BC Council for Families

For immediate release
October 18, 2011

Creating Brighter Futures for BC Families

Vancouver, BC – Finding new approaches and fresh solutions to the challenges facing BC’s families – those are the ambitious goals of parent educators and family service workers from around the province gathering on Friday in Vancouver for the BC Council for Families’  “Healthy Families, Brighter Futures” conference.

Keynote speaker Dr. Paul Kershaw of the Human Early Learning Partnership will be bringing his New Deal for Families to conference attendees, arguing that it’s time to put the family back into Canadian values.  Kershaw is calling for broad policy changes to even the generational divide in Canada and he’ll detail the situation for families in BC as recently unveiled in the British Columbia Family Policy Report card, released this week.

The annual Healthy Families conference, hosted by the BC Council for Families, brings together educators, child care staff, family service workers, home visitors, family advocates and academics from around the province. Among the speakers addressing this year’s conference are:

• John Hoffman, columnist with Today’s Parent magazine and fathering advocate and researcher.  Never one to avoid controversy, Hoffman will examine whether parents today are getting too much information and too little support.
• Wilma Clark, Executive Director of Advocacy, Aboriginal and Community Relations for the Representative of Children and Youth, who will discuss her office’s efforts to reach out to vulnerable populations of youth in BC.

“This conference is an great opportunity to open discussion about the growing range of social issues facing parents in BC.  What are the social supports that are needed to help today’s families to accomplish their goals and build a brighter future for themselves and their children?  It’s a tremendously important question, and it’s clear that we need to start addressing the challenges that families are facing,” said Jennifer Dales, one of the conference organizers and Director of Programs at the BC Council for Families.

For further information:  Marilee Peters, marileep@bccf.ca (604) 678-8884.

Background
The BC Council for Families is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that is a leader in family life education, committed to strengthening families and family-serving professionals in BC. We provide research and resources on family issues, and training and professional development for professionals who work with families in community settings all across BC. Our award-winning, research-based parenting programs include Nobody’s Perfect Parenting, My Tween and Me, and Parent-Child Mother Goose.