The business plan for the three years commencing April 1, 2006 was prepared under my direction in accordance with the Government Accountability Act and the government's accounting policies. All of the government's policy decisions as of February 23, 2006 with material economic or fiscal implications of which I am aware have been considered in preparing the business plan.

The Ministry's priorities outlined in the business plan were developed in the context of the government's business and fiscal plans. I am committed to achieving the planned results laid out in this business plan.

[Original Signed]

Heather Forsyth, Minister of Children’s Services
March 1, 2006

THE MINISTRY

The Ministry Business Plan for 2006-09 comprises the following reporting entities:

• Department of Children's Services – provides leadership to: (a) establish policies that promote the well-being of children, youth and families; (b) support the delivery of quality services focused on improving outcomes for children, youth and families; (c) promote greater capacity for community services that support children in reaching their potential; and (d) design business strategies that help the Ministry achieve its vision.
• Child and Family Services Authorities – help determine ministry-wide priorities and directions, deliver ministry programs and services, and meet the local priorities and needs of children, families, and communities.

The Ministry also includes the following:

• Youth Secretariat – advises the Minister on key issues facing youth and ways to address those issues.
• Child and Youth Advocate – represents the rights, interests and viewpoints of children and youth receiving child protection or family enhancement services or who are being helped under the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act.
• Social Care Facilities Review Committee – a citizen panel with a legislated mandate to monitor provincially funded social care facilities and investigate complaints to ensure the best possible care.
• Appeal Secretariat – Citizen appeal panels established in legislation to hear appeals of decisions under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, the Family Support for Children with Disabilities Act and the Social Care Facilities Licensing Act.
• Alberta's Promise – An initiative that encourages all sectors of the community to direct more resources to benefit children and youth. Alberta's Promise receives strategic advice from the Premier's Council, chaired by the Premier of Alberta, including seventy other businesses, foundations, agencies and community leaders from throughout Alberta.

The business plan also recognizes the critical role of our partners in delivering provincial programs and services. At the local municipal level the Ministry invests in Family and Community Support Services to strengthen the capacity and self-reliance of communities to plan and deliver services to meet the needs of chilren, youth and families. The Ministry also enters into a range of contracts and agreements with agencies, Delegated First Nations Agencies and Aboriginal organizations to provide services at the community level. The Ministry also works with the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research to develop a strategic research plan. Other ministries, as well as municipal/provincial/territorial/federal governments are strategic partners.

Strong children, youth, families and communities

Working together to enhance the ability of families and communities to develop nurturing and safe environments for children, youth and individuals.

Core Business 1: Promoting the development and well-being of children, youth and families

Goal 1 - Children and youth will have a healthy start in life and the supports they need to reach their potential

Core Business 2: Keeping children, youth and families safe and protected

Goal 2 - Families will be safe, healthy, and able to promote children's development

Goal 3 - Children in need will be protected and supported by permanent, nurturing relationships

Core Business 3: Promoting healthy communities for children, youth and families

Goal 4 - The well-being and self-reliance of Aboriginal children, youth, families and communities will be promoted, supported and comparable to that of other Albertans

Goal 5 - Communities will have the capacity for shared planning and delivery of services that promote the well-being of children, youth and families

Investments in children, youth and families are the foundation to realizing Alberta's vision – a vibrant and prosperous province where Albertans enjoy a superior quality of life and are confident about the future for themselves and their children.

Services to Alberta's children are not only an important service to those in need; they are an investment in the human potential of the province. Children's Services’ core businesses and goals are aligned with and give support to the Government of Alberta Strategic Business Plan in Goal 4 – Alberta's children and youth will be supported in reaching their potential. The Ministry is committed to achieving the Government of Alberta Strategic Business Plan by supporting Opportunity 4 – Making Alberta the Best Place to Live, Work and Visit. The Ministry works to achieve its vision through joint initiatives with community partners. Children's Services' strategic directions supporting the government's business plan are: prevention – a healthy start and supports for children to learn, grow and succeed; preservation – a safe nurturing family environment for children; protection – a safety net to protect vulnerable children in need; and partnerships – a community to help families raise their children.

The following opportunities and challenges are key drivers that will impact the Ministry's ability to achieve its goals. Children's Services considers these drivers when establishing initiatives and strategies to support the development of resilient children, youth and families.

