Manitoba announces overnight respite homes for kids with disabilities

Young people with disabilities in Manitoba and their families will soon have a new option for support when the province opens two overnight respite homes in Winnipeg and Brandon, Families Minister Rochelle Squires says.

"Respite care is one of the most requested services from families who are raising children with disabilities," Squires said at a news conference on Friday.

"We want to ensure that families have access to services that meet their needs, including innovative respite options that are supported by trained and experienced workers."

The two-year pilot project is part of a partnership with St. Amant, a non-profit that provides resources for Manitobans with developmental disabilities and autism. The pilot will see a four-bed home created in Winnipeg and a three-bed space in Brandon.

Squires said she expects those spaces to be ready within roughly the next six months.

The province is committing a minimum of $3 million to the pilot project, though the budget is flexible and will reflect uptake, Squires said. After two years, it will be evaluated.

Keeping kids out of care

The initiative comes in response to calls for change in a report from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth published this spring.

That report found a lack of alternative care options sometimes leads kids with disabilities to unnecessarily enter Child and Family Services care just to get the help they need.

Of 53 kids with disabilities who entered child welfare in 2019-20, the child's disability was cited as a contributing factor to their need for CFS care in more than one-third of cases — something the report said could be prevented with the right resources.

Squires said the project also aligns with recommendations from a 2018 report on transforming child welfare legislation in Manitoba, which highlighted the same problem.

"In many tragic circumstances, we know that families who have a child with disabilities often do not feel they can continue to care for their child, and so they make that difficult decision to place their child in … CFS care," Squires said.

John Leggatt, St. Amant's president and CEO, said having even one child in that situation is "one too many." He said he's hopeful the new project will help keep parents with their kids.

"The last thing they want is for their child to be raised somewhere else. What they want is help, a chance to re-energize."

While there are already situations where kids with disabilities can get overnight respite care — if a respite worker provides it in their own home, for example — the same type of support for children with more complex needs has been missing for some time, Leggatt said.

The new overnight respite homes will give those kids' families support at any time of day, with staff who will be specifically trained to manage challenging behaviour, he said.

Leggatt said some of the criteria for accessing these homes is still being developed.