Community Living BC | Adults with Developmental Disabilities & Children with Special Needs

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Community Living BC (CLBC) delivers support and services to people with developmental disabilities, children with special needs and their families in British Columbia. It has a board of self-advocates, family and community members, as well as staff located throughout the province. We believe that people with developmental disabilities and their families know best when it comes to their needs, goals and planning for the future.

CLBC Transition Update
In June, government announced that responsibility for services for children and youth with special needs, currently provided by CLBC, will move to the Ministry of Children and Family Development and will be integrated with related services to children and youth with special needs and their families already provided by MCFD. CLBC, as an agency of the Ministry of Housing and Social Development, will continue to deliver services for adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

In the last several months, staff in the two ministries and CLBC have been working together and preparing a transition plan that will ensure a seamless approach to service delivery and one that is fully integrated to serve children, youth and adults. The planning and coordinated work involved with the transfer is underway. This will be an incremental process that will be completed by October 31, 2009. During the transition process, CLBC will continue to deliver its present array of services to children and youth with special needs and their families.

CLBC will work collaboratively with both MHSD and MCFD to ensure an integrated and seamless service delivery system for all children, youth and adults with developmental disabilities and their families. We recognize that although there are multiple ministries involved, there is one service system for families and therefore an effective, thoughtful and integrated approach is paramount to ensure a full continuum of services. Given the importance of this realignment, October 31, 2009 has been set as the completion date for the integration of children’s services into MCFD’s CYSN services and CLBC’s realignment arising from this transition. To further illustrate our commitment to a collaborative and unified approach, every effort will be made to have representatives from both ministries and CLBC present during consultations with stakeholders, staff and families.

A facilitated meeting with administrative, policy and regional field staff from both ministries and CLBC is being planned for early December. We are working collaboratively towards the implementation of a framework with responsibilities, timelines and deliverables outlined.

Regular updates will be provided in the coming months.