News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

Premier Christy Clark and Minister of Social Development Stephanie Cadieux today unveiled a comprehensive plan to address issues and concerns around Community Living BC (CLBC) and the government-wide system of supports for British Columbians with developmental disabilities.

The plan comes as a result of a rigorous and wide-ranging review of CLBC and the network of government supports available to adults with developmental disabilities. To ensure adequate funding is available to implement the recommendations within the plan, the Province is providing an additional $40 million in funding to increase capacity and improve services for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

"British Columbians with developmental disabilities and their families can have confidence that their government has listened," said Premier Clark. "Our plan will ensure that these individuals and families have the support that they need from their government to lead full, rich lives."

"After spending the past months meeting with the individuals and families served by CLBC, it is incredibly rewarding to be able to come back to them with a plan that addresses their concerns, provides them with the help they need, and demonstrates that they're not alone in meeting the challenges before them," "They can feel confident that this government is here to help them." said Minister Cadieux.

The plan, which government will begin implementing immediately, includes:

• Ensuring that families play a greater role in planning for their loved ones, while providing more flexibility in the supports available to them and supporting ongoing innovation in communities.
• Improving planning and collaboration across government to ensure that individuals' needs are at the centre of all decisions.
• Improving transition planning and processes for youth turning 19.
• Maintaining CLBC as a crown corporation.
• An increased focus on employment and training services to allow adults with developmental disabilities to lead full, rich lives as members of their communities.
• The creation of a permanent appeal mechanism, modeled on the Client Support Team, for individuals and families who have concerns about the services that they're receiving.
• An expansion of the representative for children and youth's mandate, allowing her to follow youth involved with her office after they transition to CLBC.

A cross-ministry team is being established with CLBC to begin discussions on the best way for the Province to implement these recommendations. As part of that process, they will consider and soon identify the steps for government to engage with individuals, families, service providers and advocates on key actions.

"CLBC began as a collaborative effort between government, families and advocates,"  "In order to succeed as we move forward, we need to re-commit ourselves to moving forward together." said Cadieux

Together, these steps address the concerns that have been expressed by British Columbians and represent a renewal of the original vision of the advocates and families that drove the creation of CLBC, along with the Province's commitment to British Columbians with developmental disabilities.

The Deputy Ministers' Review of CLBC and the Internal Audit can be found at http://www.sd.gov.bc.ca/pwd/clbc_reports.html

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