March - Westcoast Family Centres

Westcoast News
We s t c o a s t Fa m i l y Re s o u rc e s S o c i e t y
Page 4
GENERAL
MEETING
ANNUAL
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Strength of Family
WESTCOAST NEWS
INVITATION
June 22nd 2:30 - 5:00 pm
at #104 - 2780 East Broadway Vancouver, off Kaslo
This 2011/2012 AGM will be the formal introduction of our new
name, logo, and slogan.
Westcoast Family Resources Society
will now be known as Westcoast Family Centres. To learn more
about this exciting process and see how this has changed the
face of the Agency, we invite you to this official unveiling.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jim Bahen, Director
John Clark, Vice President
Fran Maclean, Director
Petra St. Pierre, President
Mikaela Taylor, Treasurer
Keynote speaker, Beverly Dicks, Assistant Deputy Minister, MCFD
Trish Wallace, Secretary
MANAGEMENT TEAM
OF INTEREST
VENUE AVAILABLE TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS
 #104-2780 E Broadway Vancouver at Kaslo & Renfrew
 Bright room which can be darkened for audio /visual
power point presentations
 Seating available for 60 participants
 Kitchen and washroom facilities on site
 For more information call FREEZA ANAND at 604 2545457 ext 244 or email
freeza.anand@westcoastfamily.org
Ann Kutcher, Executive Director
Freeza Anand, Director of
Administration and Development
Johnny Zheng, Controller
Kam Gillis, Human Resources
Clo Gilbert, Team Leader
Vancouver NE
Paul Sheaves, Team Leader
Vancouver NW
Theresa Thompson,
Clinical Supervisor, Maple Ridge
Tanya Valois, Program Director
Tri-Cities East Neighbourhood Centre
Donate to Westcoast Family Resources Society
Canada Revenue Agency registered charity # 13145 4555RR0001
Donations fund education groups for parents, equipment, and new endeavours at Westcoast.
 I enclose my donation of $ ______________
Name:
________________________________________________________________________
Address:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Telephone:
_______________________________
Email: _____________________________________________
Return to: Westcoast Family Resources Society #101 - 2780 E. Broadway Vancouver BC V5M 1Y8. A tax receipt will be sent to you.
You can also donate to Westcoast On-Line. Go to our website www.westcoastfamily.org
Click on ‘Make a Donation’. Then on the ‘Donate Now’ button. This secure website administers donations for us. You
can donate in someone’s honour, or set up monthly donations. A tax receipt will be sent to you.
Westcoast News wants to hear from you...
Please send contributions, photos, and news items to: anne.fitzpatrick@westcoastfamily.org
Volume 9 Issue 4
March 2011
Wayne Wong, Program Director
North Shore, Vancouver
As of April 2010 the unionized employees of this sector have been enrolled in a pension plan. The Municipal Pension
Plan helps to provide this sector with some recognition of the importance of the work that we do with children and
families. This enrollment provides some stability for employees for their future in this sector and provides a platform
for retention and recruitment of staff.
Quality improvement has long been an important focus at Westcoast Family Resources Society. Our in house
committee on Performance Quality Improvement (PQI) continually looks for ways to improve service to clients and
community. Our Quality Improvement Plan serves as our commitment to continuously provide services in a safe,
recipient centered and timely manner. Quality improvement activities emerge from a systematic and organized
framework for improvement. This framework, adopted by the Westcoast leadership, is understood, accepted and
utilized throughout the organization as a result of continuous education and involvement of staff at all levels in
performance improvement.
At Westcoast as we further promote and discuss diversity issues, our Diversity Committee has developed an action
plan for 2011. This plan focuses on increasing cultural awareness throughout the organization, as well as an
assessment of Diversity at WFRS by engaging employees to ensure that policies and practices are addressing the issues
of the groups concerned.
In February, we hosted a Celebration of the East to celebrate the Lunar New Year. There were approximately 65
people in attendance who enjoyed the celebrations and a delicious lunch. See comments from attendees on page two
of this publication.
Our programs continue to offer Group Parenting Programs in Vancouver, North shore, and out in Tri-Cities. Topics
include Parenting Strategies, Anger & Stress Management in Vancouver, and in Tri-Cities in collaboration with the
YMCA. The North Shore continues to offer groups to our Farsi speaking clients. In Vancouver we have been providing
supervised access for children and parents in a group setting. These groups have also been well attended and provide a
learning and social atmosphere for the attendees.
