B. Marsh letter of support

October 7, 2009

To: Lynn Krausert
Regional Advisor IDP

Re: Discontinuation of Funding for the Office of the Provincial Advisor of Infant Development Programs of B.C.

To Whom It May Concern:

As a retired Infant Development Consultant and former IDP Regional Advisor I was shocked to hear that the provincial government was considering cutting the funding for the Office of the Infant Development Programs of B.C. Provincial Advisor.

I was hired into the Infant Development Program in July 1981 and had a special education background. Even though I had extensive experience with special populations I was totally unprepared for the multi-facetted skills sets I needed as and IDP consultant. The Office of the Provincial Advisor, and Dana Brynelsen specifically, were invaluable in providing the support and training I needed to provide and effective service for the families on my caseload.

This is my personal story but by no means is my experience unique. Over the eighteen years I was employed with IDP I have known many new consultants in the same situation. This is due to the fact that it is virtually impossible to be specifically trained to be an IDP consultant. The consultants throughout the province come from a wide variety of backgrounds but virtually all consultants come to the program missing many of the skill sets needed. Working with families and special needs infants in their homes requires knowledge of infant development assessment and programming; family dynamics and intervention; grief counseling; common medical conditions and diagnosis; community services and resources; and working as part of a multidisciplinary team. No single discipline provides training in all these areas; therefore most IDP consultants require a lot of on the job training.

Many IDP consultants around the province work in small communities in "sole charge" programs. It is these consultants and the families they work with that are most vulnerable. It is unrealistic to expect that sponsoring agencies have the skills and resources to support these consultants. After working in one IDP program for three years my family moved to another part of the province and I applied for a "sole charge" IDP position in my new community. During my interview I asked the executive director several questions specific to the job I was applying for. She was unable to answer any of my questions, displaying a great lack of understanding of the program her society was sponsoring. Her next question to me was, and I quote, "So I hear you have done this (work in IDP) before?" Can you imagine how much training and guidance she would have been able to provide an inexperienced new IDP consultant?

The Office of the IDP Provincial Advisor, the Provincial Steering Committee and the IDP Regional Advisors provide consistency of program services in the province. In our incredibly mobile society families often have to move from one community to another. It is totally to the credit of the Provincial IDP Advisors Office that a family can expect to receive a similar and consistent service when relocating to a new community. Many families attribute to the IDP not only surviving the difficult first years of their child's life but gaining the skills to help their child and the emotional support to develop a healthy parent child relationship with their infant as well as skills to advocate for their child. Without on going support and training to staff the services to families will certainly suffer. The B.C. government is absolutely wrong to assume that discontinuing funding for the Provincial Advisors Office will have anything less than a devastating effect on the services provided to families of infants with special needs in this province.

The Infant Development Programs of B.C. have developed worldwide recognition and this is totally to the credit of Dana Brynelsen, IDP Provincial Advisor. The Diploma in Infant Development developed jointly between the IDP Provincial Advisors Office and the University of British Columbia has been able to attract and secure the leading researchers and interventionists in the world to train our staff at summer institutes. This is solely due to the fact that the B.C. IDPs are coordinated and interconnected. Research has been field tested in B.C. and it is recognized as providing families with consistent, high quality services. If the Office of the Provincial Advisor is dismantled this world-wide recognition will quickly dissolve. Currently the Government of B.C. can boast one of the best Infant Development Programs in the world. Is the government willing to forfeit this for short-term savings?

If the Office of the Provincial Advisor is dissolved the local Infant Development Programs, the families they serve and the Government of B.C. will suffer a loss that may be irreparable or at the very least take many years to reclaim.

I personally feel honored and privileged to have been associated with the Infant Development Programs of B.C. and it is my fervent hope that this government will reconsider dismantling this flagship service that currently can make them so proud.


Sincerely,
Barbara E. Marsh

Faster Hotmail access now on the new MSN homepage.