To: Hon. Mary Polak/Letter fromNuxalk Nation Healthy Beginnings- G. Moody

Honourable Mary Polak,
PO Box 9057 Stn Prov. Govt,
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 9E2

Healthy Beginnings has concerns that if the Provincial Advisors office goes, we will be without the technical supports necessary to do our job. Many parents in the Bella Coola Valley seek advice and direction from IDP and SCD in their search for answers for their child's development. We get referrals from IDP in Vancouver for our clients who live here and visit specialists in Vancouver.
We were disappointed to learn that our Provincial and Regional Advisors were abruptly dismissed by MCFD, with no acknowledgment of their work of many years. We learned that the decision to close the Provincial Offices was made over a year ago. It is worrisome that MCFD worked with the Advisory staff for over a year without this information being shared. Apparently, there was no consultation with the Advisory workers and no analysis of impact on client services. If the MCFD goal is to decentralize services, it might have been wise to find out what the small rural communities will do for support for their programs. Without a “HQ” office, the remote areas might have higher work-loads and standards of delivery could slip. Our clients need our best work, so that their families get all the support they need to have a child develop successfully. We want our children to be successful by age six, when they enter the main stream of school and have to meet many new challenges. Many Aboriginal families in the IDP and SCD programs struggle with many issues in addition to having a special needs child. We need to have continuing education on all facets of child development. “H.Q.” helps workers in small communities keep up with their education; therefore, improving their standards of practice. Our five MCFD programs at Healthy Beginnings are based on a family centred practice. In our valley, we serve a relatively low incidence population and in some cases children with very rare conditions. Even conditions as common as Down syndrome are not common at all, here. How do we keep up to date with low incidence conditions, if not through continuing education?
We were informed that when the Provincial Advisory office closes in the near future, in-service training and Summer Institute will be organized under the direction of a committee of three social workers with child protection backgrounds. Apparently, the social workers have not worked in Infant Development and Supported Child Development, they have not attended training or taken the certificate or diploma; however, they are now called Children and Youth with Special Needs Specialists. So our program workers will be without skilled leaders. This will not benefit our client children.
Would MCFD please reconsider this drastic change?
We feel that this important change in management should have been handled by the Provincial Steering Committee. Further, we believe that decisions of this magnitude should be made in collaboration and in partnership. This committee of parents and professionals represent a variety of provincial agencies, hospitals, universities and research units connected to our work in child development and might have a broader understanding of what is to be achieved by our programs. We understand that the committee has been a successful model of government, parent and professional collaboration and that it is recognized internationally.
We are hopeful that all the parties will resolve this current issue and move forward together to continue to work on behalf of good services for young children with disabilities and their families in BC.

Respectfully, Gail Moody
Gail Moody
Healthy Beginnings
Nuxalk Nation
Bella Coola, B.C.