBC has found $120 million in internal savings over four years, but says “the reality is that this approach cannot continue to produce those kinds of results into the future.”
Simons says that Social Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux – the fourth minister in a year – still won’t commit to take action and properly fund Community Living B.C.
“We have no confidence in the Liberals’ ability to fix this problem – a problem of their own making – on their own. Their response to the massive problems has been to shuffle papers and get the same people responsible for the crisis to investigate it,” said Simons. “We need real action now. It’s time for a freeze on group home closures, resources now for transitions, and a full independent review of CLBC.”