The Manitoba government has launched a major update of its programs for children in crisis to improve care, reduce reliance on hotels as emergency shelters and redirect funds to key support services. This announcement was made by Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross.
“The safety of children is paramount and so today we are implementing significant updates to our emergency placement program with the goal of improving supports and reuniting children with their families and communities more quickly,” Minister Irvin-Ross said. “These changes will help meet the needs of vulnerable children while also being more cost efficient.”
Among the key changes, the update will:
- create 71 new emergency foster home spaces,
- open a secure residential care unit to work with girls ages 12 to 17 who have complex needs,
- increase capacity to perform multi-disciplinary clinical assessments of children with behavioural challenges,
- reduce reliance on contract workers by hiring 210 highly trained, permanent child-care workers over two years, and
- increase emergency foster placements and supports in rural areas to care for children closer to their homes.
Minister Irvin-Ross noted the majority of the changes are expected to be fully implemented by spring of 2015. By increasing the number of emergency foster homes, the province expects to decrease reliance on hotels and offer better supports for children in crisis, the minister added.
“At Marymound, we are part of a network of service providers that strive to create the best short- and longer-term care possible for our children. We welcome the changes announced today and very much look forward to working in partnership with the province to implement programs that will better meet the needs of children and youth,” said Jay Rodgers, CEO of Marymound.
“We are encouraged to hear that government is making investments in these key areas that we have known for some time are critical to improving the quality of care for children and youth in Manitoba,” said Darlene McDonald, Manitoba’s children’s advocate.
As well as this new update, the Manitoba government also initiated other changes this year to protect children including:
- opening a new secure facility to shelter high-risk girls,
- launching a review of service contracts with firms that supervise children in hotels and group homes, and
- initiating closer working relationships with police and Street Reach to improve safety for high-risk youth.
Minister Irvin-Ross said improvements to the child welfare system will be built on earlier initiatives, particularly Changes for Children, the child protection action plan that implemented recommendations stemming from six reviews of the Manitoba Child and Family Services system after the murder of Phoenix Sinclair.
Changes for Children consisted of budget increases, better foster care, child safety and improving accountability. The plan expanded on the work done to improve the child and family services system initiated under the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry – Child Welfare Initiative. Of the 295 recommendations, 95 per cent are complete, Minister Irvin-Ross said.
The Manitoba government has started implementing many of the recommendations from the Hughes inquiry and has contracted AMR Consulting Inc. to provide advice on the remaining recommendations to improve the quality of care for vulnerable children. AMR’s report is due in January, the minister noted.
