Program/Initiative |
Purpose |
Partners |
Ability in Me Program (AiM) |
Provides learning and rehabilitation supports for children/youth and their families experiencing the impacts of Down Syndrome. |
Ministries of Education and Health, AiM |
Child Support Service |
Helps parents to ensure a fair level of support is provided for their children. The Service provides a faster and less adversarial alternative for parents to obtain a child support determination and to regularly update child support payments. There is no cost to apply, and the parties are not required to pursue adjustments through court. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Child Nutrition Program |
Provides funding to school divisions and community-based organizations to help them address child hunger, offer nutrition education and provide skill building opportunities like cooking classes. |
Ministry of Education, school divisions, community-based organizations |
Child Protection Mediation |
This initiative provides mediation support to parties referred by the Ministry of Social Services, Child and Family Services, or Children’s Advocate, with issues relating to child protection and child apprehension. |
Ministries of Justice and Attorney General and Social Services |
Children and Youth Services Unit at the Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) of Saskatchewan |
The PGT is authorized by provincial legislation to protect the legal, financial and property interests of children and youth in the province. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Counsel for Children at the Public Guardian and Trustee of Saskatchewan |
The program appoints a lawyer (where appropriate or where directed by the court) to represent a child or youth in matters related to The Child and Family Services Act (child protection). The lawyer provides a child or youth with information about the legal process and ensures a child or youth’s perspective is heard in the child protection proceedings. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Counselling |
Counselling for individuals or families by accredited professionals to assist in identifying strengths and addressing risk to successfully manage presenting issues. |
Ministry of Social Services and Indigenous and community organizations |
Elder and Knowledge Keeper Service |
Elders and Knowledge Keepers provide one on one traditional teachings, counselling, cultural support and ceremonial practices for children, youth and families involved with child and family programs. |
Ministry of Social Services and Indigenous organizations and community based organizations |
Family Law Information Centre (FLC) |
Provides legal information about family law and the legal system to the public at no cost. The public can access assistance by telephone, email, or at in-person help session. The FLIC also has several self-help kits available for people who wish to represent themselves in court and a series of short videos on family law information as an alternative format for providing legal information. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Family Literacy Hubs |
Literacy programs give opportunities to learn about: the importance of language, literacy and reading; the role that family members can play in literacy development of their children; interactive literacy activities that support a child’s literacy development at home and in school; and how to access learning resources through the library or their community. |
Ministry of Education, schools, libraries, communities and literacy networks |
Family Matters: Assisting Families Through Separation and Divorce |
This program provides early intervention that allows families experiencing separation and divorce access to needed information and assistance from an approved service provider to discuss immediate concerns and develop a plan to address any remaining issues. The goal of the program is to resolve family issues with less stress and anxiety, and help families make better use of available resources. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Family Mediation Program |
This program includes fee-for-service mediation, court-ordered High Conflict Family Mediation, and referrals from Family Justice Services to assist parents with custody, access and/or exchange issues. This program assists families transitioning through separation or divorce to resolve issues, including parenting time and decision making, and minimize the impact of conflict on parents and their children. This program also satisfies the Early Family Dispute Resolution requirement, per section 7-4 of the King’s Bench Act, which empowers families to resolve issues outside of court, and reduces the financial and emotional impacts of separation and divorce. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Family Social Housing |
Safe affordable and stable housing units are available to low-income families at rents based on household income. Families in greatest housing need are prioritized. |
Saskatchewan Housing Corporation |
Family Supports |
Provide in-home support and education to parents whose children are at-risk of coming into care or are in care and will decrease amount of time spent in care. |
Ministry of Social Services, Indigenous organizations, community-based partners |
HealthLine 811 Maternal Wellness Outbound Call Program (MWP) |
In this program, HealthLine 811 clinicians provide support to women at risk of or suffering from postpartum depression and/or anxiety over the phone. This includes those who have suffered the loss of a pregnancy or infant. You must be referred to the MWP by a public health nurse. |
Ministry of Health, Saskatchewan Health Authority |
Intensive Direct Services |
Various on-site, in-home and outreach support, intervention and education services are made available to families, children, youth and caregivers. Services included but are not limited to youth engagement services, youth mentorship, life skills programming, cultural activities, cultural camps, ceremonies, elder and/or knowledge keeper one-on-one teachings, traditional talking circles, support to sexually exploited youth and support to foster families and extended family caregivers. |
Ministry of Social Services, Indigenous and community-based organizations |
Keeping Families Together |
For families involved in the child welfare system who also have housing challenges, including living situations that are unsafe, unaffordable or have a negative impact on their health. It supports the participant families so they can safely care for their children in the family home. |
Ministry of Social Services, Saskatchewan Housing Corporation and community partners |
KidsFirst Regional |
Offers free programming for groups of families with young children in rural communities and small cities not served by the KidsFirst Targeted program. The program also builds awareness of early childhood and parenting topics through social media, community directories and posters. |
Ministry of Education, school divisions, Saskatchewan Health Authority, First Nations, libraries, community-based organizations |
KidsFirst Targeted |
KidsFirst Targeted is a voluntary program that helps families in vulnerable situations become the best parents they can be and to have the healthiest children possible.
