Editor:
Coast Social Workers will be attending the BC Association of Social Workers AGM this month to discuss two recent, important, B.C. government reports.
Last month, the Office of the BC Seniors Advocate released a “Billion More Reasons to Care” – a report on the status of long-term care (LTC) reform in B.C. While Coast residents await new beds coming in Sechelt and the repurposing of Shorncliff and Totem, the BC Seniors Advocate report calls for more of the spending on LTC to find its way to patient care, rather than lining the pockets of for-profit LTC companies. Our Vancouver Sea to Sky branch strongly supports the report’s findings and are encouraging Coastal Health and the Ministry of Health to listen to the need for more non-profit LTC.
Coast social workers will also be discussing the recent audit of Ministry of Children and Family Development social work practices in the Fraser Valley, where an 11-year-old boy under the care of MCFD died. While the audit highlighted many short comings in social work practices, it does not appear to have addressed an issue of great concern to BCASW: the need for the ministry to raise the bar in child welfare by hiring professional, educated, registered social workers.
We respect the work of our colleagues in MCFD and represent some of the registered social workers in the ministry, but we believe MCFD could do better. Currently, MCFD hires people without formal social work training to become “social workers” and use the title “social worker.” Professional registration, while not a solution in-and-of-itself to the crisis in child protection in B.C., helps to hold professionals accountable for their actions and helps to establish and enforce professional practice standards. In the opinion of our branch, B.C. ought to increase compensation to reflect increased standards and expectations that come with professional licensing.
John Richmond, RSW
Branch Rep
Sunshine Coast BC Association of Social Workers
