The Foster Parent Association's goal is to make a difference in the lives of children and their families. We work together as partners to improve methods that affect our children in care. With patience, kindness, knowledge, guidance and an understanding we will make a difference. We know that it is not easy to care for someone else’s child and, that it will be extremely difficult for the child in care. It takes an amount of energy, skill, respect, perseverance and love. Being a foster parent is an honorable and rewarding experience that will last a lifetime for your family and the children you care for. Together as a group of caring partners we share ideas, skills, knowledge and education.

All children will face challenges  and regrettably, face disappointments at one time or another. When family creates an unhealthy environment for a child, removal from the home becomes necessary. Foster families provide safe, caring environments for children who are unable to remain in their home. The objective of foster care is to provide the child with a family environment to facilitate child development. Foster care strives to create an environment which promotes positive relationships between the caregiver, the child and the child’s family. When a child is entering foster care, kinship or adoption, they come with a tremendous amount of loss. Losses that include birth parents, extended family, home, pets, schools, friends, personal belongings, and in some cases culture. We are a diverse society and culture, language, religion, and values must be respected and safeguarded.

The ideal plan is to reunite children with their family. Many families can get the help they need and reunite with their children. When a reunion is not possible, the plan may include adoption, kinship care or long-term foster care. Foster Parents work by helping children deal with this grief and trauma. Foster Parents are committed to giving the children the dignity they deserve. Children need to express their feelings freely and we recognize that children’s fears, sadness and anger can have long-lasting effects on their lives. With perseverance, validation and empowerment, many children will have the ability to face challenges and to endure them with courage.

Children have been and continue to be the most oppressed, exploited and victimized group of human beings on the planet. Children remain the most voiceless and the most discriminated against group of people in all societies. While every adult group has fought for and won basic human rights protections and freedom, children remain the only group of human beings without the same rights to equality, respect, protection from bodily harm and freedom of speech. It is unthinkable and unjust that we have stopped short  of fully including children when we fight so hard to establish basic human rights protections for all people. We need to be voices for children and  fight for children's voices to be heard. We need to advocate for kids' sake. Children need to know their rights and their rights need to be respected! It is always our goal to keep our foster children's best interest at the forefront at all times. Background 2 - Best Interests of the ChildBackground 3 - Accountability  Children: The Silenced Citizens  EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF CANADA’S INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN  The Office of the Provincial Advocate reports directly to the Legislature and provides an independent voice for children and youth, including children with special needs and First Nations children. Annual Report Release National Youth in Care Network SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS... Drugs In Our System: An Exploratory Study On The Chemical Management Of Canadian Systems Youth. This report explores the increasingly common trend of using mood-altering and behaviour modifying psychotropic medications to address the behaviours, mental health and emotional healing needs of young people in systems care. The stories of 59 Canadian systems youth and 97 service providers (interveners) have revealed the incidence of psychotropic use, the consequences and benefits associated with this method of service provision, as well as the lack of appropriate resources and support for youth and caregivers alike. Alongside our findings, the NYICN has presented over 30 recommendations intended to improve protocols and accountability frameworks that determine and support the healing needs of all young people in care. View the results of this report (click here) Printable version (click here) Executive Summary (click here) A MUST WATCH VIDEO'S ...FRONTLINE THE MEDICATED CHILD Drugging our Children w/ Psychiatry’s Antipsychotic Drugs Benefit bypasses foster kids: 20,000 Ontario children haven't received money under new Liberal plan to alleviate poverty  News Release  McGuinty Government Creates Championship Teams And Improves Financial Support February 19, 2009 Ontario is helping Crown wards succeed at college and university. Foster kids to get money for recreation, savings plans June 27, 2008   February 19, 2009  Ontario is helping Crown wards The Ontario Child Benefit  The Ontario Child Benefit is financial support that low-income families can receive to help provide for their children.  It’s also the centrepiece of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. About 465,000 families with 960,000 children receive a monthly Ontario Child Benefit payment each month. That’s up to $50 per child each month, increasing to up to $67 per child each month as of July 2009.  Watch a video about the Ontario Child Benefit   More supports for kids in care of children's aid societies  Children and youth in care will now have more opportunities to build the skills and confidence they will need when they leave care. McGuinty Government Giving Vulnerable Children And Youth A Stronger Voice McGuinty Government Supporting Grandparents Who Care For Vulnerable Grandchildren Ontario Government Launches Expert Panel On Psychotropic Drugs McGuinty Government Expanding Telepsychiatry Services For Children And Youth ADHD Children At-Risk for Tardive Dyskinesia in Adulthood   LearningWorks for Kids Basics: Executive Functions Playbooks Digital Technologies & Learning Engamement Alternative Learners Other Tools How to Use Digital Technologies to Help Your Child Improve: Writing Organization & Planning Homework Completion Following Directions Social Skills Self-control Goal-setting Problem-solving  Canada's most visited website supporting Canadian children's rights and responsibilities. The Canadian Children's Rights Council, is a non-profit, non-governmental educational and advocacy organization concerned with Canadian children's human rights and responsibilities.

