We’re Smart & We Get A Lot Done

The Federation of Community Social Services of BC represents a membership of agencies who provide support to individuals and communities in BC. Our member agencies span the entire province and offer a broad range of services to communities, people living with physical and mental challenges, vulnerable children, youth and seniors, new immigrants, people living with addictions or mental health issues, and those living in poverty.

Since 1982, we’ve been strengthening and supporting our members and BC’s community services sector by networking, exchanging information, building skills, and consistently bringing a balanced perspective to discussions with provincial and national decision makers.

Altogether better

It’s more than just a slogan. It’s the philosophy that guides our organization. It’s the call to action that guides our work. It’s the strength of our partnerships. It’s what inspires and empowers our member organizations to make BC a better place to live and it’s a steadfast commitment to informed and passionate social services.

Engagement & Advocacy

We’re a strong representative voice at the provincial government level. We bring forward issues and concerns, as well as possible solutions, on behalf of our members, their clients, and the broader community services sector. We engage in collaborative action with our allies and partners to overcome challenges and improve community practice, programs, and public policy in BC.

Research & Networking

We connect the dots between ideas, research, and practices from around the world. We bring people together to share ideas, collaborate, and push innovation. Members, network partners, government, and other key stakeholders rely on us to provide accurate, current, and useful information about issues facing our sector. Our network includes not only our members but also governments, universities, other non-profits, and Aboriginal and First Nations organizations. We value and are extremely proud of these connections.

Services & Programs

Our board members and staff team have an unparalleled depth of knowledge about the field of community social services. Our services and programs inform, inspire, educate, and support the people and organizations that in turn support children, youth, adults, and families in communities throughout BC. We track sector issues, translate important research, uncover new and promising practices.

We do all this so that our members can deliver services of the highest quality, grounded in the best practices. Together we are working to develop a vibrant and sustainable community social services sector in BC. That’s what the people of BC deserve.

Join the Federation

The Federation of Community Social Services of BC has been a provincial leader in the child, youth, adult, and family serving field for 30 years. We’re community social service champions. We provide tools and support that enable BC’s community social services to do their best work.

By becoming a member, you not only gain the many benefits of membership in The Federation but you join the ranks of others standing with us as we work to improve the well-being of people across BC.

Join the Federation

Our Vision

A society of strong, healthy individuals and families, and caring, inclusive communities strengthened by comprehensive, responsive, high-quality supports and services.

Our Mission

The Federation acts as a catalyst for positive change to British Columbia’s social policies and community programs.

Our Membership

BC’s community social services system is complex. Many community social services organizations provide a wide range of services, to a wide range of people.

A common misconception is that community social services organizations are funded by the government. In fact, the government contracts community social services organizations to provide public services that the government is mandated to provide to its citizens. Many organizations have multiple programs, multiple contracts, and multiple funders. Many also do fundraising to provide services that federal, provincial, and municipal governments do not provide.

We work actively with our members to know who they are, what services they provide, and which communities they represent. This helps us paint an accurate picture when we speak with government leaders and decision makers about the state of BC’s community social services.

It also helps us to connect quickly with our members when there is an issue or policy that will affect them. It also helps us to connect members to each other when they have similar needs, require additional support, or have information to share with each other. Learn more about our amazing members here.

Boys and girls preparing science project poster

Who We Are

Ultimate Aims: How we will show up

We are committed to exemplifying the values we hold to be important in this work. These are the ways we are dedicated to showing up. These ideas are about our own moral compass. This is the ethos and ethic we aim to exhibit in all things.

Be unified. In all things, we stand together to be transparent, inclusive, and responsive to the needs and experiences of our membership.
Be bold. In all things, we show up to face the difficult but important and to challenge the status quo.
Be discerning. In all things, we are thoughtful and accountable to one another.
Be present. In all things, we will be fully present, attentive, and curious.

