Young People with Disabilities
Young People with Disabilities
They've Been Waiting Too Long
In British Columbia, up to 83,000 young people with disabilities are not receiving services that adequately meet their needs. This means families may be going without critically needed respite care or not receiving medical equipment or timely access to therapies, for example. For more than a decade disability advocates and RCY, have been calling on government to address under-resourcing and significant gaps in systems of care to ensure young people with disabilities reach their full potential. There has been too little action in response.
“A staggering number of families are at their breaking point, living within a system that remains underfunded, fragmented and almost impossible to navigate. Families have been waiting too long for change and they can’t wait any longer.”
– Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth
Representative for Children and Youth
What RCY is Hearing
Consistent with our commitment to amplify voices, RCY engages with young people, families and the wider disability community to convene a diverse range of perspectives and to catalyze change. This work has taken the form of surveys, intimate conversations and larger collective convenings and has captured the voices of people in all corners of the province. While circumstances may be different, the message is clear – young people living with disabilities and their families are at their breaking point.
You get to a really dark place where you go, I can’t do this anymore so I’m going to harm myself and my child because that is the only option and the only light I can see moving forward.
– Parent
What We're Doing
Over
across 12 reports since 2007.
RCY has made numerous recommendations to successive governments to improve funding and service provision for people with disabilities and their families.
These include enhancing supports for young people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, addressing the mental health needs that many young people with disabilities experience, facilitating cross-ministerial collaboration, and establishing a data gathering system that identifies how many young people in BC are living with disabilities and are, or are not, being served.
By the Numbers
For our report, Too Many Left Behind, more than 1,160 families and caregivers completed the RCY check-in survey and over 90 families and caregivers participated in personal interviews. The stats below were taken from this survey.
Up to
young people living with a disability may not be receiving adequate services and supports in the community and in school.
Approximately
of children in government care are there because it’s the only way for families to secure necessary support for their child.
Only
of families agree that the services they receive meet their children’s needs.
of families who do not have confidence that their children will receive the care they need in the coming three years.
Reports and Resources
Too Many Left Behind, 2025
Too Many Left Behind (2024), demands urgent funding and system reform so children with disabilities can access the services they need to thrive.
A Parent's Handbook on Inclusive Education, 2024
A useful guide to British Columbia’s education system for parents, caregivers and community partners.
Still Left Out, 2023
Still Left Out (2023), shows how children with disabilities remain under-served despite years of promises and calls for immediate, concrete action.
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