Respite Care

Respite care gives families temporary relief from the challenges of caring for a child with a developmental disability. Whether this relief is for a few hours, a day, a weekend or longer depends on the families needs.
Respite care aims to strengthen the family unit. The program allows families to rest, take a vacation, tend to life’s necessities, or deal with stressful situations such as illness, death or moving.
Respite care is not a luxury: it is essential for a family’s well-being. It can prevent parents from becoming so stressed and fatigued that they can no longer cope with the special needs of their child or respond to the needs of other family members.

	To support children with special needs and their families.
	To enable families to have options and choices when
	making decisions for their children.
	To promote awareness and acceptance of children with special needs
	and their families within the community.
	To encourage open and equal access to all community
	resources and services.

This comprehensive approach provides complementary learning opportunities and focuses on the development and functional use of age appropriate skills for each child.

Respite care gives children with special needs an opportunity to participate in a wider range of experiences that are essential for development, such as:
 

	On-going relationships and social interaction outside the
	family unit.
	Contact with other children who model age-appropriate
	behaviours, in circumstances where the caregiver has children.
	Growing independence through new learning experiences.
	Inclusion in community activities.

In April 2001, Reach Child and Youth Development Society began a group respite program to serve families on the wait list for the general respite program. Twenty-one children with special needs are being served in total. In addition, up to 7 children with typical development (usually siblings) are served through this program. As well as giving parents of children with special needs some much needed respite, the group respite program’s main focus has been to promote childrens special skills development, facilitate the building of friendships, promote positive self esteem and community awareness, and decrease possible isolation. The program runs the first Saturday of each month providing families with 5.5 hours of respite per month. The program is staffed by 6 well-trained and experienced caregivers, an assistant coordinator and a program coordinator. The children are divided into two groups depending on their age. One group is for children 4 to 9 years and another group is for children 9 to 18 years.

There is currently openings in our Group respite Program for children ages 12 to 19 years. Click here to download the poster: Group Respite Program for children 12 to 19 
 

Read Reach's parenting column the last Friday of every month in the South Delta Leader newspaper.  July's article is "Restoring Balance" by Mealnie Reid, Manager of the Reach Respite program and Dawn Beazley Manager of the Reach Group Respite program 

To access this funding families must have a referral from their social worker.  For more information contact Respite Care Program Coordinator Melanie Reid at 604-946-6622 ext. 305 or  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  or Group Respite Coordinator Dawn Beazley at 604-946-6622 ext. 306 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it