National Children’s Alliance
October 24, 2002

Members of the National Children’s Alliance

• Adoption Council of Canada
• Big Brothers and Sisters of Canada
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
• Canadian Association for Community Living
• Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs
• Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
• Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
• Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres
• Canadian Association of Social Workers
• Canadian Child Care Federation
• Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children
• Canadian Council on Social Development
• Canadian Institute of Child Health
• Canadian Living Foundation
• Canadian Mental Health Association
• Canadian Nurses Association
• Canadian Paediatric Society
• Canadian Parents for French
• Canadian Parks & Recreation Association
• Canadian Psychological Association
• Canadian Public Health Association
• Canadian School Boards Association
• Canadian Teachers' Federation
• Child Welfare League of Canada
• Children's Aid Society
• Family Service Canada
• Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
• Foundation for Active Healthy Kids
• Frontier College
• Hospital for Sick Children Foundation
• Kids Help Phone
• La Commission nationale des parents francophone
• Laidlaw Foundation
• Learning Disabilities Association of Canada
• National Anti-Poverty Organization
• National Early Intervention Network
• National Voluntary Organizations
• National Youth In Care Network
• Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada
• Pollution Probe
• Safe Kids Canada
• Scouts Canada
• SOS Children's Villages Canada
• SpeciaLink: The National Centre for Child Care Inclusion
• UNICEF Canada
• United Way of Canada - Centraide Canada
• Vanier Institute of the Family
• YMCA Canada
• YWCA of Canada
• Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada

Introduction

The National Children’s Alliance represents 50 national organizations working collectively in the voluntary/NGO sector to enhance the well-being of children, youth and families in Canada. Offering expertise and support to help shape policies and budgets, the Alliance works co-operatively to devise strategies that promote the National Children’s Agenda. Together, the National Children’s Alliance represents hundreds of thousands of people in our communities across Canada who care about and advocate for children, youth and their families.

Childhood, both early and middle years, represents a highly sensitive developmental period that is unique to each child. These developmental needs are not considered within the existing system, and need particular consideration. A missed opportunity to support a child at any stage in this cycle may reverberate negatively throughout their lifetime. Scientific research has demonstrated that early detection of problems or challenges coupled with a swift, appropriate response are critical to a healthy childhood trajectory.¹

Adolescence is a unique time of tremendous change and for many youth it is a time of significant risk. Certain populations of youth, such as youth on the street and sexually exploited youth, are at extreme risk for injury and illness. Comprehensive, confidential, accessible and youth friendly services can make a difference. Youth focussed services address multiple indicators of effective development, including health, housing, income, employment, nutrition, education, non-criminal behaviour, and others.

There is also an increased need for the federal government to work with Aboriginal governments, organizations and communities to develop programs designed for Aboriginal youth and families living on and off reserves. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal governments must work together to address the acute needs, challenges and opportunities of Aboriginal children and youth.

Despite the steps taken by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to improve and enhance Early Childhood Development services, the National Child Benefit and parental leave, the Alliance is acutely aware that many children and youth are living at risk. These children are denied the opportunity to develop to their full potential because families are not receiving the range of supportive services they need. Families have the primary responsibility to care for, nurture and guide children and youth throughout the various stages of development; however, all Canadians have a collective responsibility to support families and create opportunities for children and youth to develop and grow.

Investing in children provides benefits for all Canadians in the short and long term.

With the signing of the Social Union Framework Agreement (SUFA), all levels of government have recognized the need to work together to provide both funding and a supportive infrastructure for integrated service delivery systems that are responsive to community needs. The voluntary / NGO sector is increasingly engaged in meeting the needs of families at the community level through the delivery of services.

The National Children’s Alliance commends the government on the 2002 Speech from the Throne on its long overdue focus on social issues that affect children, youth and their families. This is a very ambitious Agenda that will require a renewed direction and considerable involvement from a number of sectors to develop and implement solutions.

The National Children’s Alliance can play a major role in the development and implementation of many of the commitments and looks forward to the government implementing the accord it signed with the voluntary sector last December. This accord will enable the voluntary sector to contribute to national priorities and represent the views of those who are too often excluded.

The National Children’s Alliance is pleased to submit the following brief to the Standing Committee on Finance, with emphasis on the following broad priority areas:

• Sustaining Families
• Building Healthy Children, Families and Communities
• Accountability to Canada and the World

Sustaining Families

Income security programs provide a foundation for ensuring social inclusion. The tradition of using the tax system and social security programs is entrenched in Canadian values. Parents have primary responsibility for their children but as a society we take responsibility for improving equality of opportunity through income redistribution.

