About Us

History

Family Resource Programs appeared in BC during the early 1970’s, but it was not until 1988 that representatives from 27 organizations throughout the lower mainland gathered to establish a provincial voice for Family Resource Programs.

• Founded in 1989, the Family Place Association of British Columbia became an incorporated society consisting of 33 members, operating out of West Side Family Place in Vancouver.
• In 1998, the name of the association was changed to the BC Association of Family Resource Programs (FRP-BC) which resulted in a stronger link with the national Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs (FRP-Canada).  The name change communicated a broader, more inclusive provincial identity.
• In 2000, “parent/child interactive Drop-in”  was identified as the defining characteristic of Family Resource Programs.  Using this criteria as the definitive marker of a FRP, research conducted later that year resulted in the identification of 176 FRPs operating in the province.
• As a result National Children’s Agenda and the First Ministers Agreement , in 2001 FRP-BC, in partnership with the Ministry for Children and Family Development (MCFD), distributed Enhancement Grants to 143 Family Resource Programs in BC. 
• In 2002, the BC Association of Family Resource Programs relocated from their West Side Family Place headquarters to a centrally located full-time office at Granville and Broadway in Vancouver.
• In 2007, FRP-BC received funding from MCFD-ECD branch to complete a Family Resource Program post-secondary certificate and to develop field related Provincial Standards of Practice.