Information for Foster Parents
General Information
Foster Families Change Lives
The importance of foster parents cannot be overstated. Children who come into care need loving, caring family homes where they can find support, nurturing and stability. Foster parents come from a wide variety of family compositions, cultures and have different life experiences. What is important is that they are prepared to make a commitment to care for children, whether it be short or long term.
Becoming a Foster Parent
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, you can begin with a phone call to your local General Authority agency. A foster care worker will explain the application process to you and discuss whether this would be the right move for you.
Prospective and Current Foster Parents
If you are interested in foster parenting and want to know more or are a current foster parent and want information on standards, support, or your rights as a foster parent, please follow the links below.
Dispute Resolution
Adults who are interested in becoming foster parents in Manitoba should be aware of both their rights and their responsibilities, in order to ensure that the highest quality of care is provided.
Dispute Resolution
If you are a foster parent who has concerns, complaints, or disagreements with a Child and Family Services agency, you are encouraged to raise those concerns with the CFS worker. If you and your CFS worker can’t sort it out, ask to speak to the CFS supervisor.
It has been our experience that most matters are usually resolved at this point. However, if you, your CFS worker, and the supervisor can’t resolve the problem, and you are still not satisfied that the issue has been dealt with, you may contact the manager who oversees the supervisor involved. The final step within the agency structure would be to contact the agency director. If you have used all avenues within the agency structure, you may then contact the General Authority at generalauthority@gov.mb.ca or (204) 984-9360, or 1-866-803-2814.
Complaints & Appeals
Foster parents who have concerns or who wish to make appeals may find comprehensive information in the Child and Family Services Standards Manual.
Concerns may fall into the following categories:
- Complaints about and by foster parents – found under the Resource Management heading, Summarized in the CFS Standards Manual – Volume 1: Agency Standards, Chapter 5: Foster Care, Section 1: Resource Management under the heading Complaints Relating to Foster Homes.
- Licensing appeals – found under the Licensing and Licensing Appeals heading, Volume 1: Agency Standards, Chapter 5: Foster Homes, Section 2: Licensing and Licensing Appeals.
- Removal of a foster child appeals – found under the Removing Foster Children heading. Volume 1: Agency Standards, Chapter 5: Foster Homes, Section 6: Removing Foster Children.
Other sources of information include the Manitoba government’s Foster Care Page and the The Kinship & Foster Family Network of Manitoba.