Pioneer donation of video conferencing equipment will be used to help streamline the training process for Foster parents.

When SaskTel’s Kevin Harris heard that SaskTel was upgrading its video conferencing platform and donating the old equipment to the SaskTel Pioneers, he saw a big opportunity to make a difference in Saskatchewan’s communities by helping foster kids.

Kevin sought out Darrell Liebrecht and the SaskTel Pioneers to let them know he had a good use for the old video conferencing platform. His plan? Donate the equipment to the Saskatchewan Foster Families Association (SFFA) so that they could help revamp Saskatchewan’s foster parent training program.

Kevin is a foster parent and also happens to be the Chair of the SFFA’s Board of Directors. So, he knows first hand that it can be difficult to recruit and train foster parents. But, he thought that with the assistance of some new technology, the training process could be streamlined, brining new foster parents into the system much faster.

The SFFA had been looking at purchasing a new video conferencing platform to do just that. But, with new systems costing up to $30,000 the money would have needed to come directly from the SFFA’s other programs.

Fortunately, Darrell loved the idea. “It really was a no brainer,” Darrell said. “Normally we would salvage this type of equipment or put it up for resale, but if we can donate it to a good cause that will put it to work that’s a perfect fit for us.”

Speeding things up and being more efficient are key goals for the SFFA as its all boils down to “getting children in homes quicker,” said Kevin. When there are more foster spaces available, children spend less time waiting to transition into a foster home. “The quicker we can get people trained, the less disruption there is for the kids,” said Kevin.   

Each foster parent requires 30 hours of training before they can be considered ready to take in a child. In the past, this training was all done face-to-face. However, traveling to and from training sessions is just one extra hurdle for those volunteering to be foster parents. Because of the face-to-face requirement, the average foster parent would take a year to complete the training.

In order to make things easier, the SFFA has developed a hybrid training system that sees potential foster parents take their training through a mix of webinars, teleconferencing and in-person sessions. Conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Social Services, foster care training now involves much less travel. Potential foster parents can visit their local branch office of the Ministry of Social Services and conduct much of their training in video conference with the SFFA’s head office in Saskatoon. Overall, this new training system has cut the time it takes to complete the necessary training down to an average of six months.

The SaskTel Pioneers’ donation gave the SFFA a new tool that allows them to help recruit and train foster parents in a new way. “The training program is something we think we can take right across Canada,” said Kevin. “It’s that much of a game changer.”

The program is already making waves. Provincial governments outside Saskatchewan have shown a strong interest in the SFFA program and are looking at how they may be able to benefit from implementing something similar.

For more information about the Saskatchewan Foster Families Association, visit: www.sffa.sk.ca/

For more information about the SaskTel Pioneers, visit: http://www.sasktelpioneers.com/