Keeping Children Safe: The Law in BC

In BC, a law called the Child, Family and Community Service Act protects children. This law includes these principles (rules) to keep children safe and well cared for:

Children have a right to be protected from abuse, neglect, and harm or threat of harm.
The best place for children to live is usually with their families.
Parents are mainly responsible for protecting their children.
If parents need help to care for their children, the social worker should tell them of available support services and provide these support services.
Children’s opinions should be taken into account when people or agencies are making decisions about them.
Children’s ties to family, including to the extended family, should be kept, if possible.
Decisions about children’s care should be made and acted on as quickly as possible.
Indigenous families and Indigenous communities share responsibility for the upbringing and well-being of Indigenous children.
Indigenous children should stay in their cultural communities, if possible.
Indigenous children should have the opportunity to learn about and practise their Indigenous traditions, cultures, and languages, and belong to their community.

A new federal law, called An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, came into effect in January 2020. Its key elements include:

Indigenous peoples have the right to self-govern and have jurisdiction in child protection matters involving Indigenous children and families.
Indigenous communities and Nations must be involved in child protection matters involving Indigenous children and families.

ShelleyJohnstone Tue, 04/16/2024 - 14:28

What parents must do

In BC, a child is anyone younger than 19. A parent is a person responsible for a child’s care. They could be a child’s mother or father, a person given custody or guardianship of a child by court order or agreement, a relative or friend the child lives with, or an appointed guardian. The law says parents must:

keep their children safe;
take care of their children’s physical and emotional needs;
get medical care for their children; and
protect their children from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

The law also says parents must not neglect their children.

What’s abuse?

Child abuse includes physical harm, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.

Physical abuse can be shaking, punching, or hitting a child. Any action that hurts a child or leaves a mark can be abuse. It also includes punishments such as locking a child in a room without food, water, or a toilet for a long time.
Sexual abuse is anything sexual that happens between a child and an adult — or a much older child. It also includes when an adult threatens to have sex with a child. You can’t take sexual photographs or videos of a child. You can’t force or permit a child to watch pornography (movies or photographs about sex) or watch actual people having sex. It’s also illegal to let people have sex with a child.
Emotional abuse is when parents hurt a child by often ignoring, criticizing, or yelling at them. Such abuse can make children feel very sad, nervous, and alone, or even make them want to hurt themselves. Sometimes, children live in a home where they aren’t physically hurt, but their parents hurt each other. This can also make children feel afraid, which could be emotional abuse.

If you experience family violence, you can get help from VictimLinkBC. See also Live Safe, End Abuse.

If the social worker believes you can’t protect or aren’t willing to protect your child from being abused or witnessing abuse, they can remove your child from your home and your care.

What’s neglect?

Neglect is when parents don’t give their child enough food, clothes, or medical care, or if a child doesn’t have a safe place to live. Other examples of neglect are when parents are drunk and drive with their child, or when they leave their child with someone who’s drunk or drugged, or let their child use drugs or alcohol. Neglect can also be when they leave their young child alone at home or in a car.

The law doesn’t say exactly how old a child must be to stay alone. But the court has said a child eight years old is too young to be left home alone. In general, young children shouldn’t be left alone. If your child is between 10 and 12 years old, think about these things when you decide if you can leave your child alone:

How mature is your child?
Where will your child be?
Are responsible adults nearby if your child needs help?
How much does your child have to do (for example, cook or care for others)?
Does your child know what to do in an emergency?
What time of day will your child be alone, and for how long?

If you decide to leave your children alone, make sure they can contact you right away if necessary. Give them a phone number where they can call you.

ShelleyJohnstone Wed, 05/01/2024 - 15:45

Duty to report child abuse

The law in BC says anyone who believes a child has been abused or neglected, or is likely to be abused or neglected, must report it to the ministry or a delegated Aboriginal agency. There are serious penalties for people who know about abuse but don’t report it. This includes everyone who knows a child.

Sometimes people make false reports (lie) about abuse or neglect. The social worker thinks about that when looking into a report. They should look at all available information and decide whether someone has made a false report.

If you believe someone made a false report, you should tell the social worker. If the social worker refuses to investigate your concern about a false report, don’t argue. Get advice from an advocate or lawyer as soon as possible about how to make a record of your concern and the social worker’s response to you. See also Legal Help.

Social workers can’t tell anyone the name of someone who reports child abuse. This is so people won’t be afraid to report child abuse when they think a child is being harmed in some way.

ShelleyJohnstone Wed, 05/01/2024 - 15:55

Who investigates

Social workers investigate complaints of child abuse or neglect.

Some Indigenous communities have delegated Aboriginal agencies. They work only with Indigenous families, and may investigate reports of abuse.

The ministry also has staff who work to help Indigenous families. If you want your community involved in the investigation, this staff can help you.

If a child’s safety is at risk, the ministry or delegated Aboriginal agency must:

try to work with the parent to make sure the child is no longer at risk, or
remove the child from their home, and
protect the child’s Indigenous cultural ties and identity when making plans for the child’s care.

ShelleyJohnstone Wed, 05/01/2024 - 15:57

Where to get legal help

If you’re dealing with child protection issues, you have the right to get legal advice.

If your income is below a certain amount, you may be able to get a free lawyer from Legal Aid BC to work on your case.
Legal Aid BC’s Parents Legal Centres help parents resolve child protection concerns at the early stages of their child protection matter through collaboration. You have to meet certain requirements to qualify for the services. If you don’t qualify, they may be able to provide some limited help such as family duty counsel.
If you’re an Indigenous parent, ask for a band or community representative to support you, during the investigation and in court.
If you need a lawyer right away and you don’t have one, you can get free legal help from family duty counsel at a courthouse.
An advocate may also be able to help you. An advocate can explain the legal process to you and may help you present your point of view to the director.

ShelleyJohnstone Wed, 05/01/2024 - 15:59