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What is KidsFirst?
KidsFirst is a federally-funded, provincially-run intervention for parents (such as returning to school or finding a job).
program launched in 2002 that provides support and
services to vulnerable families with young children (aged 0-5) Home visitors share information with parents about
in Saskatchewan. It is offered in nine areas of the province programs and events in which they can participate, and
that were identified as having high levels of need when the help them access services in the community, such as early
program was established. There are KidsFirst programs in learning, child care, and specialized services for children, and
Meadow Lake, Moose Jaw, Nipawin, Northern Saskatchewan, education, mental health and addictions services for parents.
North Battleford, Yorkton and selected neighbourhoods in They also help parents access housing, transportation and
Prince Albert, Regina and Saskatoon. food. They organize social and learning events where KidsFirst
families can interact.
KidsFirst includes components such as identifying and
assessing families that might be considered at-risk or Home visitors focus on the positive, building on each family’s
vulnerable, and connecting them to existing community strengths to build parents’ self-esteem and confidence.
supports and programs. Clients enter the program They are considered the link between KidsFirst parents and
during pregnancy or after the birth of their child. Factors community services whose mandate is to support children and
determining their eligibility include low maternal education families. KidsFirst is a paraprofessional home visiting program,
levels, mental health issues, financial instability, substance where lay home visitors receive support from professionals.
issues or other risk factors.
As part of a three-year evaluation of KidsFirst, profiles of
KidsFirst uses intensive home visiting to support children each KidsFirst community were developed that describe
living in very vulnerable circumstances so that they can be each community, program implementation and operation
nurtured and supported by healthy, well-functioning families. in that community. The Community Profiles are available at
Home visitors work to build capacity in families, promote www.kidskan.ca/node/170.
healthy child development and facilitate goal achievement
This fact sheet is part of a series describing our three year Each site has a Program Manager responsible for that site,
evaluation of KidsFirst, funded by the Canadian Population who works with the home visiting supervisor, home visitors
Health Initiative, and the Government of Saskatchewan, with and other staff, and a Management Committee that provides
some additional support from MITACS, and the College of guidance. Management Committees have representatives
Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. The evaluation from many local organizations and institutions, including
was led by Nazeem Muhajarine, lead of the Healthy Children public and Catholic school divisions, Social Services and
Research Team at the Saskatchewan Population Health and other provincial government departments, health authorities,
Evaluation Research Unit, in partnership with staff from the tribal councils and Métis organizations, regional intersectoral
Early Childhood Development Unit in the Saskatchewan committees, child care associations, municipal governments,
Ministry of Education, and KidsFirst program staff. A full list of police and community organizations.
team members is found in the reports.
Local businesses also play a role by helping support programs
The following reports were produced as part of this evaluation: by providing food, transportation and other services.
• Evaluation Framework KidsFirst program managers and staff of the Early Childhood
• Community Profiles Development Unit meet regularly throughout the year to
• Focused Literature Review share, plan and collaborate.
• Using Theory to Plan and Evaluate KidsFirst
• Report of the Qualitative Study This kind of program operation requires a great deal of
• Report of the Quantitative Study collaboration between KidFirst sites and local agencies.
• Summary of Findings and Recommendations. At one site, the agencies involved all meet once a week
to talk about the families they share. Another site holds
Reports and fact sheets can all be read online or downloaded management meetings throughout the year, inviting
from www.kidSKAN.ca, the Saskatchewan Knowledge to parents to the table to help in the planning.
Action Network for Early Childhood Development. Go to www.
kidSKAN.ca/KidsFirst, or click on “KidsFirst” under the Projects Culture is key to recruitment, program
menu on the front page. For more information, contact Fleur delivery
Macqueen Smith, fleur.macqueensmith@usask.ca, 306-966-
2957, Knowledge Transfer Manager of the Healthy Children While the program is aimed at all vulnerable families in KidsFirst
Research Team in SPHERU. communities, it is especially important for Aboriginal families.
For one thing, the Aboriginal population is expected to grow
In some countries, it is normal that a husband hits a child or a woman, beats them,
or something. But here they have to learn that is not possible, [they] do not allow the
father and parents to do that to their children, abuse them or hit them, or to their wife.
And I had some problems... But, men they learn fast, and women also. They’re very smart
and they’re very, very fast to accept Canadian law … [They] say “OK, don’t touch me! I’m
going to call 911!” — home visitor
To illustrate the approach different program sites have taken, community kitchen, community gardens, and a parenting
a few examples are given below from the Community Profiles program for fathers.
of each program site developed as part of the evaluation.
For more complete descriptions, see the full report at Prevention of FASD and substance abuse are important goals
www.kidskan.ca/node/170. in Prince Albert, so KidsFirst funds were used to continue
Baby SAFE (Substance Abuse Free Environment). This
In Meadow Lake, KidsFirst has supported families and early weekly program began in 1994 with the aim of preventing
childhood development directly and indirectly in a number FASD and substance among pregnant
of ways, such as holding “community baby women. The community is also noted for
showers”, sponsoring a “Come Read with its Family Connections program, which
Me” program for families and developing through partnerships is able to support and
a partnership with a local taxi company organized many family support groups and
to provide transportation for medical, activities, including classes on cooking and
school, work or other necessary trips for nutrition, anger management, fitness, and
program clients. parenting.
In Moose Jaw, KidsFirst developed a number To respond to the challenge of high home
of early learning opportunities (Head Starts, visitor turnover, KidsFirst Regina has come
literacy programs) through partnerships. up with strategies to improve staff retention. These have
Because of the presence already of a number of preschool included participating in a provincial wage review, developing
programs in the community, the focus has remained on early self care and safety protocols for staff, establishing family
learning and development. friendly workplaces, and offering support and training with
mental health and addictions teams.
Nipawin, with low staff turnover, has a tight team. One reason
is that staff is centralized. They all work in the same office When KidsFirst families enter the program, in-depth
area, and this has allowed for regular debriefings among assessments are conducted. In Saskatoon in 2003, because
counsellors, home visiting supervisors and home visitors. of a high volume of pending assessments, KidsFirst trained
home visitors themselves to conduct assessments which
KidsFirst North has modified the questionnaire for its prenatal previously had been done by the program facilitator. In
screening to keep the number of questions to a minimum, 2007, after experiencing challenges with timely completion
with a focus on drug and alcohol use, both at present or at and comprehensiveness, a nurse assessor with the Healthy
any time during pregnancy. Mother Healthy Baby program in the Saskatoon Health
Region was contracted to conduct assessments.
The mental health and addictions counselors in North
Battleford work in a non-traditional manner by accompanying KidsFirst Yorkton has woven parent supports into all its
home visitors on family visits. Through this example of program components. This has resulted in services such as
creative outreach, they are able to provide services and group nights, literacy programs, a community kitchen, a
support directly to home visiting staff. The community fathers’ group, infant massage, a number of training programs
also has a number of home-grown programs, such as a for parents, and a preschool playland.