The second and final part of a follow-up to a B.C. Representative for Children and Youth's report says the Children and Family Development Ministry's child welfare workforce is "undeniably in a state of crisis."

Representative Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth released the latest report Thursday (Feb. 6), titled "No Time to Wait 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ Part Two."

Charlesworth said that in order for children in care to get what they need from the Children and Family Development Ministry, the workforce 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ social workers 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ needs to be "strong, capable, well-supported, have reasonable workloads and have access to the supports that young people need."

But what the representative's office found through this work is that that is not the case. 

"I can feel quite confident now, with all of the work, that we are in a situation where things desperately need to be addressed."

The "No Time to Wait" reports follow Charlesworth's report in summer of 2024 that delved into the death of a child while in government care, while also looking at the ongoing issues with the child welfare system in B.C.

Part two was a further analysis of a large amount of workforce data collected by the Representative for Children and Youth, a review of previous reports, analysis of ministry documentation and an internal government-wide survey that included more than 700 Children and Family Development Ministry welfare workers.

In the report, about 80 per cent of social workers say they are unable to properly do their jobs because their caseloads are too high, while another 77 per cent say they don't have timely access to the range of family and community supports necessary to effectively meet the needs of their clients. Another 73 per cent say they are not provided with sufficient training to understand new policies and standards. 

A 2024 internal government survey found Children and Family Development Ministry staff as a whole had the lowest score 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ out of 29 government ministries and agencies 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ on workforce engagement measures. That survey also found that when child welfare social workers were selected out, they have even lower scores on 71 out of 73 measures. 

The report calls for improved training and professional development conducting a review of expanded educational credentials and onboarding for new social worker hires.

It also calls for better independent oversight in line with a nearly 30-year-old recommendation to develop and implement a plan to require all ministry child welfare workers to be registered with an independent professional regulatory body. 

Charlesworth said the ministry has done a survey and 79 per cent of the public wanted a registration of social workers, and 70 per cent of social workers also wanted that registration. She added, however, that not everyone has to have a bachelor's or master's in social work as "we have to respect that there are many people in child welfare work right now that have exceptional credentials and have come from other disciplines."

"We think for a number of reasons, it's time to put this one to rest and make it happen."

She added there would be one caveat: under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that a regulatory body would be left to Indigenous governing bodies to determine if that's something they want to pursue.