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Children's Services Transition to MCFD

To better meet the needs of children and youth with special needs, government announced the integration of services from Community Living BC (CLBC) to the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) in June 2008.

  • MCFD will assume the responsibility of delivering services to children and youth with special needs while working closely with the Ministry of Housing and Social Development (MHSD) and CLBC, which will continue to deliver services to adults with developmental disabilities and other intellectual impairments.
  • MCFD, CLBC and MHSD are collaborating to ensure a well-planned and informed transition process, one which includes providing families, care providers and service partners with an opportunity to make suggestions on service delivery improvements.

October 31, 2009, is the targeted date for completion of the transfer process.

To guide the transition, consultation is important to the government and essential to the process:

  • A Governance Committee made up of representatives from CLBC, MHSD and MCFD has been established to guide the process. This group will oversee the transfer process and ensure a collaborative best practice approach is utilized.
  • MCFD regional management needs to make adjustments to their structures and processes to incorporate these new services:
    • All plans will be consistent with the MCFD's Strong, Safe and Supported commitment to B.C.’s children and youth.
    • Service delivery functions will be simplified, clearly understandable and delivered within a coordinated and well-planned system.
    • Every child and family receiving services will have a contact name and there will be a strong focus on individual planning.
    • Consultation will include how to best provide services in rural and remote areas.

The ministry already provides a number of services to children and youth with special needs and their families. For example, responsibility for Infant Development programs, Supported Child Development, Early Intervention therapies, Key Worker services for families of children with FASD, among others are all within the current mandate of MCFD. MCFD will be integrating CLBC services with existing ministry CYSN services.

There has been progress on planning for the transfer of children's services to ensure that the transfer is seamless.

As further details become available, they will be posted on this site.