Victoria – A new government-wide action plan and tracking system that measures how young people are doing in the province are important steps towards supporting young people to thrive, says BC’s Representative for Children and Youth.

“A plan that brings multiple ministries together in a coordinated way to serve young people and families is something my office has been calling for the past two years,” said Jennifer Charlesworth. “Supporting our children and youth can’t be just one person or one ministry’s job. We need collective action across multiple areas including housing, income security, health, mental health and education to create networks of support that truly serve the needs of young people and their families. With the stories that come to our office every day we see that our current siloed and reactive approaches just aren’t working.”

A Child and Youth Well-Being Action Plan and system for monitoring and reporting on how young people are doing across multiple areas, was a key recommendation that Charlesworth made in her 2024 landmark report, Don’t Look Away. That report called for both quick impact improvements to supports and services as well as transformational changes to how services are delivered in BC. The report was based on an investigation into the experiences of a young boy named “Colby“ whose life and death highlighted significant gaps in how services to young people and families are delivered. The report also included a systemic review of key areas that impacted Colby, and many other young people in the province, including the prevalence of violence in the lives of children and youth, lack of timely help and supports for families and kinship caregivers, siloed and disconnected services, workforce challenges, and inequities in supports.

“Colby’s sacred story taught us so much, and he is still teaching us that we can and must do better for our kids,” said Charlesworth. “This plan is a foundational step without question. The challenge now will be to sustain the good intentions and create the conditions for steady, tangible, on-the-ground improvements as we aim for the North Star of child well-being.”

In announcing the plan earlier today, government states that its Child and Youth Well-Being Action Plan sets a shared direction for how government will continue improving outcomes for children and youth in BC. It sets out how the system will shift away from reactive crisis responses to focus instead on preventing challenges through better coordination between ministries and service organizations. Government has also committed to developing an outcomes measurement framework to measure how young people are doing across multiple areas including learning, safety and wellness outcomes.

The Representative highlights that key areas of today’s announcement align with many of her key recommendations including a shift to an “all-of-government” approach, strengthening early intervention and prevention-focused supports, addressing family and intimate partner violence. The plan also promises a clear commitment to advancing Indigenous self-determination through partnerships with Indigenous communities. 

“Families and young people are really struggling in the outdated, siloed and under-resourced system we have right now and I am glad that we are on the road to something in my view that could be vastly better,” said Charlesworth. “Now we need to move to immediate collective action, guided by ongoing engagement, transparent monitoring and public accountability, so that young people can heal, grow and thrive.”

Read more about the Child Well-Being Plan

Read the RCY report Don’t Look Away