Updated MCFD Caregiver Screening Policy

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In December 2014, MCFD implemented a new caregiver screening policy. Since then, a number of Federation members faced challenges implementing the new requirements and, over the past three years, we have been working closely with MCFD to provide feedback from community organizations and to help the ministry identi ...Read More

The benefits of partnerships: Federation Insurance Products

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The Federation believes that in order to be strong and sustainable, BC’s community social services sector must have access to high quality and affordable insurance products. That’s one big reason why our member agencies have access to a suite of comprehensive and reliable insurance programs and ...Read More

Award for Excellence Nominations 

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Last week, I spoke about the Federation’s Youth Education Bursary and the way that it serves to welcome young people into our sector and our work. Today, I want to talk about our Award for Excellence and the related purpose it serves—recognizing and thanking the people who have stayed in the sector and committed their c ...Read More

BC’s new Employer Health Tax

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One of the big changes revealed in the BC budget speech a few weeks ago was the announcement of a new progressive tax that will replace MSP premiums in our province. The BC Employers Health Tax, as it will be called, is slated to come into effect in January 2019. We know there are already many questions about how this tax wi ...Read More

Federation Champions: Supporting each other

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As we were getting ready for February’s Social Policy Forum in Victoria, we came up with a simple new idea that we thought might help keep our provincial events affordable and accessible for our small- and medium-sized members. The Federation is constantly striving to support our members, but we wanted to test ...Read More

Youth Education Bursary: Supporting youth in care

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As many of you know, The Federation’s Youth Education Bursary was an initiative that was actually established by Federation members. But you may not know that its creation was inspired by two different, but related intentions. The first (rather obvious) goal was to support young people in care—in particu ...Read More

Budgets, Issues, and Action Plans

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There’s a lot going on in BC and at The Federation this week so my weekly update will cover a few different topics: this week’s provincial budget, the next steps after our 2018 Social Policy Forum, and ongoing peer support and learning opportunities for Federation members and their staff. 1. Social Policy Forum R ...Read More

Research Bulletin February 2018: Sustainable Community Social Services

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This month’s research bulletin is the final collection in preparation of The Federation’s 2018 Social Policy Forum. As such, the reports and analysis below contain research, information, and ideas about strengthening, supporting, and re-imagining the future of community social service delivery and the social care sector. ...Read More

A time for thanks and for looking forward

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It’s that time of year when we focus on what matters most to us and when we reflect on where we’ve come from and where we want to go in the months ahead. I expect 2018 will be a very busy year in which The Federation builds on new opportunities, strengthens relationships, and works even harder to create a strong and sustaina ...Read More

Creating stronger and more sustainable community social services

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The past five months have been busy at The Federation. The NDP government’s focus on social issues like poverty and childcare means there are many opportunities for The Federation to engage with decision makers. And we’ve been doing just that. In meetings and consultations and committees we have b ...Read More