National Child Benefit

The cornerstone of a strategy to address income security for low-income families is an indexed National Child Benefit (NCB). Currently, the NCB is a joint federal, provincial and territorial government initiative designed to reduce the depth of child poverty and to "promote attachment to the workforce" by decreasing the added costs of employment.

All programs and services under the National Child Benefit should be made available to low-income families regardless of the family’s source of income. Entry into the labour market is hampered by too many low wage jobs and a lack of programs that support labour market participation (affordable, quality child care for example). Although some families may be better off financially by staying on social assistance than accepting low-wage employment, the long-term solution must be to improve the labour market. Today, Canada’s poorest children should not be penalized due to their parents’ lack of participation in the labour force.

In the 2002 Speech from the Throne, the federal government made a commitment to significantly increase the National Child Benefit for poor families. Additionally, a commitment has been made to develop a long-term investment plan to allow poor families to break out of the welfare trap so that children born into poverty do not carry the consequences of that poverty throughout their lives. Although this commitment will go a long way to improving the lives of children living in poverty, the National Children’s Alliance feels that an even greater impact will be felt if the National Child Benefit was significantly increased across the board to benefit all children.

Action:
Raise the National Child Benefit from the current maximum of $2,440 to $4,200 per child, available to all low, modest and middle-income families.

Support for Children with Special Needs

The Alliance recognizes the financial challenges involved for families with children with special needs. At this time we are asking the Finance Minister to review the impact of current tax policy on these families and make recommendations for improving fairness to ensure that the needs of these families are considered. This is in line with the Speech from the Throne that emphasized how “targeted measures for low-income families caring for severely disabled children are needed, to help meet the needs of the child and of the family.” The focus on low-income families is important, however tax policies around caring for children with special needs need to be broad based and available to all families.

Action: Adjust and make recommendations for an improved tax policy for families with children with special needs.

Building a Family Policy

Parental leave is an important part of family policy. Canada has an underdeveloped system of family policy, insufficient to meet the needs of parents in the labour market.

The 1996 changes to eligibility regulations have radically reduced the number of workers who can draw on Employment Insurance (EI) maternity and parental benefits (as well as other EI benefits). Between 1996 and 1997 the number of maternity and parental beneficiaries fell by 7% compared with a drop in the number of births of only 2%. Further, there is a serious backlog in the processing of applications and disbursement of benefits.

The federal budget in the year 2000 extended maternity and parental leave benefits under EI to one year from six months. This is an important move to assist families in balancing work and family responsibilities. Further to improving the EI program discussed above, more action is needed to improve parental leave.

There are many families who do not qualify for the program based on the established criteria and out of financial necessity these parents must return to the workforce before they are ready. In these cases, it is both the parent and the child who suffer. To allow all children to benefit from parental leave, we recommend an expansion of eligibility to include others such as the self-employed and part-time workers. Additionally, processing time should be reduced, the waiting period eliminated, conditions of entitlement expanded and benefits increased from 55% to 75% of earnings.

As a longer-term approach the National Children’s Alliance also recommends integrating family policy to examine options of funding parental leave beyond unemployment insurance, and extending the leave to two years.

Action: Expand the eligibility criteria and target for parental leave to include others not covered such as the self-employed and part-time workers, eliminate the waiting period and expand benefits to 75% of earnings.

Building Healthy Children, Families and Communities

Income security measures alone cannot promote optimal outcomes for children. Families need access to a comprehensive range of services and community supports to ensure the healthy development of children and youth, including those who may be at risk of not reaching their potential. Healthy communities will build healthy children and healthy families.

Expanding the Children’s Agenda

With the signing of the Early Childhood Development agreement in September 2000 and through the federal investment, the importance of the early years (0 - 6) has been recognized at the national level in a public policy context. It is now time to broaden the scope to address some of the critical challenges facing children aged 6 to 12.

In 2000, there were 2.7 million children aged 6 - 12 in Canada, accounting for approximately 9% of the entire population. Children in this age group are increasingly: of Aboriginal identity representing 23% of the Aboriginal population in 1996; coming from other countries both as immigrants and refugees; living in lone-parent families, and living in large urban centres. This significant population will have a profound impact on Canada’s economic, social and cultural future.