Changing social, demographic and economic factors influence both the needs of Alberta's children and the expectations of the public to provide these services. The reality of finite resources creates a challenging environment to ensure that all Alberta's children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Opportunities exist to move beyond treating symptoms with child protection to a greater focus on prevention and preservation solutions.

Intervening Early
The new Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act has created the opportunity to provide families with preventative services before they reach a crisis. The new Act will see families receiving services earlier and reduce the number of children who then need to come into care of the government. The Family Support for Children with Disabilities program provides supports that preserve and strengthen families, and reduce the possibility that they will need to access crisis intervention services.

Family Violence and Protection of Children
Family violence and the protection of children is a significant concern to the Ministry. Canadian children and youth under the age of 18 accounted for 21 per cent of victims of physical assault and 61 per cent of victims of sexual assault, while representing approximately 20 per cent of the population. The 2003 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect found that 70 per cent of the substantiated cases of emotional maltreatment were related to exposure to family violence. In 2004-05, 5,791 adults and 5,115 dependent children were admitted to the 28 contracted women's shelters across Alberta. The rate of reported spousal violence continues to be a priority concern to Albertans.

Approximately one in 10 children have bullied others. As many as 25 per cent of children in grades four to six have been bullied, and 14 per cent of children aged 11 to 16 are victims of bullying. Studies have found bullying occurs once every 25 minutes in the classroom and even more frequently on the playground. In the majority of cases, bullying stops within 10 seconds when peers intervene or do not support the bullying behaviour. New technology and cyber-bullying exacerbates this dynamic by providing more opportunities for bullying and shielding the identity of the bully.

Impacts of Substance Abuse
Health Canada estimates that nine in every 1,000 babies born in Canada have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorder, which includes a range of birth defects and brain damage caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol. It is estimated that over a lifetime, each individual with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorder will need about $1 to $1.5 million in special care and support services.

Proposed legislation to prevent children's exposure to drugs is one way the Ministry will lessen the impacts of substance abuse on children. The increasing incidence of methamphetamine production labs and marijuana grow-ops in houses where children live pose serious risks to children. The full extent of the impact of exposure on children is still to be determined, as are best treatment methods.

Child Sexual Exploitation
Sexual exploitation of children is a global issue that impacts a vulnerable sector of society. Incidents of child pornography, internet luring and the involvement of youth in prostitution are increasing as communications technology has made access to children and youth by perpetrators much easier. Working with other ministries and the justice system, strategies to prevent exploitation of children are being developed and implemented.

Importance of Early Years
The ability of children to fully reach their potential is influenced by what happens during their early years of development. Children aged 0 to 5 years is a growing segment of Alberta's population so programs and services directed at young children will expand to serve the growing needs. Designing early learning and child care programs and services that meet the needs of young children and Alberta families is one way the Ministry supports children to reach their full potential. Through the Family Support for Children with Disabilities program, supports are provided early on to children with disabilities to assist in meeting their developmental needs.

Families with children ages 6 to 12 years need access to programs and services that support their ongoing development. Many families needing care for their children before and after school require access to quality programming and supports. Working with our municipal partners, strategies to build a seamless continuum of child care and parental supports are being developed and implemented.

Aboriginal Children
The Aboriginal population is growing faster and is younger than the non-Aboriginal population. Aboriginal children have a higher representation in the Ministry child protection caseload than non-Aboriginal children. The result is higher costs and use of services for this population.

Significant cross jurisdictional issues regarding federal government funding support for Aboriginal children and families results in service gaps that contribute to poorer outcomes for this population. Early intervention, prevention and family enhancement programs are not supported by federal funding, which increases the likelihood of First Nations children being removed from their homes and coming into government care. The federal government, despite research that indicates the benefits of this approach, has been slow to respond with supports for Early Childhood Development, Early Learning and Child Care programs on-reserve. Federal funding for on-reserve children with disabilities and their families does not provide supports comparable to those received by other Alberta children.

Improving outcomes for Aboriginal children, youth and families is a concern for the Ministry. Creating partnerships with Aboriginal communities to enhance relationships and build practice and service protocols will facilitate effective and culturally appropriate services to Aboriginal children and families.

Impact of Prosperity
The strong economy in Alberta provides families with stable incomes and opportunities to prosper. With economic prosperity many young families with children are moving to Alberta, particularly urban areas. Pressures on changing communities pose challenges for communities to build and maintain strong support systems for children, youth and families. In urban areas challenges include anonymity of families and the complexities of making services known and accessible. Rural communities face challenges of inadequate resources to offer needed services to children and families in remote and sparsely populated areas.

