BCFFPA Annual General Meeting

Summary

May 28, 2005

 

 

1.                    Meeting called to order at 10:00 AM

 

2.                    Welcoming Remarks given by Sheila Durnford – President

 

3.                    Sheila Durnford introduced the BCFFPA Board of Directors and Staff along with the Parliamentarian, Life and Honourary members, Phil and Sheila Durnford and Betty Davis.  Guests attending included Ministry Management, Mike Balla, A/Executive Director, CFFA, Marion Balla, Adlerian Society, representatives from the Child and Youth Office, the Federation of Aboriginal Foster Parents, the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks, the Adoptive Families Association of BC and Angelina, Foster Doll.

 

4.                    Keynote Speaker – Clara Robbins – A/Director Service Transformation Division – Ministry of Children and Family Development.

 

Clara read a letter received from Deputy Minister Alison McPhail to all foster parents attending.  The letter read as follows: 

 

“Dear Ms Durnford and Members of the BC Federation of Foster Parent Associations:

 

On behalf of the Honourable Stanley B. Hagen, Minister of Children and Family Development, I want to welcome and acknowledge all of you who have been able to attend your 2005 Annual General Meeting in Richmond.

 

You have chosen the theme “Honouring, Caring and Sharing” for this year’s meeting.  Clearly caring and sharing are the key ingredients in foster care.  It is an extraordinary family commitment to care for children who cannot live with their own families, and to share your home and your love with these children.  The ministry has immense appreciation and gratitude for the service of foster parents across British Columbia.  Over the years, foster families have given thousands of children and youth care and nurturing which has allowed them to enter adulthood as healthy and productive individuals.  Foster families are often unseen and unrecognized in their communities, yet they provide some of the most important and challenging community service.

 

I also want to recognize your organization, which began in 1966.  It was the first such organization in Canada and has been a model for other Canadian jurisdictions.  For almost 40 years it has been a powerful force and voice for both foster families and children all across Canada.  Without foster parents, the ministry cannot serve children.  Without the Federation, the ministry could not have made many of the changes through the years to advance the interests of vulnerable children.  As foster parents, you have been our partner, helping individual children in every community in the province.

 

Foster parents are, and will remain, the heart of our ministry’s ability to keep children safe.  On behalf of the Government of British Columbia, and the management and staff of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, thank you for your ongoing care and commitment to the children of British Columbia.”

 

Clara’s address began with her sharing Jeremy Berland – Assistant Deputy Minister’s regrets at being unable to attend as he is traveling in Eastern Canada.

 

She acknowledged that the past three years have been very challenging, however in spite of that, foster parents have managed to put the needs of children before everyone else’s.

 

This is important.  Foster parents are resilient, enduring and able to overcome obstacles as they arise.  Foster parents are the spirit that drives policy and they should be proud of that. 

 

Following the election, MCFD hopes to continue its current course.  The Ministry has several goals they would like to achieve in how children are served.  MCFD would like to see children connected with family or significant other, spending less time in care, and achieving more and better planning for those who are in care.  These goals mean that opportunities for foster parents will increase.  They will become more of a teacher, and will have more opportunities to remain involved in the child’s life once they return home.

 

The Caregiver Support Services Standards will be coming out in the fall.  This document reflects how to support kids and demands much from everyone involved in the child’s life.  It recognizes that foster parents play a greater role in the child/youth in care returning home or going to adoption, and focuses on collaboration among those involved.  Foster Parent input into this document proved very valuable.

 

Childcare has changed.  Problems are more profound.  We ask ourselves, “What makes a great child welfare system?”  There are now more resources and professionals to assist.  Clara has learned a lot from the foster parents she has worked with.  She sees them as stewards to help kids to grow to functioning adults.  Foster Parents have taught her a lot about nurturing, caring and love.  Those foster parents will stand out in her mind when she thinks about what good Foster Parents are all about. 

 

Clara thanked those present on behalf of the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the children and youth of BC.

 

5.                    Housekeeping – chair turned over to John Noonan Parliamentarian

a.       Notice of Meeting – posted on web site, newsletters and mail out well in advance of the required 30-day notice.

b.       The quorum was met with 47 voting members present

c.        The agenda was accepted by a motion

d.       Standing Rules were distributed and read by the Parliamentarian  and were adopted through a motion

e.       Elections to begin at 11:45 am.  As per the BCFFPA by-laws an independent third party will oversee the voting with no vested interest in the results. 

 

6.                    President’s Report

 

The President has a full report in the Annual Report, which is available upon request.

 

She outlined some of the highlights of the past year.  Two years ago the Federation was in survival mode.  Since that time we have continued to grow and gain back some of the ground that was lost in the regional reorganization of the ministry.   The three-legged stool concept was reiterated where the legs represent, the BCFFPA, MCFD, and the Foster Parent Support Agencies.  The seat is the children and youth we all support.  If one of the legs in not carrying its weight, then the stool collapses.

