Supporting Children, Youth & Families

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The Kitimat Child Development Centre (KCDC) is a non-profit registered charity. We have been offering services in Kitimat since 1974. Our centre started as a small organization created by a small group of parents and the local pediatrician. Our initial mandate was the provision of services to children with special needs. The KCDC has since evolved to offer a comprehensive list of programs outlined in the Centre’s pamphlet. The 16 programs currently offered at the Centre serve a caseload of over 500 clients a year.

A nine member Board of Directors (parents and community members) establishes policies and is responsible for the overall operations of the Centre.

Principles of Service Delivery and Service Delivery Philosophies

For the purposes of our program policy and procedure manual the following statements are our interpretation of the service philosophies, principles and values that guide our service delivery decisions. No model or philosophy of service delivery stands alone and philosophies often overlap.

Principles of Service Philosophy

Service Delivery philosophies and principles guide staff in their approach to service delivery. Our principles of service and service philosophies are found in our policy manuals, posted at the Centre and on our web site: kitimatcdc.ca. Guiding our service are policies and statements on:

Confidentiality, Our Code of Conduct, Family Centered Practice, Client Centered Practice, Integrated Service Delivery, Inclusion, Equity of Service Provision, Relationship–Focused Model, Child Centered Teaching Philosophy, Emergent Curriculum, Child Centred Approach and Team Approach.

All staff and clients of the centre are encouraged to share their individual understanding of our approaches to service delivery and to at any time raise thoughts or concerns that will assist in our goal of continual learning and improvements in our services. Input can be given using our suggestion forms or our concerns and complaints procedure.

The following statement summarizes our philosophy and principles of service delivery:

We believe:

• Children, youth and families have the right to quality programs of intervention which facilitate physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development.
  
• That each client is an individual with a personal, cultural, and family background, with unique strengths, talents, preferences, and needs.
  
• Children and youth are uniquely dependent on their families for nurturing their growth and development.
  
• In the importance of respecting that each family has its own structure, roles, values, beliefs, and coping styles and that each family is doing the best they can, and being the best they can be, at any given time.
  
• Families should be provided with information in ways that allow them to make informed decisions that best meets their needs.

Our service delivery is committed to:

• Ensuring that support and intervention strategies reflect a respect for the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of families. Program efforts will be built on family strengths and resources, rather than on correcting weaknesses and deficits.
  
• Providing a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team effort that includes the client and support networks (both informal and formal) working in an atmosphere of equality and mutual respect.
  
• Relationships characterized by honesty, respect, trust, reciprocity, and open communication.
  
• Providing families with complete and unbiased information in ways that allow them to make informed decisions regarding their needs.
  
• Offering parents as much choice as possible regarding their child’s program. Services may be delivered in a variety of locations including, in the home, school, community daycare or preschool, or here at the Centre. Scheduling efforts look to minimize disruption to the family and child’s routine.
  
• Providing resources and supports in ways that are flexible, individualized, and responsive to the changing needs of individual clients and their families.