A report from Community Living BC (CLBC) shows the agency admitting to having “pushed too hard” to move clients out of group homes and to not being able to keep up financially to a growing demand for services.
“On some occasions, CLBC lost sight of its core values and created stress and anxiety for individuals and their families,” stated the report. “These mishandled situations garnered considerable public attention, which led to more concerns being brought forward.”
Since April 2010, 65 group homes have been closed in BC. In many cases clients were moved against the wishes of their families, despite a promise from CLBC that this would not happen. In Powell River a group of families, through local politicians and the media, managed to ensure a group home slated for closure on Joyce Avenue was kept open. Other such campaigns have been waged against group home closures, bringing more attention to the issue.
As of June 30, 2011 there were 751 individuals registered with CLBC who were not yet receiving any services. There were an additional 2,089 people getting some services from CLBC but on waiting lists for additional services. The report states that CLBC does not have enough funding to provide services to everyone on the waiting lists in “a timely way.”
“CLBC’s goal is to provide some level of funded services within six months of receiving a service request,” stated the report. “At times during its history, CLBC has achieved this goal; however, the agency has been unable to do so consistently for some time.”
The report outlines a new three-year strategic plan that begins in 2012. The new plan includes a promise for increased consultation with families, more flexible service models and more opportunities for clients to work in the community, among other changes.
The report does say that group homes will continue to be closed in some specific situations and that in some instances individuals may have to be moved, even against the wishes of the family. However, the report states that there is “no intent to close most or all group homes.”
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA and New Democratic Party critic for CLBC Nicholas Simons said he still would like to see more information on the results of CLBC’s group home closures and on what the financial troubles and mounting waiting lists are doing to clients.
“I don’t believe that what we don’t know won’t hurt us. I think we need to know,” said Simons. “There’s enough evidence to show that things have happened to people that shouldn’t have and their review as it stands now is not going to garner a lot of confidence in the people who are impacted by bad policy decisions.”
Simons maintains that only an external review will truly reveal the extent of the agency’s missteps and allow the agency to move forward and regain trust. He said that it’s hard to have confidence in an internal review when only now CLBC is admitting to mismanagement that Simons and others have been drawing attention to for at least two years.
