BCFFPA Board of Directors

Teleconference Summary

June 15, 2005

 

 

 

1.                  Minutes of May 26, 2005 and May 28^th 2005 AGM accepted as written

 

2.                  Treasurer’s Report

a.      An individual has contacted the Federation with regard to some unclaimed funds.  The board decided to do its own research and look further into the matter before making a decision to contract with the individual for capture of the funds. Treasurer to work on.

b.      The Board agreed to accept applications for contracted services of 2 half days per month to have the accounting moved back to the Federation office.

01/06/05:MSC Move to look at hiring a part time bookkeeper to work 2 half days per month out of the office. Carried

 

3.                  President’s Report

 

                                 i.            Meetings Attended

 

a.      FCFS – The ADM attended these meeting and reported that a new MCFD budget will be approved within 90 days.  It does not look like there will be any big changes.  It is hoped that there will be more dollars for increased services to youth as well as a general increase to services overall. Going forward ministry policy changes will only occur twice yearly.  The move will be to incorporate Policy, Standards etc. into one document for ease of reference.

R2S – Right to Success – This is a joint Youth in Care, MCFD and CYO committee.  The Child and Youth Office has hired 2 youth to work on and facilitate workshops for the R2S project.  There are two sections to this:

                                                               i.      A section for youth to pilot in regions

                                                             ii.      A section for adults that will coincide with the youth workshops.

CYO is looking for areas of the province where this could be piloted.  These pilots may take place in both the Interior and North regions. There were many people at the FCFS who were interested in being involved.

 

There was discussion around the MCFD Advocacy brochure, which they had changed and redone.  The President is looking into the status of the rewrite.  At this point Advocacy for Foster Parents appears to be a dead issue. It is possible that the Federation could take the old “Learning How To Advocate – A Guide For Foster Parents” and develop training for Foster Parents.  This idea is only in the preliminary stage.  The original booklet was produced in 2001 by the BCFFPA Protection Committee

c.      Meeting in Victoria – President’s notes distributed to the board

 

d.      CSAE  - The President and Operations Manager attended this very informative all day training event around legal issues related to insurance, employment, board. 

 

                               ii.            Upcoming Meetings

a.      Foster Doll Meeting – The Foster Doll Project is ending, with the dolls being returned in Kamloops on Aboriginal Day, June 21, 2005. 

b.      GAPS Meeting – Addresses issues around gaps in services to youth with IQ’s over 70 and aged 16-18.  The next meeting will be Thursday, June 16^th.  As the Child and Youth officers were meeting with different groups around the province the message was clear that this is a very important issue. The committee will address the issue of youth who do not meet CLS criteria for services.  There are young people still in need of services who have low IQ, FAS/D and Learning Disabilities.  The committee is trying to gather information from caregivers, MCFD staff and youth regarding the scope of the issue and also is trying to gather info for addressing the issue with government.  A group of youth will be interviewed tracked and assessed for their progress.

 

The committee would like to create a body of evidence to present to government and make recommendations.  Board members were invited to bring forward any information or suggestions he has so they can be channeled through the Federation to the Steering Committee.  Any information for this committee to be forwarded to the office .

 

c.      Petition

 

Assessment and Treatment Centre – a petition, which was not brought forward at the AGM, was given to the President for presentation to the board.  Foster parents from the Interior Region signed the petition.  It reads as follows:

 

Due to the extreme difficulties in accessing drug and alcohol, Detox and Treatment for youth and the increase in need for such Detox and treatment we request that the Board of the British Columbia Foster Parent Associations and the Ministry of Children and Family Development work together to develop or provide such a facility for the youth of British Columbia.

 

Current facilities are mostly academic based and this alone excludes many of our most needy but deserving children.           

 

It was suggested that the Board would contact the Alcohol and Drug Commission to review addiction service for youth and come up with recommendations.  At one point the Youth in Care Network was going to prepare a report for the Addictions Research Council.  We have no word on the status of such a report.

 

It is acknowledged that there is a lack of mental health facilities for youth.  The Mental Health Plan is out and declared.  It includes mental health for youth.  There is now a considerable move to recruit and train family based treatment homes.  This piece will be added to the foster parent curriculum, and should be on stream within the next 12 months.

 

                              iii.            Updates

 

An individual has expressed his willingness to work with the BCFFPA board.  The board decided that they not ready to take on any new projects at this time

 

4.                  Strategic Planning

 

02/06/05: MSC: Move for Sheila Durnford and Ellaine Ashby to meet with David Annis to move forward with the Strategic Planning Goals Action Plan.  Carried

 

5.                  Ministry Liaison

 

CLS and MCFD are working on the transfer of funds and services.  Information will be sent for inclusion in the next issue of InfoLetter.  The same information will be sent to all foster parents whose children are affected.  At the moment the children and caregivers will not move over to the new authority.  Over the next year Resource and Guardianship staff that are currently under MCFD will transfer.  All contracts will remain with the Director for now.

 

Two motions from the BCFFPA AGM have been sent to MCFD.  MCFD will be contacting the Board to set up a formal process for dealing with the issues.

 

ADM letter regarding the 60-day notice.  Annette is working with systems regarding a report on how many foster homes were affected.  Once the information is received a meeting will be arranged.  This is a high priority for MCFD.  A FCH agreement meeting was held and this issue was included.  A review of all foster parent documents will be done over the next several months.

 

The target dates for the development of a provincial table are still being set up.  Annette has asked each of the regions to put forward the name of an individual to sit at this table.  It is hoped that the meetings can begin in the summer.  MCFD is looking for input into the top items needing addressing.  Some of the issues include:

 

Contracting

Education – 53-hour training

Protocols

 

On the Island the agency is indicating that only one foster parent per home is required to complete the 53 hour training, or allowing them to split the training between two caregivers.  This directive is coming from the Ministry at the Regional Level.  MCFD HQ acknowledged that this is not the original intent.  Another issue regarding education is the lack of proof that foster parents have completed the training. The provincial table should help to clarify issues such as this for regions.

 

It is hoped that there will be funding for a face-to-face meeting but conference calls may initially be the method of doing business.

 

 

6.                  AGM 2006

 

Quotes for meeting space for AGM 2006 have been received and will be put on a spreadsheet for the board once all quotes for all areas have been received.

 

7.                  Regional Issues

 

The Northern Delegate would like to see the board develop discussion papers for the Provincial Advisory Table.  He would also like to see regular monthly teleconferences and have Advisory information on the agenda.  One example would be the Education issue with issues and recommendations outlined.

 

Everyone was asked to send his or her suggestions to the office.  Staff will formulate, which are the relevant issues and send to the board.

 

Fraser Regional MCFD has requested that the InfoLetter contain a recruitment ad for highly skilled homes.  The board agreed.

 

8.                  Next call July 18, 2005 9:30-11:30 AM