The numbers are concerning.
As of December 31, 2018, there were 514 children in care in North Central BC according to the Ministry of Children and Families statistics. Of those, 423 were Indigenous.
“The PLC is our response to the crisis levels of children in care in BC, particularly Indigenous children. Prince George was identified as a location where we could potentially make an impact, by assisting parents in finding ways to keep their families together, whenever possible,” said Gail Murray, vice president of Indigenous Services at the Legal Services Society (LSS), which provides legal aid services in BC and runs the centre.
Through the various locations of the PLC’s within the province, lawyer services are provided, which include legal advice and representation at court, mediation and other collaborative meetings. The centre’s Aboriginal community legal worker advocates on the parents’ behalf, supporting them throughout the process, providing information, and connecting them to other services such as counselling, addictions treatment or for housing.
The services are available to anyone who is eligible but focusses on Indigenous communities because of the children in care here in the province, 63 per cent are Indigenous.
“The way the Parents Legal Centre tries to address the gross over-representation of Indigenous children in care is to ensure that the parents are engaging early enough in their child-protection process to ensure that they understand their rights and responsibilities, they have strong advocacy, that it is quickly identified by our team the needs of the parents to ensure that they are receiving the wraparound supports to address the underlying child protection issues,” Murray told MyPGNow.
The Prince George PLC is part of an expansion project that was first tested in Vancouver and Surrey. In addition to Prince George, LSS recently opened PLCs in Campbell River, Duncan, Kamloops, Smithers, Victoria, Williams Lake and Terrace.
PLCs are run by the Legal Services Society and funded by the Ministry of Attorney General.
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