Children, Youth and Families Advisory Committee

Terms of reference

Terms of reference approved by Council April 10, 2013: CYFAC Terms of Reference

Policy advice

The committee:

• Provides input to City Council and staff about issues of concern
• Considers any matters which may be referred to the committee by Council or staff and take under consideration matters proposed by the Vancouver Board of Education
• May take positions on policy initiatives from other levels of government within the mandate of the committee
• Act as a family court committee under the BC Provincial Court Act, Section 5 and/or a youth justice committee under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, Section 18.
  • Read the BC Provincial Court Act, Section 5
  • Read the Youth Criminal Justice Act, Section 18

Collaboration

The committee:

• Works co-operatively with other agencies whose activities affect constituent communities, including initiating and developing relevant projects
• Acts as a resource for staff doing public involvement processes and civic events

Awareness and outreach

The committee:

• Exchanges information with the constituent communities and the general public about relevant programs and issues of interest
• Engages in outreach to disseminate information and encourage participation from constituent communities

Planning and reporting

The committee:

• Produces an annual work plan with specific objectives by no later than April of each year, in consultation with Council and staff liaisons, for distribution to Council and civic departments for
  information
• Submits an annual report to Council describing its accomplishments for the year, including reference to each objective set out in the work plan and any arising issues to which the committee has responded

Time commitment

Regular meetings will last up to 2.5 hours. A minimum of 1 to 2 additional hours a month is spent on email and other correspondence, other meetings, networking, and promotion. Additional preparation time to review documents and participate in preparatory working sessions for all meetings is required.

Attendance requirement

Voting members must attend the orientation provided by staff for new members at the beginning of their term. Voting members may miss no more than one of the four regular meetings per year, and no more than four consecutive meetings (i.e., regular meetings and working sessions to which they have been assigned), without obtaining leave of absence from the committee. Membership will be terminated if any of these attendance requirements are breached.

Membership

Voting members

The CYFAC consists of 21 voting members (11 is quorum) representing the following three age groups, in equal thirds:

• 14 or younger at the beginning of their term
• Between 15 and 21 at the beginning of their term
• 22 or older at the beginning of their term

Skills and experience of interest to the Committee include:

• Members with experience in education, health, probation or welfare in accordance with the requirements of a family court committee stipulated in the British Columbia Provincial Court Act.
• Broad and adequate representation from Vancouver’s diverse communities, including but not necessarily and not limited to representation from:
  • Diverse Indigenous communities, age groups, abilities, ethno-cultural communities, genders, health statuses, lengths of residency, sexual orientations, socioeconomic circumstances;
  • Particular sectors, expertise and/or experiences on specific issues related to children, youth and families.

Committee members are selected through the City of Vancouver's Civic Committee public selection process.

The Committee Chair is selected by the members at the first meeting for the Council term of the Committee.

Committee members appointed in 2015 will serve until February 28, 2017.

Members must reapply to be reappointed.

Non-voting members

The committee will have a non-voting City Councilor appointed as Liaison and a resource person. The Park Board and Board of Education will also be invited to appoint a non-voting commissioner liaison and trustee liaison respectively to serve as resource persons.

Non-voting staff liaisons from the City, Park Board, Public Library, and Police Department will serve as resource persons.

The Vancouver Board of Education, Vancouver Coastal Health, and the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development will also be invited to appoint non-voting staff liaisons. Additional non-voting staff liaisons from other agencies may also be appointed.

Additional non-voting members may be appointed without remuneration to working groups by voting members of that working group.

Please note that successful applicants 18 years of age or older must submit a valid criminal record check to the City before assuming membership.

Members

Following the recent municipal election on October 20, 2018, this advisory committee term has ended. The current Council will decide on the establishment of advisory committees. Once Council has established advisory committees, volunteer opportunities will be posted on the City's vacancies webpage.

Liaisons

• City Council Liaison
• City Council Liaison
• Park Board Liaison
• School Board Liaison
• City Staff: Gillian Guilmant-Smith, Head, Children's Library, Vancouver Public Library
• Park Board Staff: Erica Mark, Recreation Services Coordinator, Youth Development

In addition to the regular meetings listed here, the Committee also meets several times per year for informal working sessions. These are private meetings. Please contact the Meeting Coordinator for more information.

2018 meetings, agendas, and minutes

2017 meetings, agendas, and minutes

2016 meetings, agendas, and minutes

The meetings listed below are open to the public.

2015 meetings, agendas, and minutes

The meetings listed below are open to the public.

2014 meetings, agendas, and minutes

2013 meetings, agendas, and minutes

2017 in Review

An overview of the committee's 2017 accomplishments and future goals as presented at the Council of Council's on October 12, 2017.

• View the poster  (31 kb)

2017-2018 Work Plan

The 2017-2018 Work Plan summarizes the high priority objectives for the committee term and establishes an action plan to achieve those objectives.

• View the Work Plan  (115 kb)

2016 in Review

An overview of the committee's 2016 accomplishments and future goals as presented at the Council of Council's on November 9, 2016.

• View the poster  (296 kb)

2012-2014 Term in Review

An overview of the committee's closing term accomplishments and recommendations for continuation of the work was presented at the Council of Council's December 2014.

• View the committee's presentation (932 kb)