Two New Brunswick organizations are welcoming a report examining social program failures in the province.
The child, youth and seniors’ advocate pointed to five central governance flaws stemming back to the 1990s and how they keep defeating social programs.
Kelly Lamrock said the province must change how it manages social programs or risk their collapse all at once.
“Many New Brunswickers rightly wonder why a number of social services are breaking down at once,” Lamrock said Monday.
“It is not a coincidence. It is because the government is organized at its centre to defeat good people working on how it delivers social programs.”
Randy Hatfield, executive director of the Saint John-based Human Development Council, said he thinks Lamrock “nailed it” with his report.
Hatfield said the provincial watchdog spoke in language that was “blunt but informed.”
“I don’t think any of the findings were particularly new or profound, but they were woven together in a way that I think paints a very compelling recommendation for change.”
Ken Pike, the director of social policy at Inclusion NB, agreed. He said the issues raised by Lamrock have been problems for many years.
“It’s not as if government is not trying to solve problems, but I think what’s needed is a more coordinated and thoughtful process around social policy,” said Pike.
Both Pike and Hatfield said they hope this report will be a catalyst for change in how social programs are managed at the provincial level.
“I think what Mr. Lamrock’s report does for us is point out systematically where some of the problems are and how we can fix them,” said Pike.
“My shelf groans with reports … but this is a very strong document,” Hatfield added.
The new report stems from the advocate’s review of the long-term care system, which is due to be released Wednesday.
Lamrock said it became clear that some of the problems in long-term care are due to a “general breakdown” in governance and social services across multiple departments.
