2nd Letter to Premier-S. Stewart, Vancouver

Dear Premier Campbell December 3, 2009

I am writing to you to express my deep disappointment with the government in the closure of the provincial Infant Development Office and in the way it was handled. The decision itself is one thing. But even more concerning is the fact that every stakeholder involved in this issue wrote to your government: parents, children, researchers, academics, front line workers, doctors, other health care practitioners, international committees, etc. The blog http://partnerships2009.blogspot.com/ contains an extraordinarily impressive collection of letters from every stakeholder imaginable as well as from the international early intervention community. So many people involved with our most vulnerable children in their early intervention years on a day to day basis took the time to write and advocate in a reasoned and measured way and yet none of these voices have been listened to. I wrote to yourself and the Minister for Children and Family Development a few weeks ago and have not received a response from either office.

I completely understand fiscal restraint and the need to make changes in how we do things. I am also sure that you understand that people adapt to change much better when they have been consulted with, heard and if possible are involved with the changes. In this particular case the coordinator of the provincial Infant Development Office was essentially let go in a letter, after thirty four years in the job, on her first day back to work from treatments for cancer. All of the work of this office is to be taken on by the Ministry of Children and Family Development without any prior consultation or cost benefit analysis. It is absolutely amazing that the Minster’s office believes it can do this job that is internationally renowned and is so cost effective, better.

In my opinion if you wanted an example of how to implement the Children and Youth with Special Needs – A Frame work for Action strategy that it would be beneficial to examine how the provincial Infant Development Office was developed and functioned over the past thirty four years. This office has developed functional and accessible services to all parts of the province that puts children’s and family’s needs first. . It has won awards for the way it has supported the infant development consultants through training. The model they have used has ensured that quality is measured and accountable. This office has created and nurtured partnerships in the international research community to not only use evidence but to develop it. We should be so proud of our British Columbia based infant development program which was developed here and has such a respected reputation internationally!! The nature of how the provincial Infant Development Office functions enables parents to access services more simply. Finally, and most ironically, this office was one of the best models of true collaboration provincially that I have worked with in my 26 year career. The irony is that the decision of your government was unilateral and not collaborative with any of the stakeholders.

In my opinion we should appreciate the success that we have developed in the Infant Development Program in British Columbia and develop ways to work with the stakeholders towards the changes the government wants to make. It is extremely disappointing that our youngest and most vulnerable children will most definitely be negatively affected while the Ministry figures out what to do once the office officially closes at the end of December.


Respectfully



Susan Stewart
MRSc, BScPT
Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC

Cc Minister Polak, Lesley Du Toit