About Healthy Child Manitoba

About Healthy Child Manitoba
Child Centred Public Policy
HCM Vision, Mission, and Goals
HCM Guiding Principles

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To help all children and youth reach their potential, Healthy Child Manitoba works with families to support their children within strong communities. Responding to research indicating the first five years of life are critical to a child’s future development, in 2000, the provincial government implemented the Healthy Child Manitoba (HCM) Strategy – a network of programs and supports for children, youth and families. This nationally recognized strategy was set in legislation under The Healthy Child Manitoba Act in 2007.

Led by the Healthy Child Committee of Cabinet, Healthy Child Manitoba bridges departments and governments and, together with the community, works to improve the well-being of Manitoba's children and youth. HCM focuses on child-centred public policy through the integration of financial and community-based family supports.

In addition to these cross-sectoral government structures, The HCM Act also continues the work of cross-sectoral community structures, including Parent-Child Coalitions and the Provincial Healthy Child Advisory Committee (PHCAC).

HCM researches best practices and models and adapts these to Manitoba's unique situation. It strengthens provincial policies and programs for healthy child and adolescent development, from the prenatal period to adulthood. HCM then evaluates programs and services to find the most effective ways to achieve the best possible outcomes for Manitoba children, families, and communities.

For more information about Healthy Child Manitoba's programs and services, you can download Healthy Child Manitoba: Programs and Services .

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HCM Child-Centred Public Policy

Child-centred public policy places the best interests of children and youth first. Through a combination of financial and community-based family supports, Healthy Child Manitoba works to help families and communities raise children who are healthy, safe and secure, successful at learning, and socially engaged and responsible.  Our continuum of supports extends through adolescence, with a focus on the most critical stage of early childhood development, from the prenatal period to the preschool years.

A New Way of Working Together

Healthy Child Manitoba represents a new way of working together across government departments and with the community to develop policies, programs and services that promote the best possible outcomes for Manitoba's children.  Because no single department or area can meet the holistic needs of children and youth as they grow, our success depends on these partnerships.

What works?

New research indicates that we can best achieve our goals through:

• Multiyear, early intervention for families: prenatal to 6 years, including home visiting and nutrition programs.
• High quality child care and preschool experiences.
• A holistic, accessible, integrated system, involving partnerships with parents, children and youth, and communities.

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Vision, Mission Goals

Vision

The best possible outcomes for all of Manitoba's children.

Mission

Healthy Child Manitoba works across departments and sectors to facilitate a community development approach for the well being of Manitoba's children, families and communities.  The priority focus is on the prenatal period through the preschool years.

Goals

To their fullest potential, Manitoba's children will be:

• physically and emotionally healthy
• safe and secure
• successful at learning
• socially engaged and responsible

 

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Guiding Principles

Community-based

• Communities are partners with government in the design, governance and delivery of supports for children and families.
• Partnerships and collaboration for service delivery will build on existing community networks and foster new networks.
• The most effective approach for building self-determination and healthy communities is developing services sensitive to the local capacities and needs of children.

Inclusive

• Programs and services will invite and welcome the participation of children and their families, sensitive to their traditions, culture, language and abilities.

Comprehensive

• A spectrum of services, across sectors, is available to support families and the healthy development of their children.

Integrated

• Program planning and service delivery are coordinated across sectors to provide the best possible integration of supports for the specific needs of each child and family.
• Local community agency networks will be utilized for an integrated approach to service delivery.
• To the degree possible, programs should be harmonized with Federal, Aboriginal and Municipal initiatives.

Accessible

• Services and programs are available and accessible to families and their children across Manitoba.

Quality assurance

• Services will be based on local, national and international best practices.
• Government will develop and maintain standards for service excellence.
• Programs will have clearly articulated and measurable outcomes, with ongoing evaluations to learn what's working and how to improve.

Public accountability

• Governments and communities share responsibility for ensuring that programs achieve their outcomes and are delivered in a cost-effective manner.