Vanguard

The Vanguard Project examines law, policy, and practice in relation to vulnerable adults and incapability.

In 2007 the BCLI was hired by the BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support (now Seniors First BC), on behalf of the BC Adult Abuse and Neglect Prevention Collaborative (the Collaborative), to conduct an international review of:

1. Laws governing capability for decision-making which currently inform guardianship practice: and
2. Policies, protocols, and guidelines that inform incapability assessment.

In 2009 we produced a final report, Provincial Strategy Document: Vulnerability and Capability Issues in British Columbia, to summarize the law in BC and support practice in health care, law, and criminal justice regarding vulnerable adults with capability issues. The report included 17 recommendations for enhancing law, policy, and practice. The work was funded by the Law Foundation of BC.

Supplemental report documents also include below:

1. Background paper on housing and capability issues by Charmaine Spencer
2. Background paper on immigration, abuse and capability issues by Charmaine Spencer
3. Tips for good practice by legal professionals in relation to capability and vulnerability issues
4. A lengthy overview of abuse and neglect legislation conducted by the BCLI in 2007

In 2019 the Collaborative and the BC Council to Reduce Elder Abuse (CREA) requested an update to the report. The 2021 Discussion Paper and Reference Guide identifies developments related to each of the recommendations, summarizes recent court decisions, provides an update on the status of key legislation, and reviews trends in academic research, media, government, and non-profit sector work. The paper includes a summary chart with updates on each of the recommendations, and identifies potential priorities for future work of the Collaborative or CREA to address outstanding recommendations that fall within their respective mandates.