At the Ministry of Children and Family Development, a network of dedicated British Columbians work every day to make B.C. the best place on earth for our children.

Often we don’t have time to acknowledge our colleagues’ impact on their communities; recognition must come from the communities themselves. One example is Rob Smith, Squamish’s child and youth mental health co-ordinator, who recently received the Order of Squamish in the area of visionary leadership.

Across B.C., ministry staff and our community partners are engaging in innovative pilots and partnerships to transform the delivery of child welfare services. These include differential response teams in Vancouver (a two-year program that aims to keep children safely within their own families), and the development of integrated youth centres in Prince George and Vancouver, where services for youth are clustered within a single agency to ensure co-ordination and integration.

The 2004 Premier’s Awards recognized more of our success stories. The Vancouver Coastal Safe Babies Program uses multi-agency partnerships to care for some of B.C.’s most vulnerable infants. The Provincial Adoption Team has placed 658 children in adoptive homes in the past two years. In partnership with the Attorney General’s Office, the innovative Surrey Court Project resolves child protection disputes through mediation.

In the next few months, Canada’s child-care system will experience unprecedented change as multiple levels of government consider how we can best serve our children. We’ve already accomplished so much; just imagine the success stories of B.C.’s future generations.