 

The Federation has partnerships with the Federation of Child and Family Services of BC, the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks, the Federation of Aboriginal Foster Parents, the Adoptive Families Association of BC, Foster Parents, Foster Parent Support Agencies, and MCFD.

 

Since the 2004 AGM held in Kamloops the BCFFPA provincial office has co-located with the AFABC, and the inyourgrasp database has been completed and was launched in October 2004.  We have also developed a “Grief, Loss, and Transitions Train the Trainer” module, and have completed two training events in March 2005.  The Grief, Loss and Transitions foster parent training has now been carried out in several areas of the province.  Another Train the Trainer event is planned for the fall of 2005 if the need is there.  The BCFFPA has started a camp for kids fund to benefit foster parent members in assisting to send their birth, foster, and adopted children to camp.  The response to this fund has been amazing.  The Aboriginal Foster Doll Project is another joint venture between the FAFP, FBCYICN, and the BCFFPA.  The President was asked to become an Honourary Foster Parent and brought her foster doll “Angelina” to meet everyone.  The Provincial organization gave seed money to the development of the Interior Macro Regional Council’s development.  So far the group has done a tremendous amount of work, and the system appears to be working well.  It is hoped that other regions will develop their own Macro regional councils once the template is developed.  The provincial board has set aside start up funding to help Regions wishing to form Macro Regional Councils.

 

Last but not least, the BCFFPA supported a foster parent in taking an insurance company to a human rights tribunal around discriminatory practices against foster parents.  The foster parent was successful.

 

The BCFFPA has dealt directly with MCFD on several foster parent issues such as the mileage rates, dental reimbursements, modification agreements, transfer of custody, 6-bed policy, and the caregiver support services standards.  Most of the issues are at the resolution stage, and some have been resolved.

 

The organization has received funding from MCFD for specific contracted services.  All other expenditures such as Camps for Kids, Grief, Loss & Transitions, board expenses etc are funded through fundraising initiatives and membership dollars.

 

The Vision, Mission, and Belief, which were worked on during Strategic Planning in June of 2004, are now highly visible on bookmarks, the web page, posters, and brochures.

 

A Strategic Planning Session was held between the BCFFPA and it’s partner organizations at the 2004 AGM in Kamloops.  This was reported to members at the 2004 AGM.

 

Some of the issues arising included:

 

Development of a vision statement with member input

Reaffirmation of the mission statement

Identification of 3 primary and 2 secondary priority issues

A clear understanding of the BCFFPA as a community agency versus a contracted service provider.

A strong commitment to move the organization forward in a proactive manner.

 

The key areas of focus developed were.

 

Primary

1.       Identify programs and services provided by the provincial organization

2.       Continue the reemergence of the membership driven, credible, proactive provincial association

3.       Develop a framework, implement and support a macro regional model

 

Secondary

1.       Public relations, communication, marketing

2.       Acquire stable funding

 

A lot has been accomplished with still more work to be done.

 

On Thursday May 26, the Board of Directors met for another planning session.  We will continue to work on the 5 areas of focus, while having them all as primary for the upcoming year.

 

In closing the President stated that she is very proud of the new initiatives developed, and the meeting of many of the strategic planning goals.  She is also proud of the new services the BCFFPA is able to provide to foster parents, the committees the Federation is members of and shares its knowledge with, the strengthening of partnerships, and the overall increased awareness of the BCFFPA itself.

 

 

7.                    Recognition

Sheila asked Clara Robbins to come up and together they presented roses and BCFFPA pins to all foster parents, ministry workers and partnership agency staff present.

 

8.                    Treasurer’s report – Lyn York presented the audit, and noted that the Federation has a small budget surplus this year of $975.00. 

 

A motion to accept the audit was made and passed.

 

The treasurer moved to appoint Brian Tipper Inc. as auditors for the 2005/06 fiscal years.  The board to fix the remuneration.  The motion was carried

 

9.                    Introduction of Nominees

 

The nominees are Sheila Davis for Secretary and Lyn York for Treasurer.  The nominations were closed and speeches were made by the nominees. There were no questions from the floor

 

10.                 New Business

a.       Motions from the floor

 

A motion was made, discussed by the assembly and then amended.  The final motion reads

 

01/AGM/05:MSC: (Jan Chapman) The BCFFPA Provincial Board notify the Ministry of Children and Families that the amount paid for children in care is not sufficient to cover all the child’s expenses.  Monthly maintenance should be increased to better reflect the current cost of living   Carried

 

A second motion was made, discussed by the assembly and amended.  The final motion reads:

 

02/AGM/05:MSC: (Jan Chapman)  The BCFFPA Provincial Board work with the Ministry of Children and Family Development to ensure MCFD and Agency Respite & Relief payments are paid on a per diem basis, not on a 24 hour basis.

 

11.                 Closing

a.       Election results

                                                                i.      Secretary 51/56 1 no 1 spoiled ballot

                                                               ii.      Treasurer 52/56 1 spoiled ballot

                                                              iii.      Adjournment – Meeting adjourned at 2:35 pm