The Ministry is taking advantage of innovative technologies and the SuperNet to enhance services to children and families across the province, and to create opportunities for collaboration and coordination of case management teams in their work with children and their families in the Child and Family Services Authorities.

One impact of prosperity is a labour shortage of skilled service providers to provide support to families and children (i.e. respite providers, aide support, child care workers, rehabilitation workers). Partnering with government and agency partners to meet these resource challenges is critical. Strategies related to recruitment, retention and succession planning of ministry staff would also be implemented.

Children's Services will undertake reviews of Family and Community Support Services programming and contracted agencies to ensure that communities have the capacity to effectively respond to the needs of families and children preventing or reducing the number and severity of incidents requiring more intensive protection services.

Children's Services will examine the drivers that result in youth repeatedly coming into care and develop options to improve their outcomes; fully operationalize the Family Supports for Children with Disabilities Act and Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act by 2006; undertake a review and recommend adjustments where required; continue to develop and implement more targeted case management strategies in the regional delivery system; and identify and pursue options to ensure necessary supports are available for successful transition of youth to their independence.

Children's Services will monitor the availability of community based resources and choices allowing all children to have a healthy start and be ready to learn, and recommend solutions where gaps are identified. Phased implementation of the Parent Link Centre framework will continue, building on existing resources and evaluation of the framework. Implementation of an accreditation system for Alberta child care centres and family day home agencies will continue to assure child development environments are appropriate. The Alberta government will also continue to provide parents the support they need when choosing the right child care for their children.

Children's Services will pursue high priority needs of families and youth through a new Drug-Endangered Children Act and amendments to the Protection Against Family Violence Act and Social Care Facilities Licensing Act.

Children's Services will work within the Ministry and with other ministries and regional delivery agencies and boards, to increase collaboration to ensure high priority needs of children and youth are met and to strengthen the fit of existing policy, programs and services for children and youth. Solutions to the challenges of rural and remote delivery of services will also be pursued, through such initiatives as the Rural Development Strategy.

The Ministry recognizes the importance that the first six years of a child's life play in terms of setting the foundations for children to learn, grow, and reach their potential. While parents have the primary responsibility for raising their children, government, communities, organizations, schools and businesses all have supporting roles to play in meeting the needs of children and youth. Expected outcomes: Children and youth are physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually and spiritually healthy. Children and youth meet individual developmental milestones.

1.1 Lead the implementation of the Strategy for the Prevention of Family Violence and Bullying action plan to support individuals, families, communities and governments to work together towards an Alberta free of family violence and bullying.

1.2 Implement a Bullying Prevention initiative in response to the Alberta Roundtable on Family Violence and Bullying.

1.3 Support quality child care by enhancing the Child Care Accreditation Program to provide additional funding for staffing supports and quality improvements.

1.4 Work with municipalities to enhance training standards for child care professionals providing out of school care and to develop a seamless continuum of program supports for families requiring before and after school care.

1.5 Enhance cross-sector capacity to respond to the needs of children and youth with special and complex needs and their families by improving coordination and access to services and supports.

1.6 Continue to support youth in transition (ages 13 to 22) by enhancing access to mentoring opportunities through coordination of services and supports to youth.

1.7 In collaboration with other ministries and government agencies develop guidelines and resources to implement prevention strategies aimed at preventing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorder and substance abuse.

1.8 Work with municipalities and Métis Settlements to strengthen the capacity of Family and Community Support Services Programs to promote, design, integrate, deliver and assess outcomes of services delivered to children, youth and families, mandated under legislation.

1.9 Introduce a continuous improvement process for ongoing implementation of the Family Support for Children with Disabilities legislation.

1.10 Implement strategies based on stakeholder input to ensure that families of children with disabilities are provided information about supports and services available to them and their children.

1.11 Enhance child care that helps parents and families give their children the best possible start in life, including overcoming circumstances that put them at risk, and give their children the support they need to reach their potential.

The Ministry works with all its partners to promote and support community-based strategies and resources that help families be safe, healthy, resilient and self-reliant by overcoming at-risk circumstances and ensuring children reside in permanent, nurturing homes. Expected Outcomes: Children, youth and families overcome at-risk circumstances. Children, youth and families are safe, healthy, resilient and self-reliant.

