Updates

School counsellors from across the province can register now to attend the British Columbia School Counsellors Association (BCSCA) Conference.

Taking place on Friday, October 23, this event brings together hundreds of certified school counsellors to connect with peers, discover new strategies and celebrate the impact of school counselling.

The conference offers interactive workshops on topics such as keeping kids safe online, supporting neurodivergent students, substance use prevention, grief, autism-affirming counselling and more. It also features keynote speakers, exhibitors and opportunities for networking.

You can learn more and register for the in-person and online streams on the conference website.

The Children’s Health Policy Centre has previously contributed to BC Counsellor, the BCSCA’s magazine. You can find our 2024 article, “The Payoffs from Prevention,” and other past issues of BC Counsellor in their online library.

A recent report by the Children’s Health Policy Centre found that Indigenous leadership is crucial for effective prenatal and early childhood programming in Indigenous communities.

The report looked at eight reviews of prenatal and early childhood programs developed by and within Indigenous communities in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. It aimed to identify the goals and important qualities of those programs.

The report found that Indigenous voices and community leadership were essential for success in all aspects of programming, from planning and development to implementation and evaluation.

Here are the report’s four recommendations for public policy:

• Make Indigenous children a leading public policy priority for BC and for Canada.
• Commit sufficient and sustained public resources to ensure high-quality programming.
• Ensure that all prenatal and early child health programming is led by Indigenous communities.
• Recognize that Indigenous children deserve public investments in programs with proven benefits, with evaluations including Indigenous perspectives on child flourishing.

These recommendations can inform new public investments ensuring that Indigenous communities have the resources they need to develop, adopt or adapt and evaluate programs that benefit children and families.

“We are shaping the future for all children, and therefore for the population, based on the public policies we invest in today. This future starts with supporting Indigenous children, families, and communities according to their needs — and celebrating their many strengths,” the report concluded.

To learn more, read the full report.

Most early childhood adversities are avoidable, and we know what to do to prevent them. That was the message shared by Centre Director Nicole Catherine in a keynote address at Fraser Health’s Annual Maternal-Child Health Education Day on June 17.

In her talk titled “Early Prevention and Child Health Equity,” Nicole emphasized that investing in effective, research-informed prevention leads to better outcomes for children throughout their lives. This means tackling adversities like socioeconomic disadvantage, maltreatment and mental disorders early on. She also noted the importance of strong leadership, monitoring and evaluation to ensure prevention programs remain effective over time.

The 20-minute virtual presentation, followed by a Q&A session, was designed to share new data and resources with Fraser Health staff, including findings from the Centre’s research on preventing early adversities. The 120 attendees included staff from across Fraser Health’s maternal-child health teams, including nursing, speech, audiology, dental and community health.

“We already know what works,” Nicole told the group. “The opportunity now is to act early, invest in prevention, and keep learning across childhood, so that we can close gaps for children.”

Attendees at the recent Community Health Nurses of Canada conference (CHNC 2026) got a first look at the results of a program evaluation conducted by Children’s Health Policy Centre (CHPC) researchers, with Fraser Health Authority partners.

The study explored the perspectives of mothers and public health nurses involved in Fraser Health’s Enhanced Family Visiting program, also known as EFV. EFV is an intensive nurse-home visiting program (prenatal to age 2 years) that has been adapted to better meet the needs of diverse children and families requiring enhanced services.

With Fraser Health partners, the CHPC team helped shape the study goals and interview questions to reflect priorities for the EFV program. The research team interviewed mothers enrolled in the program and surveyed EFV public health nurses and supervisors. The goal was to understand how the program is delivered and support Fraser Health in improving services for children and families. The evaluation showed positive responses to the program, along with actionable steps for refinement.

By bringing this new research to CNHC 2026, the research team aimed to help inform similar nurse-home visiting programs across Canada. The conference abstract was developed by the Fraser Health Population and Public Health team, with Centre Director Nicole Catherine and Research Associate Rosemary Lever. The team’s Fraser Health partners delivered the presentation on May 21 as part of a session on women’s health.

CHPC has submitted final reports from the EFV evaluation and co-presented the findings with Fraser Health to their Maternal-Child Health teams. The results are now being prepared for academic journal submission to reach a broader audience — given the investments in early prevention programming across British Columbia, Canada and beyond. To learn more about the EFV program evaluation, visit our Research page.