NFCS wins award from Family and Children's Services

Jeff Green | Feb 11, 2015

Family and Children’s Services or Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (formerly known as the Children's Aid Society) has announced this year’s winner of the annual Family Advocacy Award – Maribeth Scott, the Manager of the Ontario Early Years Centre at Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS).

The award, given every year to celebrate Family Day, recognizes an individual, group or organization for their contribution making the lives of families in KFL&A better. She was chosen out of a field of more than 21 nominees because of her work in the community.

“We received many worthy nominates from across the community,” said Steve Woodman, Executive Director of Family and Children’s Services for Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. “Maribeth Scott was selected because of her outstanding service to families in Northern Frontenac and her commitment to working together with other agencies to help families in need, including our agency.”

Scott has been working at NFCS for 19 years, and throughout those years she has been a part of a team that has developed a family counselling program that is geared to the families in the NFCS catchment area of North, Central, and parts of South Frontenac Townships.

“When I started here as the supervisor of the play groups that we run, I noticed that some families were less engaged in the group activities than others,” she recalled from her office on Tuesday as she prepared to head to Kingston for the 3 pm awards ceremony. “It's like the old adage goes: When there is no food in the fridge, there is no time for the ABCs.”

As the NFCS/Early Years staff worked more closely with families, the needs became apparent. Families dealing with divorce and separation, financial challenges, addictions and a host of other issues are all part of the community that Scott and her colleagues serve, and supports they offer range from counselling to help in finding and accessing services.

“We provide specialized care to families with challenges, families that fall through the cracks. We support them in getting services they need and make sure their voices are heard,” she said.

Sometimes that involves engaging Family and Children's Services for support, and that can lead to children being removed from the home. In those cases, the Early Years staff do not walk away from the families, either,

“Family and Children's Services provides attention to children, and when that involves the children being removed from the home, the family still needs support. We stay engaged with them to help families deal with their issues and deal with the system,” said Scott.

Over the years she has developed her skills as a counsellor through experience and specialized training, including learning how to work through such taboo subjects as sexual abuse. Through it all, the goal of working with families has remained a constant.

“We work with families. At the end of the day everybody agrees they want the best for their kids. It is a whole team effort. We might have fewer services here in the rural area, but we are bigger problem solvers. It's all about being respectful to families that are in very difficult situations.”

The family support services offered at the NFCS/Early Years Centre in Sharbot Lake were developed locally and are not common across the province, but they are now offered as well in Lennox and Addington County.

“I can think of no one who better fits the spirit of this award than Maribeth, “said Steve Woodman. “On behalf of our entire agency and the community, we thank Maribeth and her colleagues at Northern Frontenac Community Services for the work they do. It is very much appreciated.” said Woodman.

“This award comes as a great surprise and represents the dedication of the many team players at Northern Frontenac Community Services who support families with young children to succeed,” said Scott.

More information on the Family Advocacy Award and Family and Children’s Services can be found online at www.FamilyandChildren.ca.