Independent review ordered into Community Living B.C. after starvation death

The B.C. Crown corporation that oversees the care of developmentally disabled people will have its home-share program independently reviewed after an inquest into a starvation death earlier this year.

Florence Girard, a woman with Down syndrome, weighed about 50 pounds when she died in 2018 in the Port Coquitlam home of Astrid Dahl, a caregiver funded through Crown corporation Community Living B.C. (CLBC).

After the week-long inquest into Girard's death in January, a jury made 11 recommendations to CLBC, including better pay for front-line caregivers and changes to support family members of a vulnerable individual who want to care for their relative in their home. 

CLBC, the corporation that oversees the care of developmentally disabled people, was created in 2005. It is in charge of caring for 29,000 British Columbians with disabilities such as autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and Down syndrome.

Now, the province says it is commissioning an independent review of the organization's home-sharing program, to be conducted by contractor Tamar Consultancy.

"Although CLBC has made a lot of changes since 2018, we still hear about concerns," Poverty Reduction Minister Sheila Malcolmson told CBC News.

"And today we've launched a review of CLBC's home-sharing program to make sure that the changes [made] since 2018 are getting people the highest quality of service possible."

The province's statement says that it would create an advisory body made up of individuals, families and service providers to inform the review and give recommendations to the ministry. The review is expected to be finished in late September.

Malcolmson told CBC News that the independent review would cost the government $75,000, and said the government needed to know the home-sharing model was as strong as possible.

"We are really counting on home sharing. Four thousand families across B.C. open their homes to adults with developmental disabilities," she said. "The demand is growing.

"It's a model that holds so much promise for people that, at another time, would have been living in institutions."

In a news release, the CEO of CLBC's board welcomed the independent review.

"We want to do everything we can to make sure this model is as strong as it can be, because this is about keeping people safe, and we believe the number of people supported through the home-sharing model will grow considerably," Shane Simpson said.

In its statement, the province says that CLBC made a number of changes after Girard's death in 2018, including mandating home visits every three months and annual doctor visits.

WATCH | Down syndome advocate and Girard's sister call for changes:

Sister hopes for systemic change as inquest into death of Florence Girard begins

5 months ago

Duration 14:50

A coroners inquest into the death of a woman with Down syndrome in government-funded care began Monday. We'll hear from her sister, and an advocate about what they hope to see come out of the inquest.

Organization had faced calls for shakeup

Advocates and unions had called for a shakeup of CLBC after the inquest into Girard's death, including demands its board resign.

Tamara Taggart, the president of advocacy organization Down Syndrome B.C., said the province didn't need to hire a consultancy firm to make changes at CLBC, given the inquest's recommendations in January.

"I have no idea how much money this is costing, but whatever it is, it's too much because we know what the answers are," she told CBC News.

"To continue to consult and research and have some public consultations and interviews and all that sort of stuff ... I feel like I am in the movie Groundhog Day," Taggart added.

Taggart said that she was interested to see what happens with the review, but was critical of the government for hiring an external consultancy firm for the job.

In a statement sent to CBC News at the time, CLBC said that none of its current board members were on the board in 2018 and that by law, the board must include representation from people with developmental disabilities, family members of those who receive services funded by CLBC, and Indigenous people.

Following the Girard inquest, CLBC's CEO provided an "unreserved apology" to Girard's family, friends and loved ones and said the organization had failed the B.C. woman's family.

In a statement at the time, CLBC said it welcomed the inquest's recommendations and said it was committed to taking concrete actions to strengthen the delivery of home sharing services.

On The Coast11:35Down Syndrome B.C. calls for premier to remove board of Community Living B.C.

Tamara Taggart, the president of Down Syndrome B.C., talks to guest host Amy Bell about how the coroner's inquest into the death of Florence Girard showed the ineffectiveness of Community Living B.C.