The test of any government program ought to be whether you’d want to use it if you needed it.

By that measure, British Columbia’s Home Share program would fail outright. A new provincial review tells us as much.

The concept isn’t the issue. Home Share, if properly supported, would be a smart model. Who can argue with the dignified aim to provide adults with developmental disabilities family-like settings in which to live, rather than institutions?

But through the years, B.C. has transformed it into something it was never built to be: the primary and, in some parts of the province, the only residential option. This hasn’t happened intentionally, but as a default without a clear strategy in place to offer broader solutions.

Some 4,300 British Columbians live under this program. As of mid-year there was a waitlist of 735 and a registry of 238, signs of unmet need. Beyond that is an adult population of more than 19,000 outside its services, indicative of ongoing high demand. Families who should expect stability instead get something approaching a lottery, with some excellent placements, far too many fragile ones, and very little clarity about what to expect.

The review’s language is polite, but the reality it describes is heartless. B.C. relies on Home Share more heavily than any jurisdiction in North America. Which would be fine if the system were being strengthened in proportion. Instead, government has allowed the rest of the residential continuum to wither. Group homes are scarce. Staffed models have atrophied. Agencies........

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