Latest news with #ChildrensServices
BBC News
23-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Children's services funding concerns as Pathfinder pilot ends
Children's services in Dorset could be facing a £3.5m shortfall with the ending of its pioneering of a national was one of three local authorities which received additional funding for piloting the Families First Pathfinder project which ended in funding has been promised to continue the work, it has yet to be executive director of children's services, Paul Dempsey, said it was a concern not to know how much the county might receive. He said he feared that the allocation of the national pot of funding, to be shared by all councils, might disadvantage rural areas, such as had also been taking part in national training and advising the government on its findings about the new ways of included seeking greater involvement of wider family, or family friends, when children face challenging Golding, corporate director for care and protection, told a meeting of the council's people and health overview committee that Dorset had seen a reduction of 22 in the number of children coming into care in 1924-25 as a result of the had also been a decrease in the number of children subject to a Child Protection said there had been a better use of family group conferences and family network meetings with positive feedback from the families extra funding had also allowed the recruitment of additional youth workers who, along with social workers, were playing a key role in identifying potential problems within councillor Stella Jones praised the county winning the bid to become a first wave Pathfinder – telling the committee that, as a result, Dorset children had benefitted ahead of other Department for Education has been approached for comment. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Kids battle in squeeze-off to send kids to camp
A good-natured competition had students racing to juice lemons in hopes of sending kids to camp. The Family and Children's Services (FACS) Foundation held a Lemon Twist Competition to raise awareness for an upcoming community fundraiser. Kids from across Waterloo Region were invited to see who could juice the most lemons in a race on Wednesday morning as the organization prepares for LemonAID Day on June 7. Community members are invited to set up lemonade stands across the region on LemonAID Day to raise money to help kids have fun and feel safe this summer. The FACS Foundation said all funds raised at the lemonade stands will be used to send vulnerable kids who are at risk of child abuse and neglect to camp or to other programs through the summer. 'When you think about kids and summer you often think about – when I was a kid I set up a lemonade stand,' Jill Stoddart, Executive Director of the FACS Foundation, said. 'It's kind of quintessential to what kids do in the summertime.' She said while some people have fond memories of their childhood summers, that isn't always the case for children facing hardships. 'For a lot of kids in this region, they don't have a lot of opportunities to go to camp, to be involved in activities and the summer can be a long time, sometimes unsupervised, sometimes in not healthy situations, without friends, without school. Camp gives kids an opportunity to meet new friends, learn, be supervised in a safe environment and to experience things that help them learn and grow.' Anyone who wants to take part in the initiative can reach out to the FACS Foundation and they will supply a lemonade stand and other supplies, including cups and lemonade. Stoddart said they will be offering supplies for up to 50 stands and there will be a map available for people who want to try to donate to as many participants as possible. Although the map is not ready yet, Stoddart said it will be upload online once it is complete. At the end of the day, Stoddart said she hopes they can create some sweet memories. 'We work directly with Family and Children's Services and workers who are working with families, who know that a child would benefit from a camp experience. [They] put in an application with us and then they get matched with a camp based on their need, whether it's art or music or theatre or a cultural experience,' she explained. The FCS Foundation has set a goal of $50,000 for LemonAID Day. They said it takes approximately $350 to send one kid to camp.
CTV News
07-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Region of Waterloo to gain hundreds of new childcare spaces
Relief could be coming for parents and guardians who are struggling to find daycare for their children. In a news release on Wednesday, the Region of Waterloo announced the Ministry of Education has allocated 411 new childcare spaces for the area under the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement, funded by the provincial and federal governments. Children's Services for the Region of Waterloo will also receive $7,902,660 in infrastructure and startup funding to create the new spaces in the hopes of lowering the cost of daycare to an average of $10 per day by 2026. A report presented to the region's Community and Health Services Committee on Tuesday notes, even with the additional funding, demand for childcare will continue to far exceed available spaces. 'Before CWELCC, the waitlist in Waterloo Region for licensed childcare was around 5,600 children – now it is over 13,000 children, of which 8,700 indicate they are looking for care immediately,' the report said.
