[news] Social workers blast ministry cuts

[resist]

vancouver.cbc.ca 

VICTORIA - The B.C. Association of Social Workers says government
layoffs in the Ministry of Child and Family Development announced
Tuesday are short-sighted and poorly researched.

It is particularly concerned about cuts made on Vancouver Island.

The government said it will lay off ministry 183 workers. Another 339
more have taken early retirement or severance packages.

In Victoria, more than 90 positions have been eliminated from the
ministry's head office, with another 100 others opting either for early
retirement or a buy-out.

But the real concern for the association is the impact caused by laying
off 23 frontline social workers and their managers on Vancouver Island.

Linda Korbin, the association's executive directory, calls the cuts
arbitrary.

"When the cuts were made, they were not done with sound research," she
said.

"Nobody has gone in and said 'what are the community needs? what are the
proper standards for social workers, what are we trying to achieve
here?'"

Jane Cowell, acting CEO for the ministry on Vancouver Island, said the
cuts designed to keep as many frontline workers as possible. She expects
some positions will be saved.

We have some vacancies up and down the island, so we'll be moving to
solidify vacancies, to look to wherever we can to reassign people and
the hope is we are going to minimize the impact on the front line."

Cowell said the final numbers will be known in three months, but Korbin
believes the cuts will reduce services and programs to children in need.