Plans are being put in place to tackle the social issues plaguing Bermuda, including approval of legislation that will give the Bermuda Family Council a more defined role within the community.In an announcement made yesterday, Minister of Youth, Sports, and Families Glenn Blakeney, accompanied by Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) Chairman Martha Dismont and Child Welfare League of America’s Jeff Bormaster, highlighted the issues hitting Bermuda and ways to correct the ills.“I recently met with representatives of the IAC to hear about some of the work that they are doing,” said Blakeney. “In particular, the IAC has begun to explore ways to address what they see as Bermuda’s number one presenting problem for families seeking help.“I also intend to table legislation in the House of Assembly to give statutory standing to the Bermuda Family Council.“This will give the Council a more defined role in promoting the strengthening of families, and I expect the Council will recommend social policy and legislation aimed at addressing, among other things, multi-generational trauma and its impact on our society.“We are fortunate to have a buoyant economy, but that doesn’t mean that we are alone in the world in saying that we don’t help from others, it is the point that we need to realise where we are, where we need to go and how to get there.“We have to make a collective and co-operative effort to make sure that we are enable our community to address issues that are pertaining to the country.The IAC for Children and Family, a 17-year old association of public and private human service providers who network, collaborate and provide training in support of service provision to children and families.Until recently, the focus of the IAC was primarily the coordination of best practice training for organisations working towards accreditation or certification.Following a 2011 strategic planning exercise, the IAC decided to strengthen its focus and increase its advocacy for children and families.Another point highlighted was the multi-generational trauma in the community, something that is passed down from generation to generation, and which go either unrecognised or unresolved.The trauma often leads to unhealthy relationships and behaviours that can be manifested in multiple ways including family conflict and dysfunction, drug abuse, sexual abuse and gang-related violence, something that has plagued Bermuda in recent years.“I would like to thank both minister Blakeney as well as minister Michael Scott for being supportive of this initiative, we have been eager to bring social service providers together in order to get to the core problem that is affecting Bermuda,” said Dismont.“The IAC is simply a facilitator, but we are grateful that the government has given their support to this project.”Bormaster added: “I’ve been lending a helping hand since 2001 in addressing quality improvement and am focused on getting to the core problem of the issues facing Bermuda in this time.“Communities around the world are acknowledging that there is a small segment of people causing the population problems and that the idea of the workshop we are trying to put on will help the community gain a new set of tools to help them address some of the undesirable problems in the community.”