The Province has changed its shelter allowance rules for income assistance to provide extra support to families trying to heal and change for the better.

Harry Bloy, Minister of Social Development, and Mary McNeil, Minister of Children and Family Development, have announced that families on income assistance, whose children have been taken into the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development or a delegated Aboriginal agency, will now continue to receive the same shelter allowance as long as they are actively working to reunify their families.

The shelter rate will be reviewed every six months, and will not be reduced as long as the parents are actively working toward the return of their child. This change will ensure families will be able to maintain a stable home as parents work to have their children returned to their care.

Families may also continue to receive their current shelter allowance for up to six months if a family member:

* Has died.

* Is in the hospital.

* Is recovering from addictions in a residential treatment facility.

* Is out of the province for certain ministry-approved reasons.

Contacts:

David Haslam

Ministry of Social Development

250 356-1670 Cindy Rose

Ministry of Children and Family Development

250 356-1639

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