Summary#
Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Child and Youth Well-Being Act, would amend New Brunswick’s 2022 Act by adding a power for the Minister of Social Development to make certain agreements with a child or youth’s parent. Its apparent goal is to let the Minister protect a child’s or youth’s well-being without returning them to the parent’s care. The bill is at first reading and is not law.
- The Minister may make an agreement with a parent, including a custody or guardianship agreement, to protect the child’s or youth’s well-being without returning them to the parent’s care.
- The bill would treat certain agreements made from January 26, 2024, until the bill starts as valid if they were made within five days after protective care interventions.
- It would also confirm and ratify related actions by the Minister during that period. Agreements from that period that are still in effect when the bill starts would remain valid and effective.
- For good-faith actions in that period, the bill would bar proceedings against the Province or Minister that question the Minister’s authority to act.
What it means for you#
- Parents: The bill would allow the Minister to make the described agreements with a parent. It does not require the Minister to make one or require a child or youth to return to the parent’s care.
- Children and youth: The new power is specifically for agreements intended to protect their well-being without returning them to the parent’s care. The bill does not set out how their views would be considered.
- Minister of Social Development: The bill would give the Minister this additional power and validate certain earlier agreements and actions.
- General public: This is a change to the Minister’s legal powers, not a new agency or a general front-line service. The parent Act was not supplied, so I could not verify the other powers or safeguards that already apply.
Money#
No publicly available information on cost is provided in the available material.
- The bill does not state a spending amount, funding source, staffing requirement, fee, or fine.
What is unclear#
- The bill does not set out how agreements are made, what they must contain, or how disagreements are handled. The supplied material does not show whether the parent Act sets out these rules.
- The amendment does not define “protective care interventions”; the supplied material does not show whether the parent Act defines it.
- The bill does not give its commencement date. Its changes would be treated as in force from January 26, 2024.
- The parent Act was not supplied, so the existing agreement rules, oversight, and other relevant safeguards could not be checked against current law.
Case for#
- The bill appears intended to let the Minister protect a child or youth without returning them to a parent’s care, while allowing an agreement with that parent.
- Treating qualifying earlier agreements and actions as valid could provide legal certainty for arrangements made since January 26, 2024.
- Keeping agreements that are still in effect valid when the bill starts could avoid disrupting those arrangements solely because the new power was not yet in the Act.
Case against#
- The bill would validate agreements and actions retroactively, which may limit challenges to the Minister’s authority for good-faith actions.
- The amendment does not explain the process, terms, or oversight for these agreements. Without the parent Act, it is unclear what safeguards already apply.
- The bill does not state how a parent’s agreement is obtained or how the child’s or youth’s views are considered.