Meet Kathy Berggren-Clive, Director of Advocacy

As a social work practitioner for the past 27 years in both government and the not for profit sector and having worked for MCFD as a front-line social worker, the upholding of children’s rights has been fundamental to my work. For the past eight years, I have worked in an official capacity as a child and youth advocate; central to that role was my commitment and passion to increasing my knowledge, practice and expertise in the area of children’s rights, child and youth participation and advocacy. I began with the Office of the Child, Youth and Family Advocate and then as the Manager of Advocacy Services for the former Child and Youth Officer for BC. Most recently, I was the Acting Director of Advocacy for the Representative for Children and Youth before re-joining MCFD as the Director of Advocacy in February 2008.

As a child and youth advocate, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the framework that guides my work. The UNCRC is based on the developmental needs of children and is a way for us to declare that a basic quality of life should be the right of all children, rather than a privilege enjoyed by a few. The UNCRC provided me an increased understanding about the importance of children and youth knowing about their rights so that they can claim those rights. As well, the UNCRC also holds adults accountable to bettering the lives of children and identifies government’s responsibility in upholding children’s rights. We need to fully integrate the theoretical and practical implications of the UNCRC and to be able to effectively instill this knowledge in others if we really want to move the child rights agenda forward in British Columbia. In other words, we need to speak the same language, have a shared understanding and in turn, create a common goal.

In my new position as the Director of Advocacy for MCFD, the overall goal is to promote the rights, views, interests and well-being of children and youth through a continuum of advocacy initiatives across all program areas both regionally and provincially. The Advocacy Team is part of Integrated Quality Assurance and has the primary role of promoting and supporting MCFD staff as part of good practice to advocate for the rights, interests, voice and well-being of children receiving services. The Team is responsible for establishing effective advocacy and monitoring within MCFD of child and youth rights in relation to the UN Convention with a particular emphasis on child and youth participation and any other special rights such as the Section 70 Rights of children in care.