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2.1 Background The transition to SCC in British Columbia began in 1990, with a review of the Special Needs Day Care Program (SNDCP) administered through the Ministry of Social Services (MSS), due to increased demands on the program. An informal committee of MSS staff identified a need to have a clearer picture of the services provided in this program and to consult with parents about potential changes to the service delivery model. In the summer of 1991, a survey was conducted of service providers and MSS staff. The research identified disparities in service across the province . . . lack of clarity in terms of the program's objectives and a lack of consistency in terms of practice issues relating to eligibility and income testing.1 A consultation phase followed the research phase in which 1,300 people had the opportunity to express their views during community focus groups and through written submissions. In September 1992, the SNDCP Reference Committee was appointed to recommend changes to the SNDCP. The Reference Committee was comprised of parents, service providers, early childhood educators, and representatives from five provincial ministries.2 This committee reviewed the input from the consultation process in order to respond to the concerns regarding the lack of consistency in service delivery across the province. Over the course of one year, the committee met six times (two days at a time) and reviewed several drafts of a report to the government. The final report, entitled, Supported Child Care: The Report of the Special Needs Day Care Review in British Columbia was submitted in December 1993. The recommendations of the Reference Committee were released to the public. After a year of further community consultation and public feedback, the government issued a response to the initial report entitled, The Government's Response to Supported Child Care,3 in December 1994. Both documents stressed the overall philosophy of SCC that:
The principles of SCC were identified as:
The main objectives of the SCC program were articulated as:
2.2 Government Response There were two areas in which the initial report on SCC and the Government Response differed. The original report on SCC stressed that parents who's children require additional support should enter the child care system in the same way as any parent. That is, they should pay the direct costs of the child care space. The ministry would pay for the extra supports required by the child and setting in order for that child to be included in the child care setting. This was a dramatic departure from the original policy under the SNDCP where, in most situations the ministry paid for 100% of the costs of the child care space and the additional supports required for the child to attend the child care setting. Under the SNDCP, one third of the children requiring extra support in the province attended specialized child care settings. The government contracted directly with the specialized centres to provide service. The Government Response proposed a non income-tested (Special Needs Subsidy of $107 per month to offset the cost of the child care setting fees. That is, the family would pay the child care setting fee, but if their child was deemed eligible for the SCC program [see a further explanation of eligibility under the Support Guide discussion which follows] then they could receive the $107 payment. In some instances the $107 would cover the total child care fee (for some part time programs). If a child was attending a full day program then the $107 could be applied to the full cost of the child care fees and reduce what the family would be expected to pay. In such a situation, if the family required additional financial support and if they met the income text requirement, they could apply to the regular child care subsidy program for a portion of the balance of the fees. The ministry would continue to pay for the extra supports required by the child and setting in order for that child to be included in the child care setting. The second area where the two reports differed was with regards to eligibility. The SCC Report proposed the use of a (support checklist to establish the child's need for service in an attempt to eliminate the need for a diagnosis to determine eligibility. Ministry policy stated (1996), that children must have one or more of the following disabilities to be eligible for the Special Needs Day Care program.4
The Government Response (1994) stated that At this point instead, we plan to develop a Support Guide that - like the checklist - will be used to help identify the supports needed, but not to determine eligibility. With this framework in place, the government proposed moving forward with the transition to SCC. Other ministerial transitions were also occurring at the same time. In September 1993, the Ministry of Women's Equality was given overall responsibility for child care. The Government Response (1994) stressed that The Ministry of Women's Equality will ensure that the new SCC program is integrated into the broader child care system and builds upon the initiatives currently underway to strengthen the child care sector as a whole. The administration and management of the SNDCP/SCC program continued to reside with the MSS. During the development of the original SCC Report through the SNDCP Reference Committee, five ministries (Ministry of Social Services, Ministry of Women's Equality, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Advanced Education, Training, and Technology) had representation on the committee and made recommendations for action through their ministries to support the move to SCC. The five ministries continued to be integral to the transition to SCC. Their participation in the transition process was to ensure action would be taken on the various recommendations. This shared responsibility within government was intended to:5
Finally, the SCC Report (1993) emphasized, and the Government Response (1994) reiterated, the need to maintain stability in the child care field as the transition proceeded. 2.3 Strategic Initiatives On April 1 1995, the Governments of Canada and British Columbia launched Improved Access to Child Care, a four year, $32 million cost-shared agreement under the Federal Strategic Initiatives Program. The main intent of this Child Care Strategic Initiative (CCSI) agreement was to test a number of approaches which would:6
