Child and Youth Social Services Regulation NB: What Foster Parents Need to Know

If you started researching New Brunswick foster care before January 2024, much of what you read is now outdated. The Family Services Act, which governed provincial child welfare since 1980, was replaced when the Child and Youth Well-Being Act (SNB 2022, c. 35) came into force on January 26, 2024. With it came a suite of new regulations — the most important for foster parents being NB Reg 2024-6: the Child and Youth Social Services Regulation.

Understanding this regulation is not optional. It defines the legal standards your home must meet, the conditions of your license, and the documentation you are required to maintain from the day a child arrives.

Why the Regulation Changed

The Family Services Act was criticized for over a decade for failing to provide a rights-based approach for children in care. The New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate's reports identified a "legal void" in how children's participation and rights were recognized within the system. The old framework treated children primarily as subjects of adult decisions, not as rights-holders.

The Child and Youth Well-Being Act corrects this by aligning New Brunswick with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The legislation explicitly requires that the child's views and preferences be documented in the Service Plan, appropriate to their age — a requirement that did not carry the same legal weight under the previous Act.

NB Reg 2024-6 is the operational regulation that translates that philosophy into day-to-day standards. It replaced the Children in Care Services Regulation and sits alongside two companion regulations: the Adoption Regulation (2024-5) and the General Regulation (2024-4).

Physical Home Standards Under NB Reg 2024-6

The regulation is specific about what constitutes an acceptable "child and youth care resource." These are not guidelines — they are minimum legal standards that the Department of Social Development verifies during the home study and subsequent inspections.

Bedroom Requirements

Every foster child must have their own bed. Bedroom sharing between siblings is permitted unless the child's individual care plan specifically prohibits it. The room must be fully enclosed — walls running floor to ceiling — and have a functioning door and windows that comply with the Building Code Administration Act. Basement bedrooms are subject to egress standards: the window must be large enough for a child to escape through in a fire.

The minimum bedroom floor area is 7.4 square metres (approximately 80 square feet) for one child, and 10.2 square metres (approximately 110 square feet) for two children. Two children may share a room only if they are the same sex, once either child reaches age five.

Fire and Life Safety

Your home must comply with the Fire Prevention Act. That means functional smoke alarms on every level of the home and near sleeping areas, working carbon monoxide detectors, and at minimum a CSA Group Type 2 basic small first aid kit. Foster parents must also hold a valid First Aid and CPR certificate — typically from the Red Cross or St. John Ambulance.

Storage of Hazardous Materials

Toxic substances, cleaning products, and all medications must be stored in spaces physically inaccessible to children. A locked cabinet or a high shelf with a child-resistant latch are the standard approaches. This applies to prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Pool and Water Safety

If your property has a pool, it must be enclosed by a fence at least 1.52 metres high with a self-closing and self-latching gate. The gate must open outward. If your home uses a private well for water, an annual well-water inspection certificate is required — a rural-specific requirement that surprises many applicants.

Firearms

Any firearms on the property must be stored according to the federal Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations. This means firearms and ammunition stored separately, with appropriate locking mechanisms.

These standards are assessed during the home study — and any gap can delay your approval by weeks or months. The New Brunswick Foster Care Guide walks through each standard with practical prep advice so you know exactly what a social worker is looking for before they arrive.

Licensing Conditions Under the New Regulation

Once approved, your foster home license specifies conditions of approval: the age range and maximum number of children you may care for at one time. The default cap is four children total in the home, including biological children.

The regulation establishes distinct categories of care, each with different requirements:

• Traditional Foster Care: Standard placement for children who need a safe, stable family environment
• Kinship Care: Placement with relatives or fictive kin (a close family friend, a teacher); given priority under the Act
• Respite/Relief Care: Short-term placements, typically weekends or short periods, to give primary caregivers a break
• Professional Care Home: Specialized placement for children with complex medical or trauma-related needs, requiring caregivers to be at least 21 and involving a higher monthly stipend

The type of care your license authorizes depends on your training, your assessment, and your expressed preference. You can start with respite care and expand your license as your experience grows.

The Service Plan and Record of Care Requirements

Under NB Reg 2024-6, every child in care must have a Service Plan reviewed at least every six months. The plan covers health, education, and social development goals, as well as the permanency plan — whether reunification, adoption, or long-term guardianship is the goal.

Foster parents are required to maintain a Record of Care that feeds into this plan. The regulation specifies that this is a narrative log, not a simple checklist. It must capture medical appointments and medications, education and school attendance, behaviour and emotional well-being, parental contact visits, and significant milestones.

Within 30 days of a child's placement, the social worker and foster parent jointly complete a Special Needs Assessment (SNA) across 12 domains: eating and nutrition, personal care, socialization, communication, health, behaviour, development, sexuality and healthy relationships, life skills, education, emotional and psychiatric status, and birth family involvement. Your Record of Care provides the ongoing evidence for any SNA reassessments.

Bilingual Rights Under the Regulation

New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, and the regulation reflects this. Every foster parent has the right to receive DSD services — including training, home study interviews, and ongoing case management — in their preferred official language. PRIDE pre-service training is delivered in both English and French. The Department's online portal (Community Care NB / CCNB) supports bilingual access, and French-speaking applicants in regions like the Acadian Peninsula (Region 8) or Edmundston (Region 4) can work entirely in French throughout the approval process.

Indigenous Child Welfare Provisions

NB Reg 2024-6 operates within the broader framework of the Child and Youth Well-Being Act, which affirms Indigenous children's rights to be raised with their language, identity, and community connections. The Act was developed in alignment with Bill C-92 (An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families), which the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed as constitutionally valid in February 2024.

If you are caring for an Indigenous child, your obligations include facilitating visits with Elders or traditional teachers, supporting community participation, and collaborating with any Indigenous Governing Body (IGB) that is a party to the care plan. These are not aspirational guidelines — they are built into the regulatory framework.

What Changed From the Old Rules

Foster parents who previously held licenses under the Children in Care Services Regulation needed to ensure their practices aligned with the new 2024 regulation. The substantive home safety standards are largely consistent, but the rights-based framing is new. Children now have explicit rights to have their views recorded in their Service Plan, to know their permanency plan, and to access support from the Child and Youth Advocate (1-800-442-9799). Foster parents are now formally required to support and facilitate those rights.

The regulation also strengthened the Transitional Services pathway: youth in care who reach age 19 (the age of majority in New Brunswick) may continue receiving DSD financial support and case management until age 26 if they are pursuing post-secondary education or need additional support toward independence.

For the full picture — including a document checklist for the home study, a breakdown of what the SAFE assessment evaluates, and a regional office directory across all eight DSD zones — the New Brunswick Foster Care Guide consolidates everything in one place.

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