Serving Our Diverse Community

Waterloo Region is a diverse community and we believe that every individual is a person to be valued. We strive to provide our services in an inclusive and sensitive manner regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, disability, or record of offence.

Providing service that respects a child and family's diversity, enhances parenting and improves well-being is very important to us.

Serving Indigenous Families

We acknowledge the child welfare history with Canada's Indigenous People and are committed to collaborating with Indigenous families, communities, community partners and elders to reconcile this. One of our key strategic directions is to ensure continuous dialogue with Indigenous Elders and community partners to develop a respectful, wholistic and collaborative service approach for Indigenous children, youth and families.

The Family Centre welcomed The Grand River Métis Council and White Owl Native Ancestry Association in the winter of 2015. The Grand River Métis Council acts to promote and preserve the Métis way of life. White Owl NAA brings their Wholistic Child & Youth programs to make sure that Aboriginal children and young people have better access to culturally appropriate mental health and addictions services. This could include counselling; group therapy; crisis intervention; and a range of traditional teachings and ceremonies.

Another important local resource for indiginous families is the Anishnabeg Outreach Centre.

Original Dispute Resolution (ODR) for Indigenous Families

ODR is an Indigenous Approach that draws on traditional ways of decision making, problem solving and resolving disagreements as a strategy to streamline court processes and encourage alternatives to court. Impartial facilitators skilled in First Nations traditional methods help families to develop a plan that is supported by the family; other participants; the First Nations community and addresses the protection concerns. Speak to your worker or email adr@facswaterloo.org for further information.

Serving Refugee and Immigrant Families

Family and Children's Services strives to respond to the needs of refugee and immigrant children and families through sharing knowledge, addressing barriers and identifying strengths within their family and community.

The Promise of Partnership Project, a joint project between Carizon Family and Community Services and Reception House Waterloo Region raises community awareness about the needs of refugees and builds capacity, particularly in the mental health sector, to respond to the mental health needs of refugees and work collaboratively with community partners, such as FACS, CMHAWWD, and school boards to overcome current barriers to effective service delivery and build a more inclusive and responsive community.

Immigration Waterloo Region is a community partnership of organizations and community representatives in settlement, health, community, social services, business, employment and education systems that believe by working together, we enhance our collective potential for positive impact to support the successful settlement and integration of immigrants locally. There are over 100 organizations and community members engaged in the partnership.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre has been serving our community for over 40 years. They offer many services, programs and support to new Canadians. They offer assistance with job search, interpretation and translation services, assistance with settlement needs, and counselling.

Additional resources are available on the above links and on our community resource page.