Advocacy
Lower Mainland - Vancouver Coastal Health - www.vch.ca/public/Advocacy.htm
As part of a commitment to healthy lives in healthy communities, VCH works with partners across the region to articulate positions on various public and population health issues. Below, is a list of current and previous advocacy ECD and population health initiatives.
Ministry of Education - Early Childhood Learning Agency - Expanding Early Learning in British Columbia - Consultation Response
Federal Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth - Support for Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, Community Action Program for Children and Aboriginal Head Start
Senate Subcommittee on Population Health - Vancouver Coastal Health Population Health - Feedback to the Senate Subcommittee on Population Health
Building Child Friendly Communities Report 2007 (PDF), Marcela Mancilla-Fueller
This report addresses gaps, needs and barriers to Early Childhood Development (ECD) services in Vancouver. Successful ECD programs are also identified to recognize the strengths that currently exist in the sector.
Access Strategies, Parent Peer Evaluation, July 2007 (PDF), Sanja Sladojevic
This community-based evaluation, interviewed parents to gather information related to ECD programs and services.
Children and Youth:
Strong, Safe and Supported: A Commitment to BC’s Children and Youth (PDF), Ministry for Children and Families
A commitment to enhance co-ordination and collaboration cross-Ministry’s to improve outcomes for BC’s children and youth. A framework is to follow, see “Vancouver Coastal Early Years Framework” below.
Population Health:
Reducing Health Disparities in Vancouver Coastal Health Communities: Population Health Priorities (PDF), Vancouver Coastal Health Population Health Report, 2008
Although, as a whole, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is one of the healthiest regions in Canada, this isn’t true for everyone.Within VCH, there are some populations that have significantly worse health outcomes than others. The health status of a community is determined by such factors as the social, economic and physical environments in which we live, personal health practices, nutrition and physical activity levels, development during early childhood, and access to quality health services. These factors are often referred to as the social determinants of health and are the basis for a population health approach. VCH is committed to addressing the social determinants of health by providing its staff and the public with key population health data including information on disparities in health outcomes and opportunities for addressing these differences.
Strategic Action Frameworks:
Windows Plan: Defining Our Commitment to Early Childhood Development Strategic Directions 2008-2011 (PDF) The Windows Management Committee commissioned the development of a strategic plan covering a three to five year period, in order to respond strategically to the current landscape as well as proactively shape their future directions from a community perspective. Two previous reports, the “Access Strategies” and “Building ChildFriendly Communities” were included in this process.
Vancouver Coastal Region Early Years Framework 2009 (PDF)
The development of this framework was initiated by Vancouver Coastal Region, and the Ministry of Children and Family Development, in recognition of the need to ensure a common vision, mission, principles and roles for its Early Years partners. The partners agree that, where appropriate and subject to an ability to do so, we will pool our resources to enhance opportunities for collaborative, integrated approaches to serving young children and families. Resources may include joint funding, common policy development and in-kind support.
Vancouver Coastal Region Early Years Work Plan September 2009-March 2010 (PDF), Vancouver Coastal Health, Ministry for Children and Families, The United Way of the Lower Mainland.
The next phase of the Vancouver Coastal Region’s work is this action plan to integrate the above framework’s vision, mission and goals within their respective organizations. There will be a working group committee that will also lead a process to identify regional priorities and will work to address these priorities via regional strategies
Children and Youth with Special Needs: A Framework for Action (PDF), Ministry of Health Services, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Children and Families,2008
The CYSN Framework for Action includes a set of values and strategies to guide collaborative work among health, education and social service sectors in the creation of an integrated, accessible continuum of quality services for children and youth with special needs and their families.
15 By 15: A Comprehensive Policy Framework for Early Human Capital Investment in BC (PDF), Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) BC, August 2009
The early development research is now so compelling that there is a growing consensus among economists, such as Nobel Laureate James Heckman, that the most cost-effective human capital interventions occur among young children. Heckman (2008) concludes that “a major refocus of policy is required to capitalize on knowledge about the life cycle of skill and health formation and the importance of the early years in creating inequality in America and in producing skills for the workforce.”