Customary Care & Kinship Services

Customary Care 

Customary Care is the full time care, nurturing and protection of a child by a customary caregiver identified by the child’s First Nation community.  Caregiver(s) may include relatives, First Nation community members, or an adult whom the child has a bond with.  This definition is designed to be inclusive and respectful of cultural values and ties to affection. 

Customary Care requires that the child’s First Nation community is involved in his/her placement within Dilico. The First Nation community has stated that Dilico is to care for the child on its behalf and the on-going planning for the child requiring out-of-home care is to be done jointly between the First Nation and Dilico. At Dilico, Customary Care means the First Nation and Dilico are “partners in care”.

In a broader sense, Customary Care refers to the traditional practice of raising a child within the First Nation, where all members of the family, extended family, relatives and community are involved. Traditional Customary Care practices are influenced and determined by the culture of the parents and community in which the child is raised, and does not require agency involvement as the child is not in need of protection (based on criteria outlined under the Child and Family Services Act.)

Kinship Service

Dilico's Kinship Service program provides children with support and care consistent with their family and community traditions.

Kinship Service staff work with families so that children are able to build strong, stable and healthy relationships with their Kinship Caregivers, family members and community.

Unlike customary care, under kinship services, the child is not in the care of Dilico. 

Kinship Service is voluntary. The Kinship Caregiver promotes the placement of the child under his or her care and is someone with whom the child is comfortable.

Financial assistance may be provided to Kinship Caregivers only during emergencies in order to help stabilize the placement of the child or prevent his/her admission to care. Kinship Caregivers are required to apply for Temporary Care Assistance from Ontario Works and are encouraged to apply for the Canada Child Tax Benefit.

Benefits of Customary Care and Kinship Service

Customary Care and Kinship Service allow children to remain in their home communities with a relative, family friend or community member. This allows the children to continue to strengthen their ties to family, friends, culture and traditions.

Children have a right to maintain connections to thier culture and traditional ways of life.