Nova Scotia child law amendments come into effect today

Changes to the Children and Family Services Act will allow Nova Scotiato help families before they need to have their children taken away, the minister of Community Services says.

JoanneBernard told CBC's Information Morning Cape Bretonthat amendments going into effect today will allow for more intervention.

• Nova Scotia child law amendments spark concern

"We shouldn't wait until families are in crisis or a child is harmed before they can access services," she said.

The act, which wasdrafted in 1991, has undergone 89 amendments that were passed in December 2015 and proclaimed late last year.

Closing gap for older teens

The changes to the act outlined in a provincialnews release include:

• Broadening the definition of a child in need of protective services.
• Addressing the gap in the protection of youth by providing services for 16-18 year olds.
• Defining the duty of people to report abuse or risk of abuse.

Some lawyers and at least one anti-poverty group have said the changes will make it easier for the province to seize kids, but Bernard insists the results will be exactly the opposite, keeping families together and reuniting ones that have been separated.

"There wasn't always the capacity within the act to serve to the best of our ability, to help families in reunification and to make sure that the best interests of the child were always paramount," she said.

She responded to a question about whether the province might be too interventionist by saying there are always checks and balances and, "We have to remember we have an obligation to protect children in this province."

'We were losing kids'

Among the changes Bernard is happiest about is theextension of services to those between 16 and 18 years old, if they want it. Previously, services such as counselling and educational supports stopped at 16. She said that meant more kids ending up in court, in mental-health facilities or with addictions.

• Kids in provincial care staying longer in hotels and other 'last resort' places

"We were losing kids in that two years," she said. "And if you lose them in that two years chances are you're not going to get them back as adults."

Bernard, who before politics wasthe executive director of a housing organization that helped women and children fleeing domestic violence, notedthe Liberal government invested about $2 million to create the family-preservation Families Plus program in 2015, and increased the number of Parenting Journey in-home family support programs from 12 to 27.

No training yet, foster parent says

Long-time children'sadvocate and foster parent Delores Feltmate, who has been following the legislative trail on this for years, said she supports the changes but hasn't seen any concrete action yet.

Staff at Child Welfare Services have not been given all the training yet to provide services, she said.

"The new legislation is still not being practically applied," said Feltmate, adding that she hopes that will happen "sooner rather than later."