The ministry of children and family development is supposed to protect British Columbia's most vulnerable children. But safety outcomes for those children are no longer being used to measure the ministry's success in its primary planning document. Here's the background: in February 2006, the Campbell administration was under intense criticism over its failure to protect Sherry Charlie, a toddler who was receiving services from the ministry and was beaten to death by her great uncle. In an apparent attempt to address some of that criticism, the ministry began publicizing the rate of recurrence of child abuse and neglect its service plan - an annual report on the department's aims and how it intends to get there.
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