Dental Clinic new at C.A.S. office.   FOSTER PARENT MESSAGE BOARD!  Kinship caregivers in Ontario Message Boards PARENTING VIDEO'S AND MORE! Become a Partner in Protection  How You Can Help  Remember, it's everyone's responsibility to help protect our children. If you are aware of a child at risk, please call us immediately.  There are many ways to help children and families through the Durham Children's Aid Society.  You can Help: Become a member of the Society Run for a position on our Board of Directors Join us at one of our events Become a volunteer Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent Be a good parent ADHD  ADHD 2  Creation Spirituality Psychiatric Drugs Natural Learning Gifted? Testing Children Characteristics Gifted Child Life Teaching  Free booklet PDF: Psychiatric Drugs & Your Child's Future

The National Youth in Care Network   OACAS: Child Welfare: FAQs The Children's Aid Society (CAS) , It's Time for Children's Rights Education The Independent Child and Youth Advocate: an adult looking out for kids in Ontario The story of Bill 165—a new law to protect kids Welcome to the Children's Information Portal! This site brings together information about all the children and youth programs and services provided by the Government of Ontario. T: 416.489.5485 T (Toll-Free): 1.877.489.5485 Youth in foster care are becoming increasingly aware of their own potential to effect change for themselves personally and within the system. One avenue that allows them to learn more about their own rights and responsibilities, and that can lead to empowerment for them, is the use of handbooks written for and about young people in care. Read More  Rights of Children in Foster Care: Last updated: January 5, 2005  OPENNESS THE KEY TO INCREASING DOMESTIC ADOPTION: ONTARIO GOVERNMENT (June 6, 2005) Openness in adoption arrangements is the key to finding more permanent families for Ontario's Crown wards. That is the thrust of legislation introduced today by the Minister of Children and Youth Services

Sensory Processing Disorder vs. Attention Deficit Disorder by Carol S.Kranowitz, M.A.author of  The Out-of-Sync Child: RESPs to be set up for children in foster care: About 40 per cent of youth in the general population attend post-secondary school, but only about 21 per cent of youth that are under the care of Children's Aid societies  ARTICLES Canadian Foster Family Association! C.R.I.S. --- Caregiver Recording Information System: A Software Review By OACAS Journal Professionalizing Foster Care: The Welfare Of Children By Thomas Waldock, Ph.D. Professionalization Of Foster Care: Turn the Key and Start the Engine By Baldwin P. Reichwein The Central Region Foster Care Project: Initial Observations By Thomas Waldock, Ph.D. A Critical Look at The Foster Care System /Incentives to Foster Parents Washington State Foster Parents Unionize New Incentives Offered to Foster Parents A Hot Button Issue Strategies Parents Find Helpful In Raising Their Children Living With FASD© Brought to you by St. Michael’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Diagnostic Clinic Prepared by Czaee Rajwani Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child   Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children PART Practice And Reasearch Together PART is a knowledge translation model that promotes the concept of evidence-informed practice in child welfare.  What is foster care? CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO HAVE A SAY ABOUT THE ISSUES THAT CONCERN THEM.

Welcome to the HandsOnScotland Toolkit More supports for kids in care of children's aid societies June 26, 2008  McGuinty Government expands opportunity for vulnerable youth Universal Declaration of Human Rights LEGISLATED RIGHTS FOR FOSTER PARENTS IT’S HAPPENED IN ALBERTA! LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN IN BC! Presidents Letter BC Foster Parents Bill of Rights Draft Live Foster Care Chat CANGRANDS National Kinship Support For Information on upcoming events and meetings.  The Challenge of Children's Rights for Canada

Free Canadian Legal Advice "An organizational culture that shuns openness and accountability is often a major cause when institutions fail children" - Lawyer Susan Fraser  Children with disabilities Some 150-200 million out of two billion children worldwide - or ten per cent of children - live with disabilities. Children with disabilities experience widespread violations of their rights, many of which are common to those faced by adults – poverty, social exclusion, lack of accessible environments, violence. They face abuses including abandonment as babies, institutionalisation, exclusion from education, lack of birth registration, lack of respect for their evolving capacities, inappropriate child protection systems. Estimates indicate that over 90 per cent of all children with disabilities are unlikely to receive any formal education. Children and the new Convention The new Convention marks a shift from seeing children with disabilities as objects of charity, and addressing their 'special needs' - the approach set out in Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - to subjects of rights. All the Articles in the text apply to children with disabilities; in addition, Article 7 sets out specific obligations to ensure children with disabilities enjoy of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children, to ensure that the best interests of the child is a primary consideration, and to provide disability and age appropriate assistance to ensure that children with disabilities are able to realise the right to their express views on all matters of concern to them and have them taken seriously in accordance with age and maturity. Read more in Gerison Lansdown's paper: The New Disability Convention and the Protection of Children. Youth for Human Rights

This website would not be possible without the help and support of many foster and kinship parents. We are grateful to you and appreciate all your support. Thank you from your F.P.A.   REMEMBER YOUR NEXT FOSTER PARENT ASSOCIATION MEETING ON FEBRUARY 12th 7p.m. Durham C.A.S. office. WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.         Contact Betty At: durhamfpa@gmail.com     Please read this page before you continue to go through this website.