The Manitoba government is on track to end the use of hotels as emergency placements for youth in Manitoba Child and Family Services (CFS) care today by creating a continuum of supports for families and more resources for agencies. This announcement was made by Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross and Children and Youth Opportunities Minister Melanie Wight.
“We are determined to end the practice of placing vulnerable children in hotels when a crisis occurs in their lives,” Minister Irvin-Ross said. “The best way to do this is to offer supports that will help families look after their children at home so they don’t have to come into care in the first place. At the same time, we have increased resources for agencies so that when children are brought into care, they will have an appropriate and safe place to stay while child-protection workers restore stability to their lives.”
In partnership with the agencies and authorities, the province has added 90 additional emergency shelter beds in the last year and has hired more than 80 permanent CUPE child-protection workers including supervisors, trainers, behavioural clinical-support staff and foster-home support staff, the minister noted.
The increased supports for families include:
- expanding the Families First program in collaboration with community organizations,
- expanding the COACH program for children and youth with complex needs, and
- launching a Child Protection Mediation service.
“We know that when parents receive effective in-home supports and are connected with needed services, they are in a better position to effectively support their children,” Minister Wight said. “Our goal is to maintain and support children and families in their communities because we know that strong families in strong communities are the key to raising healthy children.”
The increased resources for CFS agencies include:
- launching a new Foster/Kinship Caregiver Recruitment Campaign,
- expanding the number of shelter beds,
- expanding the number of emergency foster beds,
- expanding the centralized placement program, and
- hiring more child-care workers.
Minister Irvin-Ross said improvements to the child welfare system are being built upon earlier initiatives, particularly Changes for Children, an action plan stemming from reviews of the Manitoba Child and Family Services system after the murder of Phoenix Sinclair in 2005. Changes for Children resulted in major investments in better foster care, hiring more child-protection workers, improvements to child safety and greater accountability of agencies.
“It’s important to acknowledge that there remains more work to do as we partner with Indigenous leaders, community organizations and other levels of government to address the growing numbers of vulnerable children coming into care,” Minister Irvin-Ross said. “Far too many families continue to struggle with the tragic effects of colonialization, residential schools, the ‘sixties scoop’ and deep-seated poverty.”
Part of the continued work will include extending the supports and services being developed for Winnipeg to rural and remote communities, the minister said.
“We have set Dec. 1 as the deadline for completing this second phase,” Minister Irvin-Ross said. “While this is a much smaller population and there aren’t the same safety concerns outside Winnipeg, there is the same need to place children in appropriate settings where they can receive the care and services they need.”
The minister noted that building up resources and services in rural and northern communities presents new challenges because of the shortage of housing. Despite those challenges, it will be a priority to make sure children across the province have the same level of service, she added.
Extending the strategy to rural and northern communities will focus on creating new emergency foster and shelter to eliminate any need to use hotels, Minister Irvin-Ross said. To ensure agencies are accountable for any hotel use and to help guide creating more resources, the province will require:
- CEOs of the CFS authorities to authorize the use of any rural hotel by their agencies; and
- authorities and agencies to report weekly on all hotel usage.
The province is also being guided by the work of the Hughes Commission and AMR Planning & Consulting, which recommended shifting emphasis to prevention and support services from protection measures, the minister said.
Information on the Hughes inquiry, its recommendations, Changes for Children and the ALL Aboard poverty reduction strategy can be found at www.gov.mb.ca/fs.
