25-3rd St. SE,
Portage la Prairie,
Manitoba,
Canada
R1N 1N1

Fax: (204) 239-1413

Winkler Office:

Board Members

Social Workers

"After the Storm: A Rainbow"
Painting by
Anne Marie Heard

Start Up
Child and Family Services of Central Manitoba (Agency) began its life as a child welfare agency under the name of The Children's Aid Society of Central Manitoba in May, 1934. At that time a number of concerned citizens of Portage la Praire, Manitoba, Canada were approached by the provincial government to form a private, non-profit company and take over all child welfare services previously managed by the government. Those early days saw an emphasis on adoption, child neglect and foster care.

Today
The Agency is still a non-profit corporation and contracts to perform all services under the Manitoba Child and Family Services Act in the Central Region of the province. It has kept pace with general trends in child welfare services and has a special interest in child abuse and neglect along with family support services. It offers the full range of traditional child welfare services.

Central Region
The Central Region of the province of Manitoba is an area defined in government legislation and regulation. Headquartered in the City of Portage la Prairie, about 85 kms (50 miles) west of Winnipeg, the Region has a population of approximately 93 000 persons, 29,000 of whom are children. The geographical boundaries encompass a very large territory extending north to the Alonsa region, south to the border with the U.S.A., west to about half-way to Brandon and east to the Red River and the western boundaries of Winnipeg. The Region is primarily agricultural in its economic base and subject to the vagaries of that economic climate. The southern communities of the Region are primarily Mennonite in composition. There are a few French Catholic communities, about 30 Hutterite Colonies and a large off-reserve First Nation population, especially in the North. The Region has 13 School Divisions and as many RCMP detachments. The largest population centre is the City of Portage la Prairie with 13 000 residents.

The Agency
The agency is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors which currently numbers 14. Board members are elected at the Annual General Meeting from the membership of the Agency. To be a member, one must be an adult resident of the Central Region with an interest in child welfare. Spouses and adult children of staff are not eligible for Agency membership as per the Agency By-Law. The staff of the Agency is made up of 37.75 staff positions who work out of offices in Portage la Prairie, and Winkler. The administrative headquarters of the Agency is in Portage la Prairie. The Agency is funded totally by grants from the provincial government. Those grants for the fiscal year 1996/97 totaled about $3 million. The Agency also has a special relationship with the Child and Family Services of Central Manitoba Foundation, Inc. which is the repository of all private donations to the Agency. The Foundation assists children and families financially for those items which are not funded through normal government grants and that stream of family support. The biggest spending item of the Foundation is the Summer Campership program which, in the summer of 1995, sent over 220 children from the Region to summer camp, an experience they would not have otherwise had because of the financial hardship it would have meant for their families.