B.C. announces transition to community 'hub' model for supporting children with special needs
Families with children in need of special developmental support will soon have a new way of accessing that support in B.C.
The provincial government announced Wednesday that it plans to create "family connections hubs" for neurodiverse children and young people, as well as those with disabilities.
Such facilities will be run by existing local service agencies, and will connect families with resources without the need for a formal diagnosis.
This approach differs significantly from the current system, according to Mitzi Dean, B.C.'s Minister of Children and Family Development, who announced the planned changes during a news conference Wednesday.
"In today's system, if you're a parent of a child and you start noticing they're not meeting their milestones, you're worried about them, you think maybe their speech isn't doing so well, it's really difficult to know where to turn to," Dean said.
"If you think that they have symptoms of, say, for example, autism, then you need to go and get a diagnosis before you're able to access funding. That's the only program. And that diagnosis can take up to two years."
Under the new approach, the minister said, the same family would be able to bring a child into a hub and begin receiving assistance with that child's specific needs and goals.
The first two hubs are scheduled to open in the province's northwest and in the Central Okanagan region in 2023. Dean said those two locations were chosen because they offer an opportunity to see how the new model works in both a rural and an urban setting.
By 2025, there will be hubs available throughout the province, and direct funding to families whose children have been diagnosed with autism will end.
Asked whether the new system would amount to a reduction in the province's support for children with autism, Dean asserted that that's not the case. She said the purpose of the hubs is to include families in their children's care and help ensure that every child is getting the individual support they need.
"Services will be available depending on the needs of the children," Dean said. "We're announcing this today, giving plenty of time to be able to support families in their transition."
In a news release, the province estimated that the new hub system would provide services to 8,300 more children and their families - a 28 per cent increase in the number of children with access to such services.
During the news conference Wednesday, Zev Tiefenbach, a Salmon Arm resident whose youngest child has complex needs related to Down syndrome, told reporters he felt "heartened" by the government's announcement.
Tiefenbach said he's found the existing system "fragmented" and said navigating it has been "a full-time job."
"I sense, in this announcement, a shift in paradigm," Tiefenbach said. "If I break my arm or my kid has pneumonia, we know that the network - our public health network - will support us. For our family, the needs of our son have that sort of equivalency, but there wasn't a network to support our need."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.