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Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) Report – Excluded

Last updated on August 22, 2025

The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) is committed to sharing with British Columbians the actions taken in response to recommendations provided by its oversight bodies, including the Representative for Children and Youth (RCY).

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Excluded: Increasing Understanding, Support and Inclusion for Children with FASD and their Families

On April 15, 2021, the Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) released the Excluded report. This report details the experiences of children and youth who have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and their families. It identifies gaps in support services for children and youth with FASD and their families.

The report provides 11 recommendations. The four recommendations directed to the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) focus on the development of an inclusive Children and Youth with Support Needs (CYSN) Service Framework, providing immediate services and support to children who have FASD and their families, reviewing and supporting the FASD Key Worker Program and incorporating FASD awareness into core ministry training.

Ministry response

The ministry welcomes and appreciates this report as it offers valuable insights on strengthening services for children and youth and is guiding and informing practice and regulatory changes.

The ministry has accepted the intent of the report’s recommendations and has provided the RCY with two annual updates on the implementation of the recommendations from Excluded.

The ministry, with input from partners, will continue to identify and make changes to our services to ensure we provide supportive and inclusive services for children with FASD and their families. For children and youth with support needs, there are a number of ways for parents and caregivers, First Nations, Indigenous Peoples, communities, service providers, experts and practitioners, and others with lived experience to share feedback and ideas.

Detailed below are the steps that the Ministry of Children and Family Development has taken in response to this report.

Needs-based service approach

To make it easier for families, service providers and our partners to understand and navigate CYSN services, the CYSN Service Framework was developed. The framework includes the development and implementation of a needs-based integrated service model in four pilot areas:

  • Central Okanagan/Kelowna (ARC Programs Ltd.)
  • Terrace/Kitimat (Terrace Child Development Centre Society)
  • Haida Gwaii/Prince Rupert (North Coast Community Services Society)
  • Bulkley Valley/Stikine (Northwest Community Services Society)

The service model being implemented in these pilot areas includes the delivery of developmental and goal focused services through pilot family connections centres, and delivery of Disability Services and Provincial Services through MCFD. Requirement of a diagnosis has been removed to access any services in the four pilot areas of the province.

Disability Services are offered to eligible children and youth with a prolonged disability that impacts their activities of daily living, mobility, social engagement and/or inclusion and include collaborative service coordination, respite, parenting and professional supports and youth transition planning. Provincial Services include services that are intended to support and enable families to access other services for children and youth with support needs such as health benefits, deaf and hard of hearing services, mobility equipment, provincial contract management and information services, among other things.

Removing diagnosis as a requirement for accessing services means that children/youth with suspected FASD will have access to the full suite of services delivered through pilot family connections centres as well as referrals to Disability Services. This may include pursuing FASD diagnosis.

Within the pilot model, all children/youth who wish to access Disability Services will need to confirm eligibility using modernised needs-based criteria. Eligibility will take into consideration both functional needs of the child/youth and the support needs of the family.

In November 2022, the Province announced that we will be maintaining individualized autism funding and moving ahead with the four pilots, which will undergo an evaluation.  At the same time, we are engaging in deeper consultation with parents and caregivers, First Nations, Indigenous Peoples, communities, experts and practitioners, and other stakeholders with lived experience to understand how to build a system of supports, co-developed with Indigenous communities. This engagement process includes multiple pathways to ensure everyone can have their voices heard.  This includes partner-led engagement opportunities, online feedback form, written submissions, and a virtual symposium speaker series.  For information and updates on engagement please follow this link: CYSN Engagement Updates - Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca)

The November 2022 announcement represents a reset during which government is taking time to co-develop a provincial system of services that is responsive to all children and youth with support needs and their families in BC.

Funding initiatives

In March 2022, services to help children and youth with support needs and their families were boosted through $7 million in grant funding to community-based service providers and advocacy organizations. Respite funding is now being distributed over the next two years to 400 new families in rural, remote, and urban areas of the province.

Budget 2023 committed to new investments in the interim while MCFD undertakes deeper engagement and the pilots are evaluated. Budget 2023 funding enhances and expands the FASD Key Worker Program while a full data and costing analysis is being completed. Additional investments include:

  • New investments of $34.5 million to children and youth with support needs.
  • Funding for an additional 90 foundational program therapists across the province. 
  • 60% budget increase to agency-coordinated respite which will enable the program to expand to all Service Delivery Areas. 
  • Adding an additional 175% above the province’s current investment in School Aged Extended Therapy by doubling hourly reimbursement rates from $80/hr to $160/hr and increasing the annual maximum reimbursement to $5,760 per year. 
  • Increased investments to hire more social work and therapy assistants to increase capacity for front line service delivery.
  • Increased investments to continue individualized autism funding.

Inspire Kids FASD Support Society of BC that will strengthen the network of support for children and youth with FASD and their families, gather input on service needs, and conduct research on informed support service practices for children, youth, and families in B.C., including the FASD Key Worker Program.

