Support Services
MCFD foster parents, out of care (kith and kin) providers, and restricted foster parents within the Vancouver Coastal Region (Richmond, Vancouver & North Shore) and all VACFSS caregivers have access to no-cost, confidential, professional support services.
There are currently four agencies contracted by MCFD to provide this support. These include:
Connexus Child and Family Services
Family Services of Greater Vancouver
Hollyburn Family Services
Vancouver Coastal Health – Foundations Program
VACFSS has contracted the Federation of Aboriginal Foster Parents and Hollyburn Family Services to provide this support.
These agencies provide different levels of support to parents and families. There are various types of support available, including, but not restricted to:
General Services
In-Home Family Support
In-Home Specialized Support
Accessing Support Services
Caregivers can access general support services themselves by calling 1-877-926-1185 or contacting us through the contact page on the homepage of this site.
In-Home Foster Family Support and In-Home Specialized Support Services requires a referral to be completed by a Resource Social Worker.
The referral document must be fully completed and forwarded to either the MCFD Liaison to Foster Family Support and Education Services (currently Bern McNicholl) or VACFSS Liaison (currently Demian Young) who provides initial screening and ensures that all necessary information has been provided.
FPSP REFERRAL FORM_2011 (3) (MCFD Referral Form)
( Download VACFSS referral form here )
The Liaison Worker then brings the referral to the central referral table which meets monthly, or immediately forwards it to the chairperson for allocation of urgent or emergency referrals. It is the job of the referral table to match the family’s needs to the appropriate level of service and to assign a family support worker or counsellor to the family. The allocated worker will then contact the referrer and family directly.
For more information on support services, please speak with your liaison person, or contact us. Please refer to the calender of events for information about the next upcoming referral table meeting.
Please refer to the events calender on the right side of this page for information on upcoming training opportunities, support & networking groups, and other social opportunities available to your caregivers.
Support services provide a welcome wagon service to new foster parents and caregivers. If you are working with a new caregiver, or a caregiver who you think would benefit from an understanding of how to navigate support and general services, and become more aware of the many services available to them, please contact us at 1-877-926-1185 and we will be sure to offer them a visit with a welcome wagon (full of goodies relevant to fostering and some treats just for them!).
Foster parents and other caregivers are encouraged to join the foster parent e-community mailing list. In addition to the information being available on this website, they will receive email updates with information pertaining to relevant training opportunities, support and networking groups, events, complimentary tickets and much more.
There are currently over 250 caregivers on this e-community and we hope to have many more. Please share this opportunity with your caregivers by sending them the homepage link to this site where they can join the mailing list directly.