The Youth Futures Education Fund provides living expenses to youth who have aged out of the foster care system and are attending a post-secondary institution on a tuition waiver. The grant assists with supplemental educational funding for expenses such as books, housing, utilities, or emergency situations. Recently the fund made news MORE
A July 3, 2019 news release from the Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) announced a regulatory change that expands the Office’s legal mandate to allow the office to advocate for more young adults who have aged out of government care. Young adults up to their 24th birthdays who have aged MORE
Parent Support Services Society of BC (PSS) and the University of Northern BC are conducting a survey on kinship care families in BC. Are you a Kinship Caregiver? Are you raising a child or children of a relative because their parents are unable? (This child lives in your home but the parent MORE
In this year’s BC budget submission, First Call highlights five recommendations from our 2018 Child Poverty Report Card starting with important targeted poverty reduction measures for families living in deep poverty. Our Key Recommendations: 1. Increase income supports for families living in deep poverty 2. Invest in early childhood 3. Ensure MORE
Inclusive Solutions is an international organization that offers a range of inclusion-oriented services including casework, person-centred planning, innovative training and community building. Their website offers a range of research on topics including restorative justice and listening to young people.
The Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia released an audit that looked at the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD)’s oversight of contracted residential services for children and youth in care. The news release and report found that MCFD is not providing effective oversight of contracted residential MORE
Maytree is an organization committed to advancing systemic solutions to poverty and strengthening civic communities. They recently released a report that examines why youth in and from care in Ontario face systemic and multi-faceted barriers in getting a quality education, and makes recommendations on how to improve the situation. Three of their MORE
TELUS is working with Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada to support young people in their transition out of care in British Columbia by providing free cell phone packages over a two-year period. The $0 cell phone package will include a monthly phone and data plan with unlimited across Canada talk MORE
The Fostering Change Campaign calls for help to respond to the upcoming provincial Budget 2020 consultation. The consultation will take place in June this year, three months earlier than previous years. Fostering Change is mobilizing speakers across the province to share the call for better supports for youth leaving care. MORE
800 copies of “We Are Everywhere”, a community engaged book featuring 10 Vancouver area adults formerly in government care, will be distributed to the youth in care community. The Housing Matters Media Project is trying to gather as many letters as possible by Friday, May 31st so that they are MORE
Dylan Cohen, Fostering Change Campaign Organizer, worked with Spotlight: Child Welfare to discuss the best practices for journalists interviewing youth, parents and others with lived experience in the child welfare system. He developed tip sheets drawing on existing literature, his own experiences with media, and interviews with youth and parents MORE
The Canadian Mental Health Association of BC released a paper that aims to further explore how BC can better support youth in and from care, with a specific lens on their mental health and well-being. It explores the current context of foster care in BC, the mental health and substance MORE
The BC Federation of Foster Parents Associations has a number of bursaries specifically for youth in and from care. The JCW Excellence in Writing Grant is for $2000 for youth who have been in care who intend to further their education in the field of writing. The General Scholarship Fund MORE
The Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks announced two opportunities for young people in and from care. The Dream Fund has two bursaries available. The Education Achievement Bursary are for youth in and from care attending post-secondary school. The Reach for Success Bursary helps young people achieve their goals MORE
Fostering Change is hiring a second Campaign Organizer to be part of a dynamic campaign that supports a BC child welfare advocacy movement that is youth-driven and focused on improving government policies that affect youth in and from care. Experience in care is an asset, and we also value other work and MORE