Signed in September 2000, the inter-governmental Early Childhood Development (ECD) agreement has resulted in much needed federal investment in services for children 0 - 6 and their families. Provincial and territorial governments have agreed to expand services and programs in the areas of: healthy pregnancy, birth and infancy; parenting and family supports; early childhood development, learning and care; and community supports.

The early years of childhood are especially vital to child development and future ability to learn. Research shows that participation in high quality early childhood care and education enhances language and social development and the chance of school success.

In the 2002 Speech from the Throne the government expressed its commitment to increasing access to early learning opportunities and quality child care. Governments need to continue to invest in early childhood through the ECD agreement particularly in quality child care to make sure that appropriate services, subsidies and the number of regulated child care spaces are enhanced to meet the gap in demand. Close to 1.4 million children use paid child care services in Canada but there are only about 500,000 regulated spaces.

Actions: 1. Federal, provincial and territorial governments should work collaboratively to establish a coordinated national child care plan as a link to the current ECD agreement.

2. The federal government should continue to show leadership by expanding the funding of the ECD agreement to include children ages 6 to 12.

A National Housing Plan

Another pressing issue that needs to be immediately addressed is housing. The drastic cutbacks in the construction of social housing in the mid-1990s and the reduction of construction of rental housing units by the private sector has led to a decline in vacancy rates in all major urban centres, high pressure for rent increases and severe housing shortages in many Canadian cities. Families with children are now the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.

According to the 1996 Census, 516,000 families with children live in housing that is in need of major repair, is overcrowded or that consumes more than 30% of their pre-tax income. Secure and affordable housing benefits Canadian society as a whole as it plays a central role in maintaining and improving families’ health, children’s academic success, participation in the labour market and neighbourhood security.

This situation requires immediate public intervention. The answer cannot be found simply in private sector development since the rental charges for new apartments are beyond the reach of many families. The federal government’s four-year capital grants initiative with the provinces and territories is welcome, but the current level of resources falls far short of the requirements for new rental housing.

The 2002 Speech from the Throne stated the federal government’s commitment to an increased investment in affordable housing for those whose needs are greatest, particularly those in cities where the problem is most acute. This must be realized by increased resources under the federal/provincial/territorial Affordable Rental Program to allow targeting of current funds to low income households through the provision of equivalent low income tax credits or rent supplements for residents, after a determination by a multi-stakeholder review of the appropriate means to do so.

The National Children’s Alliance supports the recommendation from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to allocate $700 million to the federal/provincial/territorial Affordable Rental Program over the next 4 years.

Action:
Establish a national housing plan and allocate resources to expand social housing initiatives through programs such as the Affordable Rental Program.

Recreation Opportunities

Lack of access to recreation is a key issue that must be addressed for the development of healthy children and youth. Recreation has become a privilege rather than a right, with user fees excluding many children and families. Recreation can have positive impacts on physical health, confidence, self-esteem and social connectedness, which is especially important for immigrant children who are commonly in the midst of cultural and social upheaval. Although the benefits of recreation are proven time and time again, the provision of recreation facilities, services and programs is not considered a priority and as a result, intervention in this area is crucial.

The recent Speech from the Throne acknowledged the importance of recreation through its commitment to work with partners around the development of a national strategy for healthy living, physical activity and sport. Additionally, a commitment was made to convene the first ever summit on these issues in 2003. The National Children’s Alliance commends this renewed focus on recreation and looks forward to working as a partner in the development of strategy initiatives affecting children, youth and families.

As part of the national strategy for healthy living, physical activity and sport, there needs to be a significant investment around infrastructure for the development and maintenance of non-exclusive community play and recreation spaces. Priorities need to be given to the development of inclusive green spaces, parks, play spaces/structures and wading pools in all communities across Canada, with priority given to distressed neighbourhoods and communities. Additionally, programs and services need to be developed to encourage community engagement in these spaces.

To assist in meeting the infrastructure needs of a national strategy for healthy living, physical activity and sport, the National Children’s Alliance supports the Federation of Canadian Municipalities recommendation to develop a Children’s Infrastructure Fund with a commitment by the federal government of $300 million over 3 years (to be increased to up to $750 million depending on take-up). It is crucial that these resources support inclusive “public spaces – family spaces” that are accessible to all without the barrier of user fees. The Children’s Infrastructure Fund should promote community partnerships and include a pilot component to proactively promote physical activity through services.

