BCFFPA Board of Directors Meeting
Summary
May 2, 2006
1.
Heather Bayes and Louise Dol were introduced to the board members who
had not previously met them.
2.
Minutes of March 20, 2006 accepted as written
3.
Additions
a.
CSSS
b.
World Forum
c.
Fundraising
4.
Treasurer’s Report
a.
There has been a decision not to use ATS going forward
b.
Mohawk cards are still being sent out upon request, with no refunds
received to date.
5.
President’s report
a.
Upcoming Meetings
i.
Right to Success meeting will take place the end of May. This will
be the project wrap up. President to attend.
ii.
FCFS Meeting – Penticton – Executive needs to decide who will
attend this one as is after the AGM
b.
Registration and Voting Packages – about 30 packages went out with
stamps before it was caught and stopped. The President discussed with
the Parliamentarian who has stated that it is a board decision on whether
this will present a problem. Some of the packages went to the North, and
some to the Interior and the Island. The board did not see this as an issue.
The office is monitoring returns, and to date none have been sent back
with the type of stamp used to send out the voting packages.
01/05/06: MSC: (Heather Bayes) Move to accept the situation and speak to it at the
AGM if the need arises. Unanimous
c.
Meetings Attended
i.
CFFA – The President attended the CFFA meeting in Ottawa.
There were about 750 people in attendance. The BCFFPA/MCFD
Liaison also attended to accept the flag for the CFFA/BCFFPA
2007 Symposium on behalf of MCFD. Guests were invited to
Rideau Hall to meet the Governor General, along with other Foster
Parents and Children. The President will write a letter inviting her
to attend in 2007 as it is the BCFFPA 40th Anniversary and the
CFFA’s 25th. Mike and Marion Balla may be asked to provide
workshops at this event along with several others already chosen.
Sheila Durnford was nominated and won the seat for 1st Vice
President of the CFFA. This is a two-year term. There are
usually three delegates from each province. The board will be
looking at the appointment of two more.
CFFA Applications will be available at the AGM in Kelowna.
The board will look at hiring a coordinator to assist in the planning
and delivery of this event. Information will be posted on the
BCFFPA web site
d.
CSSS
- The draft received on January 6, 2006 has further changes
needed. A note was sent to MCFD HQ on April 18th regarding Section C
29 CSS Stnd 4 – Appropriate Approvals. The issue will be discussed with
MCFD.
e.
MCFD is looking for facilitators for the Provincial forum on the 3rd.
Claude Cuff to assist Melanie with one of the tables.
f.
AGM 2006
i.
Paul Jenkinson BCASW Child and Family Review Committee will
speak at the meeting and will offer a 1 hour Listening Group
directly following
ii.
Ed Berry PGT will speak to those in attendance regarding Foster
Parent Liability
iii.
Martin Wright from the Health Ministry will be on hand to present
on the ACT Now Program. He will speak from 2:00 – 2:30 pm on
Saturday, and will have an information booth both days.
iv.
The Fraser Region Ministry will host a breakfast on Sunday, May
28th for Fraser Foster Parents.
7.
New Business
a.
Annual Reports – some are past due. The board was encouraged to send
them as soon as possible
b.
World Forum 2006 – will be put on by the CWLC and MCFD, November
10-22 at the Hotel Vancouver. They would like the support of the
BCFFPA. This will entail posting of each other’s name and logo on the
individual web sites, linking the two and providing a letter of support.
The BCFFPA logo will be on all mail-outs etc. There is no cost to the
BCFFPA. The CFFA is supporting this endeavor as well.
02/05/06: MSC: (Heather Bayes) Move to write a letter stating we agree to become a
non financial supporter for the project World forum 2006 (carried)
8.
Ministry Liaison
a.
Respite/Relief reimbursements are still taking far to long. A meeting has
been had between MCFD HQ and the Finance Managers to bring this
issue to their attention so that they can assess the process within their
regions regarding their administrative processes in order to streamline the
approval and payment system. Fraser and Vancouver Coastal have the
slowest payment schedule which averages 3 to 4 months. Part of the
problem is that this is not on the RAPS system and needs to be signed off
by several individuals prior to processing. Annette hopes to have info by
the AGM
b.
Martin Wright will be on the agenda from 2:00-2:30 for the AGM
c.
Federal Childcare funding will go to everyone with a child under 6.
MCFD is looking at how this will look for caregivers who pay the extra
costs over and above the funding already received.
d.
Legal indemnity is still in draft with regard to the CSSS. MCFD is
hopeful that they can be announced at the AGM with a release target date
of June 1.
e.
The new Deputy Minster is very strong on Regional Governance. The
path she is continuing on is Regional Authority in both the Aboriginal and
Non-Aboriginal areas.
f.
Policy is too open to interpretation, so it is very important that clarification
is provided in certain areas of the CSSS. The clarification needs to land
somewhere between rigidity and flexibility.
g.
Some of the discussion that will take place at the Focus Group on
Wednesday will look at what needs to be centralized and what should be
regionally provided services.
h.
The BCFFPA/MCFD Liaison attended the CFFA and was very interested
in the goings on. Ontario is working on transformation and has created a
Child Welfare Sectariate to redesign services with caregiver and
stakeholder involvement. The next two days will be doing very much the
same thing. The focus group will address what needs to happen to make
the system better. We have not done well in the areas of permanence,
relationships, and connections.
9.
Regional Updates
a.
Vancouver Coastal – The task is to ensure that the reporting system from
the local level is strengthened. The Organizational Handbook, which is
being re-written, should assist in giving locals some tools.
There are many outside issues that relate to the poor functioning of some
locals. The locals need to be educated on what the Federation offers. The
local on the coast has done a meet and greet to help the foster parents to
get out and interact with foster parents. MCFD covered costs. The
President of the FAFP was in attendance.
The BCFFPA logo and letterhead will be sent to all delegates.
b.
Fraser – Community Consultations were discussed – 4 meetings have been
set up comprised of foster parents, youth in care and ministry/agency.
Unfortunately the Aboriginal Foster Parents were left out of the invitation,
so turnout was relatively low.
Fraser will try to connect with Fraser foster parents attending the AGM
and will hold a breakfast meeting on Sunday 28th am.
c.
Interior – The Macro Council is continuing to work well. They will be
holding their AGM on May 25th in Kelowna 4-10 pm
There are many locals now up and running in the Interior Region. Glen
Moffatt – MCFD is doing a Guardianship Review in the area.
The Kootenays is having a hard time getting their locals up and running.
Retention continues to be a big issue in that area, as well as throughout the
interior region.
There are no staffed resources any longer for those children and youth
who cannot live in family care homes. This is leading to the burnout of
foster homes. The area is staring to feel the effects of budget cuts that
have led to a severe lack of services for children and youth.
d.
North - Thanks to Willy Neal traveling to the North West area, there are
now three locals that have once again become active in addition to the
existing locals. More locals are about to become active as well.
The Aboriginal Authority is starting to take hold. Carrier Sekani in
Vanderhoof has told caregivers with MCFD contracts can no longer
contract with that agency.
e.
Vancouver Island – There is still very little teamwork taking place
between MCFD and the BCFFPA at the Regional level in this area. The
only local up and running in VI is the Port Alberni local, however
Nanaimo is expressing an interest in regenerating. It was felt that VI
MCFD generally does not support the formation of any BCFFPA locals,
and locals have to build on their own.