We are also very excited about the announcement of a nomination for
the Premier’s Award of Service and Excellence in our Ridge Meadows
program. WFRS staff Theresa Thompson and Joanna Van Kuyk, in
collaboration with two MCFD personnel, completed a research project
on the outcome of the Family Development Response (FDR) Program
which is a quick response and intervention service to child protection
concerns.
In other news, we are pleased to announce that we were successful in
our application to provide Parenting after Separation Program (PAS)
through the Attorney General’s office for mandated clients in Vancouver
and the North Shore. We are excited about this opportunity to take on
WFRS-Ridge Meadows and MCFD Staff
this new role and service for these communities.
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to our Annual General Meeting on June 22nd. The keynote speaker
will be Beverly Dicks, Assistant Deputy Minister, who will talk about the future direction of MCFD. More details can be
found on page four of this publication.
On a final note, as we forge into Spring we look forward to expanding our role in the community and for new
endeavors to enhance services to children and families.
Ann Kutcher, Executive Director and Project Manager VFPS
Head Office and Vancouver - NE
Vancouver - NW
North Shore
Ridge Meadows
Tri-Cities East Neighbourhood Centre
#101 - 2780 E Broadway, Vancouver V5M 1Y8
#201 - 460 Nanaimo Street, Vancouver V5L 4W3
#301 - 255 W 1st Street, North Vancouver V7M 3G8
22323 - 119 Ave, Maple Ridge V2X 2Z2
2062 Manning Ave, Port Coquitlam V3B 1L6
www.westcoastfamily.org
Tel 604 254-5457
Tel 604 255-9568
Tel 604 985-2202
Tel 604 466-7328
Tel 604 944-2500
PROGRAM UPDATES
Westcoast News
Page 2
Westcoast News
OUR DONORS AND SUPPORTERS
Page 3
RIDGE MEADOWS
The Family Development Response Program (FDR), in
collaboration with MCFD, has been selected as one of the
finalists to receive the Premiers award for Excellence in
the area of Service Delivery. To this end, a video has been
made on March 11th about the Maple Ridge FDR program
and will be aired province wide soon after. Every year the
province selects finalists from approximately 100
nominations. These nominees come from across all public
service sectors and their respective Ministries.
The research that gained the attention of the province was
based on findings that indicated fewer children were
found in need of protection following an FDR approach
(37%) versus an investigative response (67%). The families
that were involved in the FDR service reported that they
had a positive experience. Both Westcoast and the
Ministry of Children and Family Development teams
identified that the co-location and collaborative
relationship strongly contributed to the success of the
service.
Theresa Thompson, Clinical Supervisor
Optimist Clubs conduct community service programs on a
Joanna Duong, Ann Kutcher, Paul Houle MCFD-RFH
“It was obvious how much work was done to make this
event so successful.... Thanks again for coordinating this
and for bringing us all together to start off the New Year
in such a fabulous way”.
OTHER PROGRAM UPDATES
The
Vancouver Preservation Program recently celebrated
the Asian Lunar New Year. Traditionally celebrated by the
Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures, it was suggested
inviting staff and collaterals for an informative yet fun event
on January 26th. Attendees helped themselves to traditional
Chinese and Vietnamese snacks whilst watching a DVD
presentation of Lunar New Year celebrations. This helped
prepare them for a quiz on the cultural aspects of the Lunar
New Year. Questions such as “Which two animals are
different from the Chinese and Vietnamese Zodiacs?” (rabbit
and cat). “What must Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese
children do before they can receive lucky money?” (wish their
elders happy New Year and good health). “Which colour is an
absolute no-no during the Lunar New Year”? (white).
Lunch provided a further opportunity to wish colleagues
“Gung Hay Fat Choy” and “Chuc Mun Nam Moi”, as well as
socialize. Some of the comments from attendees included:
“Celebration of East” was informative, educational, fun,
delicious, and helpful for my work with clients of the
Vietnamese culture”.
“Celebration of the East” was really enjoyable, fun and had
great food. The questions helped me to understand many
Asian cultures.