Actions:
1. Allocate sufficient funds to implement recommendations concerning children and youth arising from the National Healthy Living, Physical Activity and Sport Summit.

2. Establish a Children’s Infrastructure Fund of $300 million over 3 years (to be increased up to $750 million depending on take-up) to meet the physical activity and sport needs of children and youth.

Health Care and Health Services

Silos exist in funding allocations for education, health and social services. Each group works separately, competing for funding and often vying with each other for similar, complementary initiatives. Health, education, social services and criminal justice cross over in many ways such as immunization programs, breakfast programs and mental health services.

This silo effect creates unnecessary competition for funding as well as a lack of understanding of how groups can collaborate to develop innovative and integrated programs and policies. To improve effectiveness, these sectors must work together in program development and strategic planning. This will result in a more efficient and cost effective provision of quality services.

For children and youth, health is linked closely with education and social services. Child care and school settings are excellent places where prevention, early detection and primary care services could be delivered. These are the environments where children spend a great deal of their waking time. Much of the inefficiency that leads to higher costs and poor service is explained by system redundancies and ineffective inter-system and inter-professional communications. Children, youth and their families are asked for the same information by multiple systems and providers. The complexity of the system and available services is all too often overwhelming, confusing and prevents appropriate access. Systems and providers do not readily inform each other of findings, contacts and services. By integrating services available to children, youth and their families in the school, there would be greater collaboration among professionals and greater ease for families to use the system, thereby offering more accessible and cost-effective services.

Coordinated approaches that encourage collaboration will expand opportunities to work together, maximize limited resources and integrate services in a seamless manner. This will create better health opportunities for children and youth as well as reduce the costs to the health care system.

What is currently being provided by the provinces/territories under the umbrella of the Canada Health Act is not meeting the needs of children and youth. Home care, long-term care, rehabilitation services, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, social work services, pharmacare, public health and primary health service delivery are all essential services for children and youth. Additionally, innovations such as tele-medicine are usually developed for the adult population and are not easily accessible for children and their families.

A multi-faceted, national public health strategy is needed to increase public understanding about the factors that influence individual and community health and well-being. The purpose of this strategy would be to broaden people’s understanding of health, provide accurate information about current and anticipated future expenditures, identify pressures and alternate solutions and build public support and political will. Under this strategy, successful preventative approaches could be featured, champions could speak out about the value of these approaches, and political leaders could help build bridges across sectors, especially between medical institutions and other community organizations committed to health and wellness.

Actions:
1. Allocate funding to promote and facilitate the development of integrated systems of health, education and social program services at the community level to allow children and families seamless, coordinated access.

2. Establish a protected, sustained, comprehensive, long-term budget targeted for universally accessible child and youth health care services and programs, to be provided to all regardless of family income, recognizing their unique developmental needs.

Climate Change and the Environment

Many factors determine whether a child is born healthy and stays healthy into adulthood. The environment is a critical factor that must be considered. Children’s developing physiological systems, particularly tissues, the central nervous system and organs, are very vulnerable to environmental toxicants. Children who live in poverty typically live in the most polluted parts of the community, thereby increasing their risk of exposure to environmental contaminants. Failure to address issues of environmental degradation, contamination, and toxic exposure as they relate to children will result in continually growing rates of childhood mortality and morbidity (asthma, poisonings, cancers, etc.) as well as the resulting long-term stress on the health care system. An environmental health strategy needs to be developed to expand environmental health clinics, children’s environmental health research, environmental health training for health professionals, primary prevention and surveillance. Fewer allergies and asthma cases, as well as better health and sleep would decrease health costs down the line.

The government should be commended for the considerable commitment made in the 2002 Speech from the Throne to improve the environments where children live, learn and play through the reintroduction of pesticide legislation, a commitment to accelerate the clean-up of federal contaminated sites, the development of improved air and water quality guidelines (including improved Air Quality Index) and the introduction of a new strategy for a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible transportation system.

The National Children’s Alliance is concerned about the issue of children’s environmental health based on emerging data indicating increasing levels of respiratory illness and learning disabilities. Also regulatory processes need to recognize the special vulnerability of children to ensure there are no adverse effects on child and youth health. In addition, funds are required to protect children from the effects of climate changes ie. poor air quality, severe weather, and heat stroke.

The ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change will go a long way to attaining these commitments; however sufficient funds need to be allocated for implementation and monitoring. The National Children’s Alliance strongly supports the ratification of Kyoto and recommends the federal government allocate funds for implementation and monitoring to ensure child and youth targets are developed and realized.

Actions:
1. Allocate resources to environmental health research by implementing longitudinal studies on children and youth.

2. Ratify the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change and allocate designated funds for monitoring the effects of climate change on health outcomes of children and youth.

Language and Support Services for Immigrant and Refugee Children

The 2002 Speech from the Throne highlighted the introduction of targeted measures to help children of recent immigrants to learn French and English, to help them realize the opportunities that brought their parents to this country. The National Children’s Alliance would like to commend the federal government for making this commitment and recommends expanding the commitment to needed support services.

Action:
Allocate sufficient funds for the implementation of an action plan on official languages and needed support services that will focus on minority-language and second-language education, including the goal of doubling the number of high school graduates with a working knowledge of both English and French within ten years.

Accountability to Canadians and the World

Over the past 13 years, Canada has committed to the following national and international agreements that have an enormous impact on the lives of children, youth and their families:

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
• National Children's Agenda (1997)
• Social Union Framework Agreement (1999)
• Early Childhood Development Agreement (2000)
• United Nations document 'A World Fit For Children' (2002).

Without a doubt, these agreements clearly show that Canada is committed to children but the promises brought forward in these agreements need to be coordinated if they are to have any immediate or long-term impact. Coordination of the commitments made in each of these agreements will ensure that the overall direction toward improving the lives of children, youth and families is advanced to achieve mutual objectives.

Successful implementation of the National Children’s Agenda will be dependent upon a vibrant third sector to collaborate in the planning, implementation and evaluation phases. The voluntary / NGO sector's role in national information sharing is crucial for dissemination of best practices in program delivery and evaluation.

As we implement the National Children’s Agenda, it is critical that evaluation mechanisms are considered. In the collaboration among governments and the voluntary sector to deliver community services and supports, national research and reporting is needed to monitor what makes a difference in the lives of children, youth and families. As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and through the recent commitment to develop a National Plan of Action, Canada also has an international obligation to monitor the health and well-being of children.

The National Children’s Alliance recommends the development and implementation of a sustainable long-term national strategy to monitor the health and well-being of Canada’s children and youth in collaboration with the voluntary / NGO sector. This strategy needs to include a national research agenda, coordinated data collection systems and a national mechanism for reporting. This comprehensive approach would integrate current federal initiatives such as the Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECDI) and the Social Union Framework Agreement.

The development of an independent third party monitoring process, which includes the voluntary / NGO sector, should be considered an essential part of the national strategy.

Actions:
1. Based on the commitment Canada made to develop a National Plan of Action at the United Nations Special Session on Children (May 2002), allocate resources dedicated to community consultations and the integration of the commitments agreed upon in the: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1991); Social Union Framework Agreement (1999); National Children’s Agenda (1997); Early Childhood Development Agreement (2000); and, United Nations “A World Fit for Children” (2002).

2. Allocate funding for the third party monitoring of agreements, in particular the National Children’s Agenda, the ECD Agreement and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in the context of the health and well-being of Canada’s children and youth.

Conclusion

In the past few years, governments have clearly illustrated their collective commitment to improving policy and programs for children and youth through the National Children’s Agenda, Early Childhood Development Agreement and other initiatives. However, there is much more work to be done.

This brief outlines important steps to make Canada a better place for children, youth and their families. The focus on Sustainable Families, Healthy Children, Youth and Families and Accountability to Canada and the World captures important areas of concern for Canadian children, youth and their families.

These recommendations, based on the commitments made in the 2002 Speech from the Throne, respond to a social agenda that, if enacted, will also produce substantial, positive economic benefits for all Canadians.

The voluntary / NGO sector has always played a role in making Canada a better place to live. Today, this sector is ready to participate with governments in all aspects of the delivery of services and programs to those in need.

We now hope that the federal government will seize the opportunity to provide immediate leadership in the development and implementation of the recommendations presented in this brief. It is time to translate good intentions into action. The children of Canada deserve no less.

Notes

¹ Tipper, J. & Avard, D., 1999. Building Better Outcomes for Canada’s Children. Discussion Paper No F|06. Canadian Policy Research Networks Inc., Ottawa