A free, voluntary, home-based early childhood development program to help families in areas that have an impact on child health/development and family wellbeing. Families agree to weekly home visits and are provided support from a team of professionals. |
Ministry of Education, school divisions, Saskatchewan Health Authority, First Nations, community-based organizations |
Mobile Early Learning |
Supports the development of young children living in rural communities with limited access to programming. Reaches a large number of children and families through free, high quality early learning opportunities using innovative service delivery approaches. |
Ministry of Education, school divisions, Saskatchewan Health Authority, First Nations, libraries, community-based organizations |
Parenting After Separation and Divorce Program |
The program aims to provide for the best interest of the child or children in family disputes; assist in increasing people’s understanding of the issues by providing information about the available options for resolution, legal issues, child support, and parenting; provide information that assists in promoting consensual conflict resolution methods. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Parenting Assessments/Children’s Voices Assessments |
Court ordered assessments provide independent, written information to the Court of King’s Bench and the parties, addressing issues such as decision-making responsibility and/or parenting time, or more specific issues. Children’s Voices (or Voice of the Child) Assessments provide the court and parties with information specific to the child’s perspective. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Public Libraries |
A safe place within the community where children can access a great variety of high quality, selected resources, information and tools, in all formats including digital. Programs are also available across all age groups that develop independence, cognitive and social skills, as well as a variety of literacies. There are over 300 public library branches across the province. |
The Ministry of Education provides resource sharing grants to all 11 public library systems which allows any SK residents to use materials at any public library in the province |
Public Libraries Supporting Newcomers with Multilingual Resources |
Access to numerous leisure reading books in world languages. These books help newcomer children, and their families retain their heritage language. In addition to assisting with secondary language acquisition, heritage language retention also provides many social, cultural and cognitive benefits. Many public libraries also provide free services and programs to assist newcomer children and their families. |
Ministry of Education provides access to materials to users of the 11 public library systems |
Saskatchewan Employment Incentive (SEI) |
Launched in January 2024, SEI provides working families with children who have low incomes with a monthly financial benefit, Supplementary Health Benefits, access to discounted bus passes (where available), connections to employment supports through ICT and access to the Saskatchewan Housing Benefit. |
Ministries of Social Services and Ministry of Immigration and Career Training |
Saskatchewan Housing Benefit |
This program provides a monthly financial benefit to eligible renters, including families, to assist with housing affordability. |
Saskatchewan Housing Corporation |
Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) and Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability Program (SAID) |
Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) supports families by meeting their household’s basic needs as we partner with them to become self-sufficient to the best of their abilities.
Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) provides needs-based income assistance that provides Saskatchewan residents with significant and enduring disabilities access to long-term income assistance benefits that are among the highest in Canada, greater choice of services and supports their participation in the community. |
Ministry of Social Services |
Saskatchewan Youth In Care and Custody Network (SYICCN) |
Co-ordination of support and education services for children, youth aged 14 to 24 who are in or have been in care or custody from across the province. Local youth networks provide the opportunity to have focus groups and meetings with youth membership to discuss/address issues facing young people in care or custody. |
Ministry of Social Services |
Service to Teen Parents |
Support, education and services to pregnant young women, young and new parents, and their children. |
Ministry of Social Services, Indigenous and community organizations |
Shoppers Menstrual Equity Program |
This initiative is providing free menstrual products to schools, transition houses and shelters, providing youth with access to these products to support dignity and meet personal hygiene needs. |
Status of Women Office, school divisions, Ministries of Education, Justice and Attorney General, Social Services and SaskBuilds and Procurement |
Summer Literacy Programming |
Eight school divisions within the province receive funding from the Ministry of Education to provide rich learning experiences during the summer months to support higher achievement of students and to avoid summer reading loss of students. |
Ministry of Education provides access to materials to users of the 11 public library systems |
Supervised Parenting Time and Exchange Program |
Court ordered supervision of parenting time between children and the non-residential parent (and potentially other family members) is provided by trained supervisors in a safe, child focused environment. |
Ministry of Justice and Attorney General |
Supportive Family Living Programs |
Ensures children remaining in the family home are safe and cared for. These holistic wrap around supports provide one-on-one parenting advice, guidance and supervision to ensure children remain safely in the home. Families are offered a range of culturally-based responsive services including access to elders and knowledge keepers, ceremonies, healing circles and traditional teachings. This intensive supportive family living program service is offered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by community-based organizations and is directed toward higher risk families. |
Ministry of Social Services, Indigenous and community-based organizations |
Talking Circles |
Talking circles are a traditional approach to include all voices for case planning with children, youth and families and their support system. Talking circles create a safe, culturally responsive approach for discussion and decision making so everyone is heard, respected and valued equally. |
Ministry of Social Services and Indigenous organizations |
Triple P Parenting Programs |
A preventative program that aims to promote positive, caring relationships between parents and their children as well as aiding parents in the development of effective management strategies for dealing with a variety of childhood behaviour problems and common developmental issues. |
Ministry of Social Services, Indigenous and community organizations |
Visitation, Supervision & Transportation |
Visitation services ensure children in out of home care continue to be closely connected to their parents, siblings and extended family, including facilitating and supervising visits when required and transportation to and from visits. |
Ministry of Social Services, Indigenous and community organizations |