CFS faces shortage of foster homes

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This article was published 27/07/2012 (5203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Child and Family Services of Western Manitoba is in desperate need of foster homes.

The critical shortage stems from a significant increase in the number of foster children in the Westman area over the past few years.

“We’re still recruiting foster homes, we just haven’t been able to keep up with the demand,” said Art Asham, supervisor in resource development with CFS. “There’s more kids coming into care than ever before.”

Foster kids range from infants to teenagers and are taken out of their family home for a number of different reasons.

“It can be anywhere from abuse issues to parents being overwhelmed and unable to care for their children in a way they need to be cared for,” Asham said.

CFS makes every attempt at helping to keep the family intact, but unfortunately there are situations where children must be pulled from the home.

“We have to rely on caring people in the community that have the space and the love for children … until the parents can regain control of their lives or their situation to the point where they can be reunited,” Asham said.

When asked why he thinks there has been such a significant increase in the number of foster children, Asham said it’s not a simple answer.

“It’s just a combination of a lot of things,” he said. “People come across hard times, people separate, people have new stressors in their life. People that think they would never hurt their kids or neglect their kids do so because of broken marriages and bankruptcy and alcoholism and drug use … all kinds of things.”

A foster home can care for a child for just a few weeks, up to a year or longer.

“Sometimes with longer addiction issues or abuse issues, it takes a long time to sort it all through,” Asham said. “Generally in cases that go a long time … once all the interventions are tried, we may look at making that child a ward of the province.”

CFS of Western Manitoba has about 50 licensed foster homes. When dealing with a shortage, sometimes the placement is not an optimal fit for the child.

“When you’re in a crisis, you don’t always have the ability to make good fits, you do things out of necessity not necessarily what fits for both parties,” Asham said. “Not that kids get bad care, it’s just that they’re not in their niche.”

Some homes are very good with teenagers and indicate they don’t want little ones with diapers, while others prefer to care for babies up to five years old.

CFS of Western Manitoba had 164 in care at the start of 2011, 171 entered care during that year, while 167 left care. A monthly average of children in care was 174.

Asham said some people have been foster parents for the past 30 years and find it to be a very rewarding experience.

“Like any other job, it can be frustrating, but I think the end result is anybody who loves children and can find a place in their heart to become a parent again, or extend their family, then most people come back and it’s quite rewarding,” Asham said.

Earlier this month, the provincial government announced more funding for foster children. Family Services Minister Jennifer Howard said more than $1 million will go towards increasing basic child maintenance rates and providing more training and mentorship opportunities for foster parents.

Across the province, more than 800 families began fostering children last year, for a total of about 4,800.

Currently the per diem rate is $21.79 for fostering children 10 years old and under and $27.05 for children aged 11 to 17.

The annual increase of more than $1 million is effective Oct. 1, 2012. In the last five years, the basic child maintenance rate has increased by nearly 25 per cent.

“That rate is to compensate them for the cost of having children in their home and by increasing the rate it shows our support for foster homes and really acknowledges the important work they do for the children and families of Manitoba,” said Brian Ridd, acting executive director of the province’s Child Protection branch. “It also is intended to make recruiting at the CFS agency level just a little bit easier, that foster parents don’t feel that they’ll have to go out of pocket to be working with these kids.”

Ridd said the number of children in care continues to rise across the entire province. According to annual reports from Manitoba Family Services and Consumer Affairs, the number of children in care (as of March 31 each year) was just over 8,600 in 2008-09, 9,100 in 2009-10 and in 2010-11 it was up to more than 9,400.

Foster parents can be married, single, already parents or grandparents or have no children of their own.

Asham encourages people to call CFS Western’s resource development department at

1-800-483-8980 if they are interested in becoming a foster parent.

There are background checks, interviews and residence requirements.

“If you have space and you have it in your heart to love a child and care for a child,” Asham said. “Knowing that the child may or may not stay with you over time, realizing that you’re not their parent, you’re not taking the parent’s place, you’re providing care for that child.”

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