“I enjoyed your wonderful celebration of Chinese, Korean
and Vietnamese New Year. It was great to see such a huge
turnout with so many people there from the different
agencies. I also improved my knowledge of New Year’s
celebrations from a cross cultural perspective. (cont.)
local level with an emphasis on projects that help kids
reach their full potential. The non-profit organization's
philosophy encompasses programs and activities directed
toward assistance to youth and the improvement of the
community.
Every year for the last 15 years, The
North Shore Optimist Club has supported North shore PREP, as the program was called at that time, and the
Family Preservation & Support Services as it is known to day. The Optimist Club’s generous donations have
helped provide resources (videos,
DVDs, books and counselling tools) to
better serve the families we serve, as well as making the
festive season special to families and children with very
few resources. Westcoast Family Resources is grateful to
the Optimist Club and looks forward to their continued
support to our families.
HYDRECS is governed by a volunteer committee of 16 BC
Hydro employees and retirees representing the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW local 258),
Canadian Office & Professional Employees (COPE local 378),
and Management & Professionals. Through this charitable
trust, Westcoast Family Resources received a generous
grant from their 2010 Community Growth Fund.
The funds were used to
buy equipment and materials for our Thera-play
program that helps in the
healing for children affected by trauma, abuse/
and or neglect.
We extend our thanks to Sheila L
indfie
the HYDRECS committee
Clinical ld & Mary Yan
Counsell
ors
for their continued
support in the development of our programs
and services.
PARENTING-AFTER-SEPARATION
At the end of January 2011, WFRS responded to an RFP
put out by the Attorney General’s Office to co-ordinate
and deliver Parenting After Separation (PAS) sessions.
This particular proposal included a three year contract for
the Vancouver, North Shore, and tri-Cities regions. WFRS
is pleased and excited to announce that Vancouver and
North Vancouver Preservation Programs were chosen to
provide PAS services in their respective communities.
Starting April 2011, Westcoast staff will deliver this specifically designed curriculum to parents in the separation
process who have been mandated to attend.
The objectives for these sessions, as laid out by the Attorney General’s Office, are closely aligned to WFRS’ best
practice of strength based service. Some of these
objectives include providing information to parent regarding the court and mediation process, and the Family
Justice system to help families make important legal
decisions that are in the best interest of their children.
In keeping with the main focus of our work as family
counsellors, parents will receive information on how to
best assist and help their children handle the turmoil of
separation, and make positive adjustments to their new
living arrangements and schedules.
The work is about to begin, and WFRS is both pleased and
proud to be delivering this curriculum of information to
parents in the communities that we serve.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SUPERVISED VISITATION WORKER
When children are brought into care by MCFD, parents are
still able to have contact with them by means of supervised
visits. And as these visits, particularly in the beginning, can
be emotionally difficult it takes a special kind of worker to
make them both positive and meaningful.
Most visits are fairly typical with regard to the length of time
a family spends together, and when the visits take place.
However, it is largely the co-ordination and careful planning
of the supervised visitation worker who brings the parent
and child(ren) together.
Is there a typical or even predictable day in the life of a
Supervised Visitation Worker? According to Bruce MacLeod,
SV Co-ordinator, each visit stands on its own. Each individual human experience is different and significant in of itself.
So even though guidelines and expectations are put into
place by MCFD, the visits need to remain focused on the
child, and this can prove to be a challenge for parents. The
SV Worker has to acknowledge parents are anxious and
stressed, and at the same time encourage parents to redirect this energy back to their child in a positive way.
Maintaining a safe environment, where parents perceive the
SV worker as neutral, is a work in progress with each
recurring visit.
SV workers have to be sensitive to the needs of each individual child. An infant, for example, will need to be approached
slowly so as to make the transition from the foster home to
the visit as seamless as possible. A distraught baby equals
distraught parents!
Toddlers and school aged children need the assurance and
trust that they are safe to leave their foster parents or
school and go with the SV worker, who in the beginning is
essentially someone they do not know. Building trusting
relationships with children
who have their own personalities and behavioral issues is
what supervised visitation is all
about.
To have both parents and children anticipate their next visit
is the goal of each and every
SV Worker. To help re-unify
the family and preserve the
family unit is the ultimate goal
of the SV Worker!
Bruce MacLeod
Co-ordinator