CYSN pilot model evaluation

MCFD has made a commitment to thoroughly evaluate the CYSN pilot service model, which will include the evaluation of children/youth outcomes, through a separate process running parallel to the re-set CYSN engagement. The ministry has selected an independent evaluation consulting firm to lead the evaluation, develop the evaluation framework, tools, and methodology, implement, and analyze findings.

FASD Fundamentals training is recommended for all MCFD staff and ICFS Agency staff who practice under the CFCSA.

For up-to-date information on the CYSN transformation please see:

Children and youth with support needs - Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca)

Updates

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April 1, 2023 - March 31, 2024 Update

Family Connections Centre (FCC) Pilot Sites

The four family connections centre (FCC) pilot sites in Kelowna, Smithers, Prince Rupert, and Terrace have been operational since December 2023.

Development of the evaluation framework for the FCCs is underway with external contractor MNP/SPARC BC. Consultation is ongoing with the FCCs and their community partners to develop the evaluation framework. Discovery sessions with all the FCCs have occurred and feedback analysis is in progress.

Engagement:

Multiple methods of engagement across the province are underway and the most recent updates are available on the Engage BC Website.

  • Inspire Kids FASD Society for families and individuals with lived experiences of FASD.
  • Family Voices Project led by the Family Support Institute in collaboration with the UBC Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship to support the planning, delivery of engagements and analysis of findings.
  • An online discussion was held regarding the Ministry of Education and Child Care’s Inclusive Child Care Strategy, as well as other discussions on other topics related to children and youth with support needs.
  • Engagement opportunities for families, service providers and others with lived experience:
    • A short online feedback form was open to all British Columbians until December 1, 2024.
    • An open invitation to provide written submissions was available until December 1, 2024.
  • Engagement with underserved populations facilitated by Reciprocal Consulting Inc. (RCI) in partnership with community agencies. This was completed in fall 2023 with a final report submitted by RCI to the Ministry in March 2024.
  • Community Led Collaboration Project, a two-year engagement strategy led by the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, The Federation of Community Social Services of BC, Inclusion BC, and the BC Association for Child Development and Intervention. 462 participants engaged between May and November 2023.
  • A Symposium Speaker series held in November and December 2023 through an online webinar format open to all British Columbians to hear from field experts and to participate in discussion. Webinar recordings are available through the link above. Topics of discussion included:
    • Trends related to children and youth with medically complex support needs, with speakers Dr. Esther Lee and Brenda Lenahan.
    • Key components of an effective system of services, with speaker Dr. Pat Mirenda.
    • Individualized funding: A review of the international research literature, with speakers Dr. Rachelle Hole and Dr. Tim Stainton.
    • Mental health needs of children and youth with support needs. With speaker Dr. Charlotte Waddell.
    • Inclusion, quality of life and community networks of support, with speaker Linda Perry.
    • Increasing behavioural complexity and needs of children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders, with speaker Dr. Robin Friedlander.
  • First Nations Rights and Title Holder Engagements
    • Phase 1 (Completed in Summer 2023) included a series of initial virtual engagements with First Nations Rights and Title Holders identifying which CYSN topics should be further explored and engaged upon. Engagement summaries available on the Engage BC Website.
    • Phase 2 (October 2023-June 2024) included deeper conversations built from Phase 1 engagements to co-develop a new provincial service approach for children and youth with support needs.
    • Engagement capacity funding is available to B.C. First Nations communities to support their capacity to engage with the ministry and others on their unique needs in the context of supports for children and youth with support needs. $25,000 of grant funding is available to all 204 First Nation communities in BC. Funding requests were open until December 1, 2024. As of February 2024, 52 Nations have expressed interest in funding for nation-based community engagements, with 39 grants already administered.

Funding Supports and Community Engagement

  • Implementation of the first wave of CYSN investments for foundational programs, key worker and therapy assistants is complete. Year 1 (fiscal 2023/24) allocated investments to 62 service providers and 74 contract modifications.
  • MCFD is implementing Year 2 (fiscal 2024/25) and Year 3 (2025/26) investments to allocate increases for foundational programs, therapy assistants and FASD key workers.
  • Additionally, FASD Key Worker services procurement was allocated $1 million. 
  • BC Complex Kids Society received $100,000 to pursue engagement and research.
  • The Down Syndrome Research Foundation received $600,000 to pursue engagement and research through exploring and implementing innovative ways to expand services and supports to underserved families.
  • In May 2023, MCFD provided a grant to Inspire Kids FASD Society , a provincial advocacy organization supporting and empowering families with children and youth with FASD. This one-time $250,000 grant will support public engagement (launched in January 2024) and will be released as a book of stories on the FASD experience.

In addition to the FASD Key Worker investments, three different public solicitation processes have been launched to implement investments with qualified service providers: