{"id":7,"date":"2021-10-28T16:16:48","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/accessiblebcactstandards\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-06-16T09:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:28:10","slug":"background","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/background\/","title":{"rendered":"Background"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-engagement-container\"><div class=\"engagement-page\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-engagement-content\"><bcgov-breadcrumb>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\">Home<\/a>\n                          <span>\n        Background\n  <\/span>\n  <div style=\"display: flex\" slot=\"breadcrumb-extra\">\n      <\/div>\n  <\/bcgov-breadcrumb>\n\n\n<h1 class=\"bcgov-engagement-header \">Background<\/h1>\n<p>The B.C. government is working together to improve outcomes for children and youth across the province through the Child and Youth Well-Being Action Plan and Outcomes Framework. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Action Plan is a 5-year plan that brings together work across government to improve how children, youth, and families are supported \u2013 especially through prevention, early support, and better coordination between services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Outcomes Framework helps government know if those actions are making a difference. It sets the shared results government is working toward and how progress will be tracked and reported. It describes what well-being looks like, how we measure it, and what shapes it\u2014so government can focus on what matters most.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The commitment to this work began after the Representative for Children and Youth\u2019s investigation into the tragic death of \u201cColby,\u201d a young First Nations boy, and the release of their report <a href=\"https:\/\/rcybc.ca\/reports\/dont-look-away\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cDon\u2019t Look Away: How One Boy\u2019s Story Has the Power to Shift a System of Care for Children and Youth<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Action Plan Priority Areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Action Plan includes five priority areas that bring together related actions and priorities to guide how we improve outcomes for children, youth, and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Priority Area 1&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;A Safe, Strong, and Healthy Foundation for Families:<\/strong>&nbsp;This priority area focuses on ensuring families have the essentials &nbsp;they need to support their children and youth, including food, housing, child care, and a stable income. It also emphasizes early access to supports such as mental health and substance use services. The goal is to help children grow up safe, healthy, and well supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Priority Area <\/strong>2&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Preventing and Responding to Intimate Partner, Gender-Based, and Family Violence:<\/strong>&nbsp;This priority area focuses on improving safety and support for people and families affected by violence. It includes strengthening laws to protect survivors and holding people who cause harm accountable. It also expands access to services such as safe housing and counselling, and promotes prevention through education and early intervention. The aim is to break cycles of violence, support healing, and build safer communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Priority Area <\/strong>3&nbsp;&#8211;<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Integrated Services and Crisis Response:<\/strong>&nbsp;The goal of this&nbsp;priority area is&nbsp;to make&nbsp;services work better together for children and families. It focuses on improving how systems like education, health, social services, and justice share information and work as one. The goal is to create a smooth, connected system so families can get the help they need without gaps or confusion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Priority Area <\/strong>4&nbsp;&#8211;<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Advancing Indigenous Self-Determination and\u202fJurisdiction:<\/strong>\u202fThis priority area is about supporting Indigenous communities to make their own decisions about caring for their children and youth. It focuses on keeping Indigenous children connected to their families, cultures, and communities. It also aims to reduce the number of Indigenous children in government care, improve how different systems work together, and support justice programs led by Indigenous communities that promote safety and healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Priority Area <\/strong>5&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Protecting and Uplifting the Most Vulnerable:&nbsp;<\/strong>This priority area focuses on ensuring children and youth\u202fwho cannot remain safely at home&nbsp;experience belonging, stability, and opportunity. It includes supporting families to stay together whenever possible and helping children to return home safely. It also works to better support youth leaving care to become more independent. The goal is to make sure all children and youth in both in-care and out-of-care (kinship) placements receive&nbsp;good-quality&nbsp;care.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Outcomes Framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Child and Youth Well-Being Plan and Outcomes Framework is a long-term effort by all of government to create the conditions for children and youth in British Columbia to grow up with good health and a strong sense of well-being. While people understand well-being in different ways, this plan focuses on four connected areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Material well-being<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Having reliable access to basic needs like food, clothing, and safe housing.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Physical health<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Having good overall health&nbsp;and development.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Social, emotional, and cultural well-being<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Feeling a&nbsp;sense of belonging and connection to family, community, culture, language, and&nbsp;land; and&nbsp;having good&nbsp;mental and emotional&nbsp;health.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cognitive development and life preparedness<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Developing the&nbsp;skills&nbsp;needed for learning and life.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Outcomes Framework turns these broad areas into shared outcomes and measures to track progress over time. It helps government focus on what matters most and where efforts can make the biggest difference. Together, the Action Plan and the Outcomes Framework are designed to put us on a path toward improving outcomes for all, while focusing our attention and resources on children, youth, and families facing the greatest barriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scope of this engagement intends to share information with the public about government\u2019s work on the Child and Youth Well-Being Action Plan and Outcomes Framework, and to learn about people\u2019s experiences using different support systems in order to improve them. This project will not be looking at new planning or financial commitments or redesigning the plan at this time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-engagement-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-engagement-call-to-actions undefined cta-left-image is-style-dark\"><div class=\"call-to-action-content\"><span class=\"status-text\">Status:<span class=\"status-bubble status-text-open\">Open<\/span><\/span><h3 class=\"call-to-action-title\">Download and read the documents<br><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/app\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/06\/CYWB-Action-Plan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Child and Youth Well-Being Action Plan (PDF, 8 MB)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/app\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2026\/06\/CYWB-Outcomes-Framework.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Child and Youth Outcomes Framework (PDF, 3.5 MB<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The B.C. government is working together to improve outcomes for children and youth across the province through the Child and Youth Well-Being Action Plan and Outcomes Framework. The commitment to this work began after the Representative for Children and Youth\u2019s investigation into the tragic death of \u201cColby,\u201d a young First Nations boy, and the release &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/background\/\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" >Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"lang":false,"translations":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1991,"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions\/1991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engage.gov.bc.ca\/childyouthwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}