C’NEX was designed for families in Burnside Gorge whose children are in the care of the government or at risk of being taken into care. By using an Integrated Case Management Model, the C’NEX program builds parents’ capacity to assess their family needs and strengths. Parents and children are assisted in accessing and creating the appropriate supports.

The program is unique in that it is successful in working with resistant families, nurturing their willingness to change.

C’NEX has a proven success rate in reducing the number of children in government care, as well as successfully supporting children to safely reside in their home communities. With obvious exceptions, we know that with the proper supports, children are better raised in their own families and communities, as opposed to within the government system. By keeping children out of government care, costs to the Ministry are reduced.

The basic objectives of the program are:

  • To maintain children in their family home, who have been deemed at high risk of coming into care;
  • To assist with family reunification, where children are in care; and
  • To assist families in achieving a permanent parenting plan for their children in a timely manner.

The C’NEX program connects children and families to supports that exist in the community. We believe that with proper support in place, families are better able to raise children.

In cases requiring preventative measures, children are better able to stabilize in a healthy and familiar environment. Rather than creating a dependency on a program, the goal is to facilitate interdependency within the neighbourhood. This is accomplished by providing resources for parents and children to build healthy relationships with other families and with the community, ensuring that families do not face isolation when the direct program supports are concluded.