The provincial [httphttps://www.gov.bc.ca/mcf/ Ministry of Children & and Family Development] (MCFD) is authorized to protect tasked with protecting children from abuse, neglect , and harm or threat of harm under the provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84dv Child, Family and Community Service Act]''(''CFCSA''). Section 2 of the act ''CFCSA'' sets out the guiding principles of the legislation:

Unlike the majority of the general rules governing how children are dealt with in most legislation on family law, the ''best interests of the children '' is not the most important consideration under this actthe ''CFCSA''. The most important considerations under the ''ChildCFCSA'' are the "safety and well-being of the children", and the legislation lists the principles to consider. The first principle is that children are entitled to be protected from ''abuse, neglect, harm, or the threat of harm''. Most of the remaining guiding principles center around keeping the child with or connected to their family if possible. Some of these principles include recognizing that a family is the preferred environment for the care and upbringing of children, that the responsibility for protecting children rests primarily with the parents, and that kinship ties and a child's attachment to extended family should be preserved if possible. The principles also say that if a family can provide a safe and nurturing environment for a child with available support services, Family then those support services should be provided. See the below for information specific to Indigenous parents and Community Service Actchildren. ==Reporting a protection concern to MCFD or an Indigenous authority== Section 14 of the '' CFCSA'' says that any adult who has reason to believe a child needs protection must report the protection concern to MCFD. Only lawyers in a solicitor-client relationship are exempt from this duty to report. It is an offence not to report a protection concern to MCFD. In other words, anyone who thinks a child needs to be protected from abuse, neglect, harm, or the threat of harm, must report the problem to the MCFD. In the case of Indigenous children, the CFCSA says that if a person has reported the protection concern to an Indigenous authority, then the person is not required to report the protection concern to MCFD if the Indigenous authority confirms it will assess the report. An ''Indigenous authority'' is one that is authorized by an Indigenous governing body to provide child and family services according to Indigenous law. Once they receive a report, the MCFD must assess it and determine whether an investigation by a social worker is necessary. The ''CFCSA'' gives the social worker fairly broad authority to investigate the alleged problem and determine if the child is in need of protection. ===Protection concerns===What circumstances should raise a concern that a child needs protection? Section 13 of the ''CFCSA'' says:<blockquote><tt>13 (1) A child needs protection in the following circumstances:</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) if the child has been, or is likely to be, physically harmed by the child's parent;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) if the child has been, or is likely to be, sexually abused or exploited by the child's parent;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) if the child has been, or is likely to be, physically harmed, sexually abused or sexually exploited by another person and if the child's parent is unwilling or unable to protect the child;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(d) if the child has been, or is likely to be, physically harmed because of neglect by the child's parent;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(e) if the child is emotionally harmed by</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) the parent's conduct, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) living in a situation where there is domestic violence by or towards a person with whom the child resides;</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(f) if the child is deprived of necessary health care;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(g) if the child's development is likely to be seriously impaired by a treatable condition and the child's parent refuses to provide or consent to treatment;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(h) if the child's parent is unable or unwilling to care for the child and has not made adequate provision for the child's care;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) if the child is or has been absent from home in circumstances that endanger the child's safety and or well-being ;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(j) if the child's parent is dead and adequate provision has not been made for the child's care;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(k) if the child has been abandoned and adequate provision has not been made for the child's care;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(l) if the child is in the care of a director or another person by agreement and the child's parent is unwilling or unable to resume care when the agreement is no longer in force.</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(1.1) For the purpose of subsection (1) (b) and (c) but without limiting the meaning of "sexually abused" or "sexually exploited", a child has been or is likely to be sexually abused or sexually exploited if the childrenchild has been, or is likely to be,</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) encouraged or helped to engage in prostitution, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) coerced or inveigled into engaging in prostitution.</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(1.2) For the purpose of subsection (1) (a) and (c) but without limiting the circumstances that may increase the likelihood of physical harm to a child, the likelihood of physical harm to a child increases when the child is living in a situation where there is domestic violence by or towards a person with whom the child resides.</tt></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(2) For the purpose of subsection (1) (e), a child is emotionally harmed if the child demonstrates severe</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) anxiety,</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) depression,</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) withdrawal, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(d) self-destructive or aggressive behaviour.</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><tt>(3) For certainty, a child does not need protection in the circumstances described in subsection (1) (d) or (h) solely on the basis of socioeconomic conditions, including the following:</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) poverty;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) the lack of adequate housing or infrastructure;</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) the state of health of a parent of the child.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>