Children and families failing, says the front line

VICTORIA - The people at the front end, locked in the daily struggle to help children, families and troubled teens, they say the government has messed things up.
Child and Youth Officer Jane Morley talked to them to prepare the "Asking Questions" review. It's not, she says, her report. The message is based on more than 100 interviews and meetings across the province with the people and agencies who do the work.
It's grim. Families who need help to avoid tragedy can't get it, because there's no money or time. Scared teens who want to kick their addictions are turned away, because there's no treatment programs. Young adults suffering from fetal alcohol effect are launched alone into the world at 18, to become criminals, addicts, prey. A little continued support and their lives would be saved (and taxpayers would be spared the far more costly consequences of their later disasters).
There are successes, and these people are proud of what do. But they say the wins come despite the government's role, which has been to drive budget cuts and a mismanaged re-organization.
This is a testing time for Children and Families Minister Stan Hagen.
The government line has maintained that everything is fine, the resources are in place and the situation is well in hand.
Now the people on the front line say that is not true.
“Service providers described a chronic lack of funds sufficient to provide quality, consistent, timely and necessary services,” Morley reports. “Many service providers expressed a belief that the government's agenda is simply to reduce spending, rather than ensuring that the needs and interests of children are met.”
Yes, these people - some ministry staff, some from contract agencies - have their own interests. But Morley says they spoke from the heart, and the message needs to be heard.
The reality is that the ministry budget is seven-per-cent lower this year than it was when the Liberals were elected. Figure even a small amount for inflation, and you find it would take $250 million in extra funding to get back to the former commitment.
Money spent is not a measure of effectiveness.
But the reforms that were supposed to allow the reduced spending have not, for the most part, been put in place.
Clients, workers and almost anyone else involved with the system have warned that the cuts were hurting children and families.
And now the people who do the terribly difficult work say we've cut the budget so much that people can't be helped. (The Liberals acknowledged that the ministry was underfunded before they made their cuts. In opposition Gordon Campbell said the budget was inadequate, and urged the NDP to increase it. )
The government could argue that better support and protection for children and families is not affordable, or a priority.
But there's an economic problem with that argument. The report raises the idea of a vicious circle. The government doesn't provide enough support to deal with problems when they're small, which leads to much greater future costs, further reducing the money available for prevention. There is nothing more expensive than responding to each new crisis, instead of dealing with the causes.
And there's a moral problem. These people - the young addict, the neglected child, the scared mother - have one thing in common. They need help that we can provide.
None of this should be about politics. The NDP mismanaged the children and families ministry badly, and so have the Liberals. The ministry has had eight ministers in the last nine years, including three different political masters in the Liberals' four years.
Right now, Hagen faces a challenge. He can dismiss the observations and analysis of the people doing the work, using whatever justification.
Or he acknowledge the serious problems, and explain what he will do to begin to deal with them.
Children and families across the province are waiting on the decision.
Footnote: Morley confessed to some nervousness in releasing the report, fearing that the negative assessment may encourage cynicism and reduce hope about the prospects for improvement. She concluded, rightly, that the problems have to be raised, and that the people on the front lines are the core strength of the system.