BC COMMUNITY CARE LICENSING OFFICER PROGRAM: PHASE ONE ANALYSIS
Beth Larcombe1,3, Ben Coulas1, Deborah Richards1, Nathan Wright2, and Adam Vaughan3
1 Health Sciences Division, JIBC; 2 bc211; 3 Office of Applied Research & Graduate Studies, JIBC

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

DISCUSSION

Community Care Licensing Officers (CCLO) are employed by provincial health
authorities and play an important role in protecting vulnerable people. They inspect
and monitor private and public facilities for child care, youth residential care,
residential group care and long-term care in British Columbia (B.C.). They also
conduct investigations, provide education and support to licensees, and take action
to bring facilities into compliance with the Acts and Regulations that govern them.

Notwithstanding the mixed findings in relation to participants’ assessment of the JIBC
ASCCCL program, there is some evidence to suggest that there is an advantage to
providing CCLO’s with additional training and education. However, it would appear
that the underlying nature of inspecting and monitoring public facilities is deeply
rooted in policy and practice that pre-dates the recent JIBC ASCCCL program. With
a wide range of experience and jurisdictional responsibilities, clearly there is a great
deal of variability in the nature of CCLO work in B.C. Continual development of the
ASCCCL program not only ensures that the scholarship is current and parallels any
amendments to the Act, but makes an effort to address additional gaps in training
that have been identified of existing practitioners and supervisory staff.

In 2012, Ombudsperson Kim Carter released a 400 plus page report on her office’s
three year investigation into the care of seniors in B.C. The Best of Care: Getting it
Right for Seniors in British Columbia (Part 2) is a comprehensive and in depth
investigation that makes 143 findings and 176 recommendations. Recommendation
#R153 was that: “The Ministry of Health develop and implement provincial training
standards and minimum education and experience requirements for community care
licensing officers that will allow them to appropriately respond to complaints about
residential care facilities.”
The aim of the present study is to explore the nature and quality of JIBC’s newly
developed Advanced Specialty Certificate in Community Care Licensing (ASCCCL)
and more broadly the role of CCLO.

METHODS
Qualitative interviews and focus groups were completed with participants ranging
from front-line CCLO as well as supervisors and other administrators of the
program.
In accordance with the traditional grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin,
1998) audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed following each
interview. Through a constant comparison, each stage of analysis involved the
creation/deletion of categories and subcategories (e.g., codes), and memo-writing.
Theoretical saturation was reached after the collection of data with 48 participants.

RESULTS
Theme 1: The ASCCCL program
Given the small number of participants that had taken the course, the views on the
program were mixed: 1) Supervisors and CCLO’s who had taken the course, viewed
it favourably; 2) CCLO’s who had not taken the course did not feel they needed
extra coursework or to complete a credential offered by JIBCA.
Theme 2: The role of CCLO
The broad role of CCLO is best defined by policy and the operation of the health
authorities in B.C. More specifically, a) the Community Care and Assisted Living Act
2008/2009; b) consistency in practice; and c) the regionalization of the B.C. health
authorities.

Thematic Examples
Theme 1. An effective program:
The changes that I’ve seen just with some of
the staff that have taken the courses
(ASCCCL) [they] have that foundation
especially around administrative law has
been huge for us because it’s something
that’s very difficult to kind of teach on the
job… You really need that – it’s got to be your
foundation before you start, So, that has
been a real highlight for me is to see staff
coming with that basic – those principles are
already entrenched
Theme 2a: The Community Care and
Assisted living Act 2008/2009 changed the
role of CCLOs to not prescribe actions
needed by a facility, rather CCLOs would
write ‘outcome’ based action planning for
facility administrators to follow.

CONCLUSION
In the coming years, B.C.’s population is expected to have significant increase in
vulnerable populations (i.e., elderly groups). As such, there is an inherent and urgent
need to ensure that current and future residential care facilities for these populations
continue to be well-managed and meet specific governmental standards. The
Ministry of Health’s movement to provide additional training is intended to improve
the quality of work conducted by CCLOs. Unfortunately, the lack of concrete findings
from this study are more of a result of the low number of CCLOs in the province and
the relative ‘newness’ of the JIBC ASCCCL program. It is suggested that additional
qualitative research with new and/or recently hired CCLOs with ASCCCL training be
conducted to further evaluate the program. The inclusion of a longitudinal quantitative
research project would also allow for more objective data and reduce research costs.

Theme 2b: Consistency in practice

KEY REFERENCES
Data indicates the CCLOs recognize
inconsistent practice within their region and it
is apparent that there is no consistency
province wide. Each health authority has
implemented policy and process specific to
their region. Interestingly, there is no province
wide centralised information gathering
network for CCLOs to access.
Theme 2c: For some, regionalization has
increased their workload:
Nowadays…I’ve got stuff six months overdue
in residential care, but I know in child care
they’ve got places that are 2 years overdue.
We’re a lot further behind than we ever have
been.

B.C. Ombudsperson (2012). The Best of Care: Getting it Right for Seniors in British
Columbia (Part 2). Public Report 47 to the Legislative assembly of British Columbia.
Victoria: Queens Printer.
Community Care and Assisted Living Act [SBC 2002] Chapter 75.
Strauss, A.L., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory
Procedures and Techniques, 2nd Ed. London: Sage.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
This project was funded through a grant received from the B.C. Ministry of Health.
For more information about the ASCCCL program, please see:
http://www.jibc.ca/programs-courses/schools-departments/school-health-communitysocial-justice/centre-professional-health-education/community-care-licensing

JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA