Kootenay Family Place Support Letter

October 8, 2009
The Honourable Mary Polak
Minister of Children and Family Development
Minister Responsible for Child Care
Minister.MCF@gov.bc.ca



Dear Minister Polak;



I am writing to you today to raise concerns about the recent notice of closure given to the Provincial Offices of Infant Development Program, Aboriginal Infant Development Program and the Supported Child Development Programs.

Kootenay Family Place has programs that utilize both Infant Development and Supported Child Development Consultants who provide services in the Boundary and West Kootenay covering an area from Beaverdale to Nakusp. This is a massive area geographically and encompasses an enormous range of socio economic, culturally unique, economically challenged and physically isolated communities. The range of issues presented to our staff challenge their training, experience and skills on a regular basis. It is at these times that our staff have come to rely upon the Provincial Offices for their support, information on new practices and the highly skilled expertise of the various advisors in supporting solutions for families of children with special needs. That support and expertise cannot be replicated at the local level for any amount of money and its loss will be keenly felt and will ultimately impact our service effectiveness.

The loss of these Advisors will have the net result of cutting off a precious, cost effective and valuable “supply line” of information and support to those in the field. The lack of valuable inputs from the Advisors will have a detrimental impact on program outcomes and, in particular, for those delivering these services far away from urban centers of information, where there exists more easily obtained alternative supports. Currently, information can be accessed easily and in a timely way. In the future it will require a great deal of staff time and effort to ferret out that same information at a cost to direct service.


In addition, the loss of the Aboriginal Advisors will be felt at a time when the transfer of support services to the Aboriginal community is still in its infancy. Complex issues can and will arise in the delivery of services between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities. The guidance of the Provincial Advisors, in sharing practice information and innovation from around the province, has been most helpful and is vital to future success.


Minister, I want to underscore the tremendous value that these Advisors add to our services to vulnerable children and families. I strongly urge you to reconsider the impacts that these closures will have on our attempts to support some of the most challenged children and families in our Province.




Yours sincerely,





Jim Fisher
Executive Director
Kootenay Family Place















Cc Lesley Du Toit, Deputy Minister, Children and Family Development MCF. DeputyMinisterOffice@gov.bc.ca