The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Paul Davis, Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services:

Foster a Future Campaign Continues to Recruit New Foster Parents

Mr. Speaker, our government is continuing to drive positive change within the child protection system through our continuum of care strategy. This strategy, which is improving the care options for children and youth in need of out-of-home placement, includes the Foster a Future…Foster a Child Today multi-media campaign.

Building on the success of phase one of the foster parent recruitment campaign, phase two was launched this past September and continues to feature Republic of Doyle’s Allan Hawco. This compelling campaign has been extremely successful to date with the creation of almost 75 new foster homes.

Mr. Speaker, our ultimate goal is to not only create a greater awareness about the critical shortage of foster homes in our province, but to also attract more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to open their hearts and their homes to children and youth who need a safe and nurturing place to live for a week, a month, a year, or longer.

As the number of foster families throughout our province continues to increase, our efforts to eventually eliminate the need for Alternate Living Arrangements is becoming more of a reality. In 2010, there was a high of 72 children in Alternate Living Arrangements and as of this October, with children being matched to more suitable placements such as foster homes, this number has been reduced significantly to approximately 20.

In addition to the recruitment campaign, the department has fully implemented levels 1 and 2 of a new four-level system. Mr. Speaker, these first two levels provide compensation specific to each level by recognizing the experiences, training and skills of foster parents and matching children and youth with a foster family which best meets their specific needs.
Implementation of the remaining two levels is underway as the department has awarded a Request for Proposals for the development of a training program for specialized (level 3) foster homes. In addition, the department is currently in the evaluation process of a Request for Proposals for level 4 contracted staffed residential placements with an expectation to award in the coming months.

We are delighted with the progress to date and I encourage all members of this Honourable House to view the campaign materials and learn more about becoming a foster parent by visiting www.FosteraFuture.ca . 

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

2013 11 06                                     2:25 p.m.