FAQs

Keep these provincial numbers where you can find them fast. For any life-threatening situation, call 911. For a child in care emergency outside office hours (normally 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday), call the MCFD After Hours Line at 1-800-663-9122 — in the Lower Mainland, 604-660-8180. To report suspected child abuse or neglect, call the Ministry Helpline for Children at 310-1234, staffed 24/7, no area code needed. For poisoning or exposure to a harmful substance, call the Poison Control Centre at 1-800-567-8911, available across BC, 24 hours a day.

Alongside these, keep your own local numbers on the fridge or in your phone: local police and fire non-emergency lines, your nearest hospital emergency room, a local crisis or distress line, and the names and numbers for your child’s social worker, your resource social worker, and your child’s doctor and dentist.

Sources: Foster Family Handbook; Foster Caregiver Orientation Guide

These four organizations have complementary roles. MCFD (and delegated ICFSAs) are responsible for placements, approvals, payments, and child protection — for questions about a specific child, you contact their social worker. CFS is your Vancouver Island regional support agency, providing peer support, mentoring, workshops, the Safe Babies Programme, and Investigation and Resolution Support. BCFPA (also written BCFFPA) works at the provincial level, administering foster parent insurance, running the Fosterline, and advocating for caregivers. FAFP — the Federation of Aboriginal Foster Parents — supports caregivers of Aboriginal children, working in partnership with the others rather than replacing them.

In short: go to MCFD for decisions about a child, CFS for regional peer and training support, BCFPA for insurance and provincial advocacy, and FAFP for support specific to caring for Aboriginal children.

Sources: MCFD Foster Family Handbook; CFS Foster Caregiver Orientation Guide

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It depends on the situation. For anything life-threatening, call 911. To report suspected child abuse or neglect, call the Ministry Helpline for Children at 310-1234 — anywhere in BC, 24 hours a day, no area code needed. For an emergency involving a child in your care that can’t wait until the next business day, call the MCFD After Hours Line at 1-800-663-9122. If a child has swallowed or been exposed to a substance you’re worried about, call the Poison Control Centre at 1-800-567-8911.

If a situation is urgent but not an immediate safety emergency, the Foster Parent Support Line (1-888-495-9122) offers confidential consultation in the evenings and on weekends. When in doubt about whether something is urgent enough to call, make the call anyway — support staff would rather help early than intervene late.

Sources: CFS Foster Caregiver Orientation Guide; MCFD Foster Family Handbook