Best Means: The approach we take

We believe that every endeavour is guided by a set of commitments—not just about the why and the what, but also the how. These are the ways we are committed to engaging in our work. This is our approach. These principles inform everything we do.

Building trusting relationships. We do our best work when we create opportunities to strengthen and value relationships, when we build on the synergies we have through collaborations, and when we conscientiously and authentically engage with others.
Advancing proven and promising practices. We do our best work when we are grounded in research, when we are open to innovation, and when we recognize and utilize the expertise of our membership.
Connecting purposefully and collaboratively. We do our best work when we are thoughtful and intentional about bringing people and organizations in together in partnership.
Engaging inclusively. We do our best work when we listen to other perspectives and learn by being inclusive.
Consciously and boldly involving ourselves in social justice and reconciliation. We do our best work when we are driven by the virtues of equity and justice and when we speak truth to power in our contexts individually and collectively.

Premises: What we believe

We hold fast to a set of ideas that are fundamental to our work. These are our foundational perspectives. They keep us oriented and provide a rationale for working together as a federation. These are the core ideas that guide us.

There is wisdom in different perspectives.

Our members do not all share the same perspective. This makes our work together complex and is not a bad thing. Exposure to different perspectives brings new and varied solutions. Diversity strengthens our sector. Building partnerships that include diverse perspectives is vital to our cause.

We really are better together.

When we listen and learn, open ourselves to the influence of others, shoulder together toward common outcomes, we are better. When we move from our own work in our own organizations to a vision of our shared work, we are better. When we lift our gaze from what is coming to us separately and consider what we can contribute to the success of others, we are better. The social service sector is better when we join together to serve the communities in BC.

Social services organizations are critical to a healthy community.

Social services are as important as health and education to the vitality of a community. Everyone needs help sometimes. Social services and the agencies that offer them provide the critical link between the needs of individuals and families and care of the communities that wrap around us all.

The intentional inclusion of many voices creates lasting change.

The work of collaboration is difficult and time-consuming. Nonetheless, collaboration is the only way we will see the change we want to see. The strength and durability of decisions made through dialogue result in the kind of community change we desire. This kind of true and authentic dialogue requires relationships that are grounded in mutual respect and shared intention.

The best community services come from local knowledge and relationships.

The best social services are informed by local knowledge and enhanced by local relationships. In effective social service, there is no one size that fits all. There is no one social application that can be levied from afar that will achieve the same kind of impact that can be gained from up close. Organizations that are embedded in local communities understand best the needs of that community and the approaches that would work best.

The voices of Indigenous communities are critical.

The decision of indigenous communities to participate in the social service sector is not ours to dictate. We are mindful of not contributing to further colonization by assuming that the approaches emerging from dominant cultures must be joined by indigenous communities. However, we recognize the incompleteness of the whole community apart from the wisdom and heritage of those who have come before us.

Strong leaders make a strong sector.

Leaders are critical to the strength of the social sector. The quality of its leaders dramatically affects the quality of the sector. Investing in the development of leaders is a valuable pursuit. Having a Federation where leadership can grow, where relationships between leaders can form, where learning opportunities abound as research and wisdom is shared and developed is essential to a healthy and vibrant sector.

Progress for social justice and equity comes only through intention.

It is not enough for the social service sector in BC to be sustainable. We need the sector to have intentions for equity and social justice. Systemic change can happen only through a deliberate, concerted, and enduring effort to engage the underlying issues inhibiting the barriers to equity and justice.

Access to social care is a human right.

The right to social care is as fundamental as any human right. No person should ever lack the opportunity to receive the care of professional services and engage in the resources of the community. Social care is not a luxury. It is essential to the human experience. It is necessary for healthy communities.

We’re Smart & We Get A Lot Done

Altogether better

Engagement & Advocacy

Research & Networking

Services & Programs

The Federation on Twitter

Join the Federation

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Membership

Who We Are

Ultimate Aims: How we will show up

Best Means: The approach we take

Premises: What we believe

Contact Info

Reconciliation

Resources

About The Federation