Province boosts CFS funding by $29M

The Manitoba government has earmarked an additional $29.2 million to bolster supports for children, youth and families in the child welfare system, but critics say it isn’t enough.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Tuesday the increase will help meet growing demand and improve outcomes for vulnerable children.

“This increase will help ensure children, youth and families get the supports they need, while strengthening the work of keeping more children connected to their families, kin and communities,” she said.

The province had announced a 10 per cent increase — $3.59 million — last year to increase basic maintenance rates for children in care, including in foster homes, and those under kinship and customary care agreements. It was the first increase since 2012.

Tuesday’s announcement is a continuation of that funding, Fontaine said, with $18.9 million earmarked to address rising service costs and caseloads, $3.1 million to support agency worker wages, and $7.2 million to maintain enhanced supports for caregivers through increased basic rates.

Jamie Pfau, a longtime foster parent and president of the Manitoba Foster Parent Association, said a 10 per cent increase may sound significant, but amounts to little in practice.

“The truth is, it’s like an extra $2 a day, so $60 a month,” she said, noting the cost of living is so much higher than it was in 2012. “So having an extra $2 a day, it’s not going to make a difference at all.”

Pfau questioned the lack of detail in the announcement and wondered who would benefit from the “enhanced supports for caregivers.”

“Does that mean birth families? Does that mean foster parents? Does that mean kinship?” she said. “What is the line by line? What is the budget?”

“I find with this government, everything is incredibly vague, and there’s limited accountability in terms of what has happened so far,” said Pfau, who ran unsuccessfully for the Liberals in the June 2024 Tuxedo byelection.

Basic maintenance is the minimum amount paid to foster parents to support a child in care through a CFS agency, which covers essentials such as food and clothing. Daily rates increased to between $24.32 and $34.72, depending on the child’s age and home community.

“We heard loud and clear from foster parents and organizations that support (children in care) that there hasn’t been a (funding) increase in over 12 years,” Fontaine said, adding Tuesday’s announcement is a continuation of that promise and is the full fiscal year funding amount.

Pfau said she has heard mostly negative feedback from foster families since Oct. 1, when the 10 per cent increase took effect.

She said mileage reimbursements have been eliminated, increasing costs for caregivers who must drive across or into Winnipeg for school and other needs.

“It is really frustrating,” she said, adding she will “believe it when she sees it” when it comes to Tuesday’s announcement.

Including the increase, total provincial funding for CFS services delivered through authorities, agencies and Indigenous jurisdiction will reach $458 million annually.

The province says the added funding builds on annual increases since 2023, bringing total new investments in the system to $77.3 million over that period.

Fontaine said two First Nations are close to signing agreements to run their own child and family services systems and are awaiting federal participation — one under the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and another under the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.

She said the province had hoped to announce the Southern Chiefs’ Organization agreement on April 1, but the federal government has yet to come to the table.

“I wish Canada would show more initiative than we’re doing here,” she said.

Bill C-92, introduced in 2019, affirms First Nations’ right to self-government in relation to child and family services.

Fontaine said 22 First Nations expressed interest in overseeing their own child and family services and are currently at various stages of the process.

“We’re very, very excited,” she said. “It’s a lot of work to develop Indigenous law and child welfare.”

Officials say the funding supports efforts toward reconciliation, including prioritizing kinship and customary care arrangements and preparing for the transition of child welfare services to Indigenous service providers.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca