ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK: defines roles and responsibilities of authorities and the Ministry after devolution.

ADOPTION AGENCY: a society licensed to provide a full range of adoption services in accordance with the Adoption Act and the regulations.

ADOPTION ORDER: the court order finalizing an adoption.

ADOPTIVE PARENT: a person who has adopted a child.

AUTHORITY: A community-based entity that will receive responsibility for the provision of Ministry services; also known as a "permanent" authority to distinguish it from an interim authority.

BIRTH PARENT: a child's biological parent.

CASE CONFERENCE: meeting involving a variety of service providers, and may include the child or family, to assess service needs and develop plans of care or service plans.

CASE MANAGEMENT: systemic approach to providing services to children and to families including the coordination, monitoring and assessment of services provided to the child and family.

CFCSA: Child, Family and Community Service Act, British Columbia’s child protection legislation.

CLAA: Community Living Authority Act; scheduled for introduction in the fall 2004 legislative session, this Act will establish Community Living BC.

CHILD: an unmarried person under the age of 19, including a youth.

CHILD- IN- CARE: any child under 19 years of age living under the care or guardianship of the Ministry.

COMMUNITY LIVING: refers to support to adults with developmental disabilities and children with special needs including autism spectrum disorder and developmental disabilities; reflects the philosophy of returning ownership for decisions on care for these individuals to their families and communities, as opposed to the former practice of institutionalization.

COMMUNITY LIVING BC: The provincial authority that will receive responsibility for the provision of community living support.

CONSENT TO ADOPTION: a legal process whereby a birth parent or guardian voluntarily places a child for adoption.

COURT: the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

DELEGATED AGENCIES: aboriginal agencies with delegated child welfare authority under the CFCSA.

DEVOLUTION: responsibility for most service delivery shifts from the Ministry to community-based governance authorities.

DIRECTOR: The Minister’s designate under the CFCSA or under the Adoption Act to exercise the minister’s powers and duties.

FAMILY CONFERENCE: dispute resolution meeting where members of a child’s immediate and extended family, and other persons involved in their care, develop a plan to ensure the child’s safety and well-being.

FASD: fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

FORMER YOUTH-IN-CARE is a young person who is no longer living under the care of the ministry.

HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION: an international law that sets minimum standards for participating countries.

HIGH RISK YOUTH are youth that are sexually exploited, drug or alcohol addicted, living on the street or have a mental health problem.

HOMESTUDY: includes an assessment of the prospective adoptive parents and an educational component to prepare the family to meet the needs of the child to be adopted.

INPUTS: Amout of resources (monetary and human resources) used to undertake a function.

INTERIM AUTHORITY: a statutory corporation created under the Community Services Interim Authorities Act to plan and prepare for the establishment of a permanent authority.

INTERIM AUTHORITY FOR COMMUNITY LIVING BRITISH COLUMBIA: created in November 2002 to plan and prepare for the transition to the provision of community living support by Community Living British Columbia

JAMC: Joint Aboriginal Management Committee; established by MOU in September 2002 among all major aboriginal political organizations and service agencies, and the Ministry.

Judicial Case Conference: before proceeding to a lengthy contested hearing, the Family Court judge may require all parties to participate in a case conference chaired by the judge to attempt to seek a negotiated resolution or to narrow issues to be resolved through the contested hearing.

MAINTENANCE: financial support for food and shelter provided to clients who qualify for certain services, e.g.. Youth Agreements.

OUTCOMES: Measurable consequences of outputs in conditions, behaviours or attitudes; they could be physical, societal or client impacts. An organization's activities produce outputs that in turn cause outcomes.

OUTPUTS: Products or services produced by an organization or program. They are measurable direct products of activities and strategies.

PANEL OF EXPERTS’ REPORT: December 2003 report by a panel of experts, Vince Collins, Bert Boyd and Arlene Gladstone, assessing the readiness of the Interim Authority for Community Living BC and the Ministry for devolution of community living support from the Ministry to Community Living BC.

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR: Description of a behaviour taken by individuals, which demonstrates successful performance for a particular competency.

PLAN OF CARE: details what services will be provided to meet the needs of a child in the care of the Ministry.

PRESENTATION HEARING: initial court hearing after a child is removed and held within 7 days of child’s removal.

PROTECTION HEARING: hearing to determine whether a child needs protection and what order is appropriate. Must be started within 45 days of the conclusion of the presentation hearing.

POST-ADOPTION OPENNESS REGISTRY: a passive registry (meaning that both parties must be registered before they are contacted about establishing an agreement) for relatives of the adopted child under age 19.

PROVINCIAL SERVICES: Services for which the Ministry will retain responsibility after devolution. Youth custody centres will continue to be managed centrally, as will other facilities like the Maples Adolescent Centre, Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services, Provincial Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and other services.

PROVINCIAL STANDARDS: Accreditation standards set by the Ministry to supplement international accreditation standards.

RAAA: Regional and Aboriginal Authorities Act; to enable creation of regional child and family authorities and aboriginal child and family authorities; possible introduction in Spring 2006, pending budget stability and capacity building.

READINESS CRITERIA: measurement of an interim authority’s and the Ministry’s ability to move to governance by an authority.

REDs: Regional Executive Directors; the title for the head of each of the five regional offices of the Ministry.

REGION: The Ministry’s five regions are Fraser, Interior, North, Vancouver Coastal and Vancouver Island.

RELATIVE: someone related to another by birth or adoption

RISK REDUCTION PLAN: portion of service plan, which outlines how specific risks to the child will be addressed and reduced

SAFE CARE: provision of voluntary and involuntary services to protect commercially sexually exploited youth.

SELF-ADVOCATES: adults with developmental disabilities who advocate for community living.

SERVICE PLAN: details what services will be provided to a subject child and to their family including specific objectives and the time frames for meeting the objectives. May also detail the family’s responsibility to the plan.

SEXUALLY EXPLOITED YOUTH: a person under the age of 18 who has been manipulated or forced into prostitution through perceived affection and belonging, and in return receives drugs, narcotics, money, food and/or shelter.

SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN: refers to a broad range of needs. Some of the children have a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Effects/Syndrome, but many do not. Those noted as "substance exposed" are generally mild to moderately exposed, based on birth family history information.

SUPERVISION ORDER: court order returning or placing a child in the custody of a parent or other person under specific conditions.

TSC: Community Living Transition Steering Committee; appointed by the Minister in March 2002 to make recommendations to the Minister on the creation of the new governance structure for all community living support in British Columbia; the TSC submitted its report in October 2002.

YOUTH-IN-CARE: a person who is 16 years of age or over but is under 19 years of age, who is under the care of the Ministry and living in a group home or foster home.