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THE FREE PRESS ISSUES JANUARY 21, 2001
B.C. hires adviser on children’s health
                   /wms will be early childhood education and prevention
                                                       The children come into care for a reason, probably nine times out of 10 those reasons have to do with parenting that child has or receives.
                                                                                                                               Ed John
   When it comes to early childhood development, a dollar saved is $10 earned.
   That’s the philosophy behind the hiring of Dr. Fraser Mustard, the province’s new children’s health and development advisor.
   Children and Families Minister Ed John confirmed today the ministry has hired the internationally known health and policy expert for $50,000.
   Dr. Mustard starts work immediately and will develop a early-childhood development policy for province, eventually setting up intervention centres across the province from his office in Victoria.
   It’s not known how much the centres will cost or how soon we can expect to see one in Prince George, but if it’s up to Mr. John, the sooner the better.
   “I would like it sooner rather than later. I would like to see centres in every community. Every rural community, every urban community, every remote
community, every reserve that they have these centres, I mean that's my dream.”
   A proposal to pay for the new program is currently in front of the province’s treasury board and cabinet, before the model, already in use by the World Bank will be a reality. Mr. John indicated local centres would be paid for by a private/public funding arrangement.
   The model would target parents from the time they are pregnant to the time that their children go to school, eventually refocusing some of the ministry’s aftercare and protection work into prevention services. The immediate focus would be high risk parents, but the program would be accessible to all. That way the ministry can begin to address issues such as fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effected children.
   Where it has been incorporated in other parts of the world, the model is equipped “community score cards” or measurement tools to ensure the program is working properly. “In places
where the model has been built, organizers have seen a measurable change in children’s health and development within three years,” says Dr. Mustard.
   While Mr. John did not acknowledge the announcement reflects a specific lack of services now offered by the ministry, he did say the model, once enacted, will go a long way to solving some of the ministry workload.
   “We’ve known about this for a long time. It’s an area that in long term we need to try to make a difference because we don’t seem to get on top of the problems that continually crop up,” he says. “...The children come into care for a reason, probably nine times out of 10 those reasons have to do with parenting that child has or receives."
   Mr. John says the model is not intended to study the issues, rather it would be activated as soon as funding became available. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh and Mr. John are expected to make a separate funding announce-
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