BCFFPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

TELECONFERENCE SUMMARY

MAY 12, 2004

Minutes from April 7, 2004 accepted unanimously.

1.  Office Update

    A new office staff person has been hired (Amanda Percy). Amanda will be working 9-2 Monday – Friday.

     An individual has been hired to provide data entry services. This work has now been completed well in advance of the due date.

2.  Social Work Student – Update

    A letter of support for the project has been forwarded to Tanya Strubin. The Vice President will continue to work on this project. The board members were cautioned not to      distribute  any information as yet. Once her supervisor has approved the drafts, the survey process will begin. The BCFFPA will be acknowledged in the final draft.

3.  Treasurer’s Report

    Regional and Local Accountability - The Treasurer has now received financial accountability for FOK Regional, Penticton and Kelowna locals, and Nakusp from the West Kootenay

    Once he has formatted the information, he will send it to the office, Vice President, and President.

    There will be no more membership refunds sent to locals and regions until all paperwork has been received.

    Fundraising – There have been no fundraising tasks begun to date. There is a need to reflect the insurance payment so that it is not considered income, with the exception of the $15,000 administration portion. The Treasurer will discuss with the auditor

    The 2003 fundraising campaign is now complete.

    Audit – The audit will be ready prior to June 5, 2004.

4.  David Annis

    A brief discussion took place to bring Dave up to date on the work of the BCFFPA. There is a recognized need to assist locals, and increase the strength of the Federation in some areas of the province, particularly the Island and North regions. In order for the provincial voice to survive the grass roots groups need to become stronger.

    The Interior region will be holding a macro regional meeting June 10^th in Kamloops.

    The board was asked to step back and assess the reasons for the Strategic Planning Session. One reason brought forward is to empower the grass roots level, leading to strength at the Macro Regional Level and a strong voice at the provincial level. The roles at each level must be clearly defined.

    Needs at the provincial and local levels are dictated by the needs of the ministry in particular communities and regions. With each region requiring different things. There needs to be a strong structure to keep information flowing up and down.

    The board needs to decide if they want the provincial structure to address quality issues around foster care, or be a troubleshooter to assist regions and locals in the process.

    Internal issues, which need addressing, include methods of interfacing with members and other foster parents. External issues include the contract and the nature of the interface with MCFD. Outcomes that address both issues will be discussed.

There is a strong need for a well-developed communication network in each region.

    The question is why it is not happening. How does the Federation build a climate of trust, which would allow this to happen? The Federation needs to find ways to market its successes so that foster parents see a need for the association to exist.

    It was decided to include the ministry in the Thursday morning portion of the planning session only.

    Attendees will include the full board, and representatives from CWLC, OCY, FBCYICN, AFABC, and FAFP, with MCFD for Thursday AM.

    Dave will develop a general overview of the agenda. The President will take of the overview at the beginning of the meeting. He will discuss with the Vice President prior to the meeting.

    Board members were requested to forward 5 key issues to the office.

    Dave Annis will attend all functions at the request of the board.

5.  President and Vice President report

    The Vice President will be meeting with the Minister on May 21^st at her constituency office. MCFD and BCFFPA staff will attend.

    FCFS – will be meeting in Penticton June 4 and 5. The minister will attend that as well

    MCFD Liaison – A letter was received from MCFD around the reasons for cuts to funding. Although the letter was not very clear it did mention some positives such as “met all objectives). This letter will be kept on file for clarification purposes should the need arise in the future.

    No date has been set for the Transition manager to attend the contract managers meeting to discuss changes to the notification period for family care home agreements, however the issue seems to have dissipated. The Transitions Manager also promised to look at the issue of a modification being made to contracts as soon as a child moves, rather than continuing to keep the bed open and give the caregiver 60 days notice to close the bed.

6.  Database – A database meeting is set for May 28^th, at which time the committee will be reviewing quotes for a web-based design.

7.  Web Page – A quote for an uploading program for the BCFFPA web page is being sought. This will give office staff the ability to upload info onto the page.

8.  Annual reports were once again requested from the Delegates.

9.  AGM update – The early bird draw has been extended due to the mail system being late getting the packages out to caregivers and ministry. The prize draw will be for a DVD player.

10. The Regional Delegates will oversee the distribution of $500.00, which was allotted to each of the 5-macro regions to assist foster parents to attend the AGM. It is up to the delegates to make a decision on how the money will be spent.

11. Upcoming teleconferences are July 7, August 11, and Sept. 14, from 9:30 – 11:30