A New Brunswick watchdog is raising the alarm over “significant” reductions to the province’s child welfare budget.
Advocate Kelly Lamrock released a report Thursday focusing on what he described as a $47-million cut to child welfare services in the Department of Social Development.
“This is the most significant single-year reduction to services for vulnerable children in recent memory,” Lamrock said in a news release.
The provincial government has budgeted $208.3 million in this year’s budget for child welfare services.
While that is higher than last year’s estimates of $181.9 million, it is lower than the $231.8 million that was actually spent.
As a result, the advocate said the government is assuming that child welfare will cost around $23.5 million less this year, with no apparent evidence of a decreased need for services.
And with the province redirecting $23.6 million to new priority services and wage increases under the Child and Youth Well-Being Act, Lamrock said the department must find $47.1 million in cuts from existing programs.
“Our office has warned for two years that under-budgeting actual demand would eventually lead to damaging cuts. That warning was not heeded, and now we are seeing the consequences,” said Lamrock.
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Lamrock said the cuts will put pressure on every front-line worker to consider budget cuts first and the child’s needs second.
The advocate noted his office has dealt with a number of cases where children are already slipping through the cracks due to austerity-based decision-making.
“Costs of child welfare programs have gone up mostly because of a record number of teenagers requiring crisis interventions and expensive help,” he added.
“The government’s ‘cut first, plan second’ approach will simply cut programs that keep the next 100 children at risk from falling into an expensive crisis.”
Lamrock is urging the province to reconsider the budget reduction. If not, he said, they should publish a mitigation plan by June 30 outlining the expected impact and how children will be protected.
Social development to review recommendations
In a statement, Social Development Minister Cindy Miles said many of the advocate’s recommendations are incorporated into the work that her department is already undertaking.
“From the moment I became minister of social development, I began travelling the province to meet with children, youth and their families, who depend on various social development programs. I’ve listened to their stories; their successes, but also their challenges,” said Miles.
“It’s clear there is a need for transformational change to provide children and youth living with exceptional needs and trauma with the services they need.”
Miles said the department has budgeted nearly 15 per cent more for child welfare and youth services than they did during the last fiscal year. This includes significant investments, she said, such as:
- $10 million to ensure children and youth living with exceptional needs and trauma receive a consistent level of high-quality support
- Nearly $8.7 million in the child-centred approach at the core of the Child and Youth Well-Being Act.
“These investments reflect the government’s deep commitment to child well-being. We will always fulfil our commitment to provide care to our vulnerable children and youth,” said Miles.
“However, we are also working to ensure that we can build a service model that meets the needs of the population today and into the future. In that light, the budget reflects a commitment to transformational changes in service delivery, including a focus on early intervention and solutions that can better support children and families.”
Those approaches, said the minister, lead to better outcomes for children and youth, and often come with significant cost savings.
Miles added that she and her team will take the necessary time to review, analyze and assess the recommendations in the report.
“We respect and support the intent of the advocate’s report, and we look forward to working across government, with our community partners, and with the advocate to ensure youth and their families come first.”
