B.C. announces increased rates for foster parents and kinship care providers
Foster families in British Columbia will get a monthly pay raise of hundreds of dollars starting April 1.
Mitzi Dean, the child and family development minister, said Wednesday that families fostering kids 11 and under will see their payments increase by $450 a month to $1,465 per child, while caregivers for those 12 to 19 will see a $531 monthly increase to $1,655 per child.
Dean said rates were frozen for nearly a decade under the previous government, and the latest increase is the second implemented since the New Democrats came to power in 2017.
The increased funding, Dean said, will fill a “critical need” for families hit hard by inflation who need to provide children with food, clothing and other essentials as living costs rise.
The province boosted funding for caregivers first in 2019 and injected a further $85 million to increase caregiver payments in the 2023 budget, affecting approximately 7,800 children and caregiver families.
Dean said funding is also increasing for other caregivers, including those with high- and special-needs children, along with so-called kinship families who take children under their care from family members.
Katie Robertson, executive director of the Parent Support Services Society of B.C., said she was raised in a kinship care situation herself and the increased funding will give kids security and stability, while helping keep families intact.
“As a young child, my mother struggled with a substance use disorder and we lived in deep poverty, and I experienced horrific neglect and violence and abuse,” Robertson said. “I left home when I was 13 and were it not for several families providing kinship care in my early teenage years, I would not be here today.” Robertson said kinship care is common, especially in Indigenous cultures, when parents can't care for their own children, who are then taken in by aunts, uncles, grandparents and others.
Relatives who find themselves caring for a family member's child are often caught off guard, representing “a major life change physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially for both the caregivers and children,” Robertson said.
“These increases will help many kinship care families to focus on what matters most, giving these children and youth the best opportunity to live a life filled with love, stability, community and connection,” she said. “When kinship care is an option, families stay intact, cultures are preserved and children are given a chance to thrive.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Minister said 'hundreds' of Canadians might use Gaza visa. More than 7,500 applied.
An immigration lawyer in Toronto says new figures from the federal government show just how 'grudging' Ottawa's efforts have been to rescue Canadians' family members from the war in the Gaza Strip.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Florida deputies who fatally shot U.S. airman burst into wrong apartment, attorney says
Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man's family said Wednesday.