Our Mission

To encourage, promote, assist, and educate foster and kinship homes to enhance the quality of life for children in care.

The Kinship & Foster Family Network of Manitoba (The Network) is a non-profit charitable organization funded by the province of Manitoba. The Network’s Board membership is fully comprised of Kinship and foster parents. The Network promotes the participation of Kinship and foster parents in co-facilitating training and responding to peer support calls for guidance. The Network belongs to the Canadian Foster Family Association and is a member of the Child Welfare League of Canada.

The Network provides kinship and foster parents with training, guidance, and assistance to enhance their capacities, knowledge and skills to provide quality care.

 

Network Profile

At The Kinship & Foster Family Network of Manitoba we believe in the:

Empowerment of Kinship and Foster Parents to be respected members of the professional team, and we strive to provide training and supports that will assist you in achieving this goal.

Kinship and Foster Care works best when following the Principles of Addition:

  • Always add rather than subtract people from a child’s life.
  • Adding people always expands the circle of support.
  • The birth family always remains at the center of the circle.
  • A kinship or foster family is not the center of the circle but a valuable complementary addition to the birth family.

    Our office at 90 Terracon Place has space for Kinship & Foster Parent Gatherings. In addition, often the Network has knowledge of spaces that can be used free of charge in various communities throughout Manitoba.

    Please contact our main line at (204) 940-1280 for more details.

    In 1993, Manitoba’s provincial Foster Family Association (MFFA) was closed due to a loss in funding and was the only province without a Foster Family Association. Recognizing the importance for a Foster Family Association, a group of hard working and committed kinship/foster parents came together and with the support of facilitators created a funding proposal to establish a province-wide Foster Family Network in Manitoba. The proposal was funded by the Province and in 2000 the first office of The Kinship & Foster Family Network of Manitoba was opened on Provencher Avenue in Winnipeg.

    Today, The Network is located at 90 Terracon Place in Winnipeg and the services provided have expanded to include: Introduction to Kinship and Foster Care, Levels 1 and 2 training, The Peer Support Program, Community based events and Focused Forums. With the expansion of services, the kinship and foster parents’ involvement and participation in The Network has also grown. The Network takes pride in the services and supports provided to individual kinship and foster families and the kinship and foster family community.

    A lot of what we do is about connecting Kinship & foster families with other kinship & foster families, foster families needs to available supports and foster care trends to solutions. Give us a call at (204) 940-1280 to talk about how we can all work together to improve the child welfare system.