1995 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


HONOURABLE JOY MacPHAIL
MINISTER OF SOCIAL SERVICES

BILL 41 -- 1995

CHILD, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICE AMENDMENT ACT, 1995

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of the Child, Family and Community Service Act, S.B.C. 1994, c. 27, is amended in the definition of "parent" by repealing paragraph (d) and substituting the following:

(d) a person with whom a child resides and who stands in place of the child's mother or father .

2 Section 2 is amended by striking out everything before paragraph (a) and substituting "This Act must be interpreted and administered so that the safety and well-being of children are the paramount considerations and in accordance with the following principles:".

3 Section 6 (7) (b) is amended by striking out "under 5 years of age" and substituting "5 years of age or over but under 12 years of age".

4 Sections 7 (1), 8 (1) and 10 (1) are amended by striking out "The director" and substituting "A director".

5 Section 14 (1) is repealed and the following substituted:

(1) A person who has reason to believe that a child

(a) has been, or is likely to be, physically harmed, sexually abused or sexually exploited by a parent or other person, or

(b) needs protection under section 13 (1) (e) to (k)

must promptly report the matter to a director or a person designated by a director.

6 Section 27 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(6) Section 25 (4) and (5) applies to the child while in the charge of the director.

7 Section 29 (1) and (3) is amended by striking out "essential" and substituting "necessary".

8 Section 41 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(1.1) When an order is made under subsection (1) (b) or (c), the court may order that on the expiry of the order under subsection (1) (b) or (c) the child

(a) be returned to the parent, and

(b) be under the director's supervision for a specified period of up to 6 months.

9 Section 41 (2) (b) and (c) is repealed and the following substituted:

(b) a parent is unable or unwilling to resume custody of the child, or

(c) the nature and extent of the harm the child has suffered or the likelihood that the child will suffer harm is such that there is little prospect it would be in the child's best interests to be returned to the parent.

10 Section 45 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(1.1) On application the court may extend, by a specified period, a time limit in subsection (1) if the court considers it in the child's best interests to do so.

11 Section 49 (4) (b) is repealed and the following substituted:

(b) a parent is unable or unwilling to resume custody of the child.

12 Section 54 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(d) the director.

13 Section 61 (2) is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) This section does not operate to extend a limit set by section 45 (1) or by an order under section 45 (1.1) respecting the total period during which the child may be in the temporary custody of the director or another person.

14 Section 64 (1) and (3) is repealed and the following substituted:

(1) If requested, a party to a proceeding under this Part, including a director, must disclose fully and in a timely manner to another party to the proceeding

(a) the orders the party intends to request,

(b) the reasons for requesting those orders, and

(c) the party's intended evidence.

(3) Evidence may be excluded from a hearing under this Part if no reasonable effort was made to disclose the evidence in accordance with this section.

15 Section 93 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(3) A director must, in accordance with the regulations,

(a) establish a procedure for reviewing the exercise of the director's powers, duties and functions under this Act, and

(b) ensure that information about the review procedure is available to any person on request.

16 Section 103 (2) is amended

(a) in paragraph (f) by striking out everything after "Part 3",

(b) in paragraph (n) by striking out "section 77 (5)" and substituting "section 76 (5)" , and

(c) by adding the following paragraph:

(p.1) governing reviews under section 93 (3); .

17 Section 107 (2) is amended in the Table by striking out the first 3 items in the column headed "this Act" and substituting "35 (2) (c)", "35 (2) (c)" and "35 (2) (a)" in that order.

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 1] amends the definition of "parent" to prevent the use of the defined word in the body of the definition.

SECTION 2: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 2] clarifies that the safety and well-being of children are paramount considerations in the interpretation and administration of the Act.

SECTION 3: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 6 (7) (b)] corrects a transcription error which resulted in repetition of part of another section and therefore omitted one age category of children.

SECTION 4: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends sections 7 (1), 8 (1) and 10 (1)] changes "the director" to "a director" to accord with other sections of the Act.

SECTION 5: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 14 (1)] amends the reporting requirements of the Act to make explicit the duty to report physical harm, sexual abuse or exploitation inflicted on a child by any person, whether or not the person is the child's parent.

SECTION 6: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 27] clarifies that a director may authorize a health care provider to examine a child and consent to necessary health care for a child.

SECTION 7: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 29] changes the word "essential" to "necessary" for consistency with other provisions relating to health care of children.

SECTION 8: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 41] allows the director to obtain an order to supervise a parent's care of a child when the child is returned to the parent on the expiry of a temporary custody order and avoids the necessity of returning to court a second time to obtain such an order.

SECTION 9: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 41 (2)] clarifies the tests for a continuing custody order.

SECTION 10: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 45] retains maximum time limits for temporary custody orders, but provides an escape clause so that violation of maximum time limits due to court delays or court scheduling will not result in the court or the director losing jurisdiction.

SECTION 11: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 49] clarifies the test for a continuing custody order.

SECTION 12: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 54] ensures that the director will get notice of an application for cancellation of a continuing custody order.

SECTION 13: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 61] is consequential to the amendment to section 45 of the Act as enacted by this Bill.

SECTION 14: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 64]

SECTION 15: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 93] requires a director to establish an internal review process in accordance with the regulations and to make sure information about the review system is available.

SECTION 16: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 103]

SECTION 17: [Child, Family and Community Service Act, amends section 107] corrects references in a transitional provision.


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