To the Honourable the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, in Legislature Assembled:

The petition of the undersigned, Support group for Starbright Children’s Development Center, of the Central Okanagan, states that:

The Province of BC has awarded the contract for one of four pilot Family Connection Centres to Arc Programs Ltd on January 05, 2023. One of those pilot sites is the Central Okanagan. MCFD has chosen not to renew the funding of Starbright as of June 30, 2023, a not-for-profit organization that has been serving families with children with higher needs in the Okanagan for over 50 years, and instead redirect its funding to a new concept yet unproven.

Currently Starbright provides services to approximately 1000 children per year of varying abilities and needs who are from ages 0-6. Just under 60 specialized professionals are employed and have built trusted relationships with children, families, childcare settings, health care professionals, community agencies that also support preschool children and their families, and other professionals in the sector of childhood development. They provide services such as speech pathology, infant childhood development, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, clinical counselling and inclusive child care consultants and educators (supported childhood development) who help children with complex needs, integrate into community childcare settings.

Starbright is a one-stop-shop-a long established hub- in supporting vulnerable children and their families. By abruptly cutting the funding to this organization without cautiously determining whether the hub model for K-19 children and youth will indeed work, major disruption to the hard-fought development of our children with the most complex needs will occur. It will compromise the stability of families, many who are already dealing with crushing diagnosis.

Your petitioners respectfully request that the Honourable House:

• To keep Starbright funded as the focus for children under 6 while the pilot program at ARC is established for children who have already made the transition to the school system and can be supported through the pilot, Family Connection Centre. 
• We ask that it be made public how the pilot project for children and youth K-19 is operating.
• We ask the MCFD to engage with parents and impacted professionals working in the childhood development sectors to seek their feedback on the implementation of the hub model.
•  We ask that there is a strategy that maintains current services while testing out a new concept so that the care and needs of children ahead of all else, are preserved.