The three components to the CCSI included Community One Stop Access Centres, Regional Delivery Models/Community Demonstration Projects, and SCC. As a result of these funds, the provincial government was able to fund the activities associated with the transition to SCC. From the outset it was clear that SCC was not a pilot project like the other components of Strategic Initiatives. The core programs of SCC were not eligible for funding through CCSI dollars. The Strategic Initiative funds were to support the move from one service delivery model (SNDCP) to another (SCC), over a four year period from April 1995, to March 1999. 2.4 SCC Transition Infrastructure An overview of the budget begins to lay out the major components of the SCC transition. Each of the ministries involved in the transition process had specific amounts of money allocated to ministry-specific recommendations addressed in the Government Response (with the exception of the Ministry of Education). The entire budget projection for SCC was $8.226 million, cost-shared between the provincial and federal governments, over the four years. The MSS had $3.008 million allocated towards:
The provincial transition coordinator's tasks were to:
The overall goals for the Ministry of Women's Equality (MWE) included:7
In addition, the MWE was responsible for a budget involving $1.771 million. The focus of this budget was to develop a grants program that would provide funds to assist communities in making child care more accessible for children requiring extra support (later known as the Access Initiative) and to offer professional development/training events for the child care field in the area of SCC. The Ministry of Health continued to provide early intervention services and licensing for child care settings. In addition, the Ministry of Health had $.730 million to develop a set of train the trainer manuals and to develop related training opportunities through a program called Partnerships Training in the following areas:
The Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour (currently the Ministry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology) was responsible for developing curricula and delivering training for SCC with a budget of $2.717 million. These included:
The Ministry of Education continued to work with school districts to strengthen transition planning for children who required extra support entering the school system. 2.5 SCC Steering Committees In addition to inter-ministerial coordination, the Government Response (1994) stressed community involvement. "All the ministries involved are committed to working in partnership with families and communities to ensure that the transition to SCC works in well- planned and coordinated phases. Communities will develop transition plans to guide the local process."8 This commitment on the part of government was to honour a "shared responsibility", one of the primary principles of SCC. The intent of community involvement was to respect the diversity of the province and the need for each community to create their own vision for SCC. "Part of this process will be to ensure all communities establish fair and reasonable processes to identify qualified agencies interested in providing SCC services, and fully explore any possibilities for partnerships, collaborations or other linkages between early intervention and community child care services."9 The Transition Handbook to SCC (1996) emphasized this approach and urged communities to establish a SCC Steering Committee. The Handbook outlined the process to establishing a SCC Steering Committee, partners to consider as members of the Committee, and examples of terms of reference and vision statements of recently formed Committees. The SCC Steering Committees became community decision-making bodies in the regions for all SCC initiatives during the four year transition period, including the Access Initiative. 2.6 The Creation of the Ministry for Children and Families The Ministry for Children and Families (MCF) was created in the fall of 1996, (a year and a half into the transition to SCC), as part of the government's response to the report of the Gove Inquiry into Child Protection.10 This new ministry transferred more than 100 child, youth and family programs and services from five separate ministries into the new MCF. The ministries involved in this transfer were the ministries of Health, Education, Skills and Training, Women's Equality, Social Services, and the Attorney General. Services that were involved in the transition to SCC were also included in the transfer with the creation of the new ministry. Those services included all SNDC programming from the MSS, all early intervention therapeutic services from the Ministry of Health, and all child care grant programs and initiatives from the Ministry of Women's Equality. (As a result of this amalgamation of services, MCF became one of the largest service operations of the government, with the important task of protecting and supporting one of the province's most vulnerable resources, its children and families, adults challenged with mental handicaps and people suffering from various forms of addiction. As with any merger, there was a tremendous challenge in bringing together different organizational cultures, values and history.11 At the same time as many communities were focusing energies on the transition to SCC, they were faced with this much larger and significant transition of all government social services. The creation of MCF included the creation of twenty regions (later reduced to eleven in March 1999). Each regional office was headed by a Regional Operating Officer with the responsibility to meet the needs of the people in their communities.12 This move to regionalization included the significant step of moving most programs, including child care grants from the central ministry office to the regional offices. While this encouraged community-based planning and responsiveness, it also stretched community partners' attention to broader social service child care issues while in the midst of planning for SCC. Responsibility for the CCSI budget and SCC activities management moved from the MSS to the MCF. The Child Care Section of the MCF identified regional Child Care Contacts and SCC Contacts and met with them via conference calls every two weeks regarding SCC and other child care issues. 2.7 Summary This section provided the background and context of the internal review of the SNDCP within the MSS since 1991. This review identified a need and established a criteria for the transition from the SNDCP to a new SCC community-based family support service delivery framework. The CCSI provided a means of supporting the transition process through a four year period. During the transition period, five provincial ministries developed a number of supports to the process, including: hiring a provincial transition coordinator, an Access Initiative, and developing professional development/training for staff, caregivers and parents. At the same time, a number of other significant changes took place within the province of British Columbia which transferred more than 100 child, youth and family programs and services from five separate ministries into the new Ministry for Children and Families. Amidst these changes, the transition to SCC continued for four years to promote and support the principles of SCC provincially.
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