Organizations urge improved supports for children and youth with disabilities in B.C.

Four provincial organizations in British Columbia are calling on the provincial government to fulfill its promises to improve services for children and youth with disabilities, stating that tens of thousands of families are currently without adequate help.

The organizations—Inclusion BC, the BC Association for Child Development and Intervention, the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, and The Federation of Community Social Services of BC—released a joint statement in June 2025. They are advocating for a Provincial Disability Strategy developed in collaboration with people with disabilities, their families, and community organizations.

Key issues highlighted in the article include:

• Significant Gaps in Service: An estimated 55,000 to 83,000 children and youth with disabilities are not receiving the supports they need.

• Systemic Failures: Access to support is inconsistent, underfunded, and overly reliant on a formal diagnosis, often forcing families to reach a crisis point before receiving help.

• Poor Coordination and Long Waits: Services are fragmented across multiple government departments, causing confusion and long wait times. For example, as of March 2024, over 10,800 children were on waitlists for diagnostic assessments, with waits stretching up to 27 months in some areas.

• Stagnant Funding and Slow Reform: The groups link current problems to decades of underfunding and a slow pace of government reform, despite promises of transformation since 2018.

• Workforce Crisis: A shortage of qualified staff, therapists, and respite workers in the community social services sector significantly impacts service delivery.

• Barriers to Inclusion: Families face numerous barriers, including racism, ableism, poverty, and discrimination, with 81% of families surveyed finding the system difficult to navigate.

The organizations have outlined specific calls to action, including adopting a common definition of inclusion, ensuring clear government accountability, fairly funding Indigenous-led services, improving service coordination, expanding respite programs, and ensuring timely access to assessments, especially in rural and remote areas.