2.1 Implement and strengthen the coordinated provincial response to family violence and bullying with culturally sensitive and accessible community based services and supports to increase the safety and healthy development of children and families in family violence and bullying situations, including emergency shelter for victims of family violence.

2.2 Implement the government approved amendments to the Protection Against Family Violence Act.

2.3 Work with other ministries and community partners to develop a seamless continuum of supports to help preserve families and their ability to nurture their children's well-being and development through initiatives such as Community Partnership Enhancement Initiative.

2.4 With other ministries and government agencies, collaborate to improve supports for children, youth and families impacted by substance abuse including those affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorder.

Every child deserves a home where they are safe and nurtured. The Ministry intervenes to support families in providing children with environments that are safe and nurturing and free from abuse and neglect. When circumstances require children to be taken into care, the goal is to reunite the children with their families or to place the children in other nurturing, permanent homes as soon as possible. Expected Outcomes: Children and youth in need are protected from further abuse and neglect. Children and youth in care are placed in secure and stable environments that allow for the development of life-long relationships and connection to family, culture and community.

3.1 Introduction of the new Drug-Endangered Children Act.

3.2 Continue to implement the new Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act by developing a best practice framework which will support the case worker's ability to improve the safety and well-being of children, involve families and children in decision making, assure quality services to promote children's development, shorten the time children spend in government care, and unite children with their families or place in other permanent, nurturing homes.

3.3 Continue to develop and maintain quality assurance mechanisms including the Appeal Secretariat and the Social Care Facility Review Committee.

3.4 Continue to develop and implement processes to appoint lawyers to represent children and youth in matters under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act and work with partners to develop processes to provide children and youth with legal representation in high conflict custody and access cases.

3.5 Continue to refine and implement prevention and treatment strategies for high risk youth and youth involved in prostitution and work with stakeholders to develop and enhance programs to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and youth through prostitution, internet luring and child pornography.

3.6 Undertake a review of the Social Care Facilities Licensing Act, to promote quality of care in social care facilities.

3.7 Improve access to Advancing Futures Bursary program to help increase the educational attainment of youth in care.

First Nations, Métis and other Aboriginal peoples have the desire, ability and commitment to improve outcomes for and the success of Alberta's children, families and communities. The Ministry works with First Nations, Métis and other Aboriginal peoples to build on the strengths of Aboriginal communities in developing the governance, accountability and service delivery capacity to promote the care of their children, youth, and families. Expected Outcomes: Aboriginal communities have the capacity to meet the needs of children, youth and families. There are a reduced number of Aboriginal children represented in the child intervention caseload. Aboriginal children, youth and family receive culturally appropriate services.

4.1 Continue to improve the quality of services and address service gaps to meet the needs of Aboriginal children, youth and families.

4.2 Continue to work with the Delegated First Nations Agencies to support them in their negotiations with the Federal government regarding delivery of services under the new Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act that are equitable to all Albertans.

4.3 Continue the joint table meetings with Child and Family Service Authorities and Delegated First Nations Agencies to address common and ongoing issues related to meeting the needs of Aboriginal children, youth and families.

4.4 Increase permanency-planning options with First Nation and Métis communities.

Children must have safe places to learn, grow and thrive outside the home, and a strong connection to family and community. The Ministry works in partnership with Albertans to build on the unique capacity of communities to deliver the right services for children, youth and families, in the right place, and at the right time. Expected Outcomes: Communities are responsive to issues/needs faced by children, youth and families. Children, youth and families participate in decisions that affect them.

5.1 Continue to provide leadership to cross-ministry work that supports children and youth in becoming caring, contributing and self-reliant citizens.

5.2 Develop and enhance the capacity of Child and Family Services Boards to effectively govern the regional authorities.

5.3 Collaborate with national partners, universities, other ministries, the community and the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research, to promote policy relevant research and effective practices to improve outcomes for children, youth, families and communities.

5.4 Support the continuing operations of Alberta's Promise, a public-private partnership dedicated to finding unrealized resources leading to new and better ways of working together to give children the opportunity to lead happy, healthy, and successful lives.

5.5 Support community stakeholders to develop and enhance collaborative coordinated responses to family violence through the Community Incentive Fund.

5.6 Facilitate, promote and recognize youth engagement by supporting youth forums, youth networks and youth consultations.

5.7 Support the work of the Youth Secretariat and Youth Advisory Panel to identify and address issues facing youth.

MINISTRY-WIDE CORPORATE OBJECTIVES