B.C. Children’s Minister Mary Polak faced a new round of criticism yesterday for sacking the senior advisers to two programs that help disabled children.
Already under attack for autism cuts, Polak plans to terminate the provincial adviser to the supported child development program at the end of the month. The adviser to the infant development program will be gone by the end of the year.
Under fire in the legislature, Polak portrayed the cuts as “administrative,” arguing that the advisers perform an intermediary role between the ministry and front-line workers. Eliminating the two positions will save $600,000 a year, she said.
“The fact remains that these are administrative positions that we can fulfil the duties of within the ministry, and that allows us to direct increased funding to front-line direct services to kids.”
But the NDP, front-line workers, and advocates for the disabled accused Polak of another misguided assault on children with special needs.
Lorraine Seline, an infant development consultant in Parksville-Qualicum, said she relies on the provincial adviser to keep her apprised of the latest research, and make sure that she’s meeting high standards.
“This is not a pencil-pusher sitting in her office, an intermediary doing bureaucratic paper work,” Seline said. “This is a person keeping us current, making me feel more confident when I go back into the field when I’m working with families.”
For people working in remote areas, without access to specialists, the adviser’s role becomes even more crucial, Seline said.
The B.C. Association for Community Living argues that the advisers are responsible for the high standards of early childhood development programs across the province.
“It seems to me that the focus has been saying, ‘Well, let’s leave the front-line in there, but let’s cut behind the scenes,” said Leila Rahemtulla, who sits on the association’s board of directors. “However, I think the strength of those front-line consultants has come from that second layer of people at the provincial level that do the research, that co-ordinate all the different agencies.”
Rahemtulla, whose son benefited from the infant development program, fears Polak’s decision will simply download more responsibilities onto front-line workers.
NDP MLA Gary Coons, who represents North Coast, said the advisers represent a “lifeline” to rural parents who need to gain access to support programs for special-needs children.
“Experts in the field rebuke this minister’s spin and rhetoric,” he said. “The B.C. Community Association for Community Living says that it’s not an administrative cut.”
But Polak said: “I just can’t understand why the opposition would want to maintain government positions at the expense of services to kids. What is it you don’t like about providing front-line services to kids?”
By Lindsay Kines and Rob Shaw
Victoria Times Colonist
October 6, 2009