Emergency, Respite, and Therapeutic Foster Care in Saskatchewan: What Each Type Involves
Emergency, Respite, and Therapeutic Foster Care in Saskatchewan: What Each Type Involves
Not all fostering looks the same. Saskatchewan's system has several distinct placement types, and which one you're involved in shapes everything from the intensity of your role to the financial support you receive. The three types that generate the most questions from prospective caregivers are emergency care, respite care, and therapeutic (specialized) care.
Emergency Foster Care
Emergency care means you're on standby — available 24 hours a day to take a child who has just been apprehended or whose current placement has broken down.
When MSS removes a child from a dangerous situation, they need a licensed home that can take a placement with little to no notice. Emergency caregivers are that safety net. Placements are typically short — days to a few weeks — while a longer-term arrangement is found.
What this looks like in practice: You might receive a call at 10pm asking if you can take a 6-year-old tonight. You say yes or no based on your current circumstances. If you say yes, a worker brings the child to your home with whatever belongings they had with them — which is often very little. You will receive a basic care plan within 30 days.
Emergency care is demanding precisely because you're dealing with children at the most destabilizing point of their lives. A child who was just apprehended is traumatized, frightened, and may exhibit significant behavioral responses. Trauma-informed parenting is not optional in emergency placements — it's the minimum baseline.
Emergency care pay: Emergency and 24-hour crisis care falls under the PRIDE Levels of Pay framework in Saskatchewan. Level 6 — which covers emergency and intensive reunification situations — involves negotiated rates on top of the standard maintenance per diem. For a child aged 12–15, the baseline monthly southern rate is approximately $680; emergency caregivers receive additional service fee compensation on top of this.
Respite Foster Care
Respite care is short-term relief care — you look after a child for a day, a weekend, or a week to give the regular foster parent a break.
Saskatchewan has invested in expanding respite. In 2024, the Ministry announced a $600,000 package specifically aimed at increasing rates and availability for babysitting, respite, and school allowances. That's a direct signal about how critically short the respite supply is.
Who provides respite: You can be a licensed respite provider without being a full foster parent. Some families specifically want to offer respite rather than full placements — the involvement is meaningful but bounded. The application process is the same: background checks, home safety assessment, PRIDE training.
Respite rates: Respite is funded separately from the standard maintenance per diem. The Ministry allocates respite funding to foster families as part of their support package, and a licensed respite provider receives a per-respite-day or per-block rate. Exact rates vary and can be discussed directly with your regional MSS office or the SFFA.
Why it matters: Foster parent burnout is real and documented. The research is consistent: caregivers who have access to regular respite have longer placements, more stable homes, and better outcomes for children. Respite providers are not a secondary part of the system — they're what keeps the primary caregivers functioning.
Therapeutic (Specialized) Foster Care
Therapeutic care, sometimes called specialized care in Saskatchewan's PRIDE Levels of Pay framework, is for children with acute medical, developmental, behavioral, or mental health needs that require a higher level of care.
What "therapeutic" means here: A child in therapeutic care might have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and significant behavioral dysregulation. They might have a history of sexual abuse that requires a specific protective home environment. They might have a complex medical condition that requires daily medical management. These are not children who just need a warm, stable home — they need a caregiver with specific training and capacity.
The PRIDE Levels of Pay for therapeutic care:
| Level | Description | Supplemental Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 | Basic PRIDE completed, standard care | ~$500/month per child |
| Level 3 | Adolescent and therapeutic care | ~$1,300/month per child |
| Level 4 | Complex behavioral needs | ~$2,100/month per child |
| Level 5 | Specialized medical/developmental needs | ~$2,900/month per child |
These fees are in addition to the basic maintenance per diem. A Level 5 therapeutic caregiver providing care for a 16-year-old in the south would receive approximately $767/month in basic maintenance plus $2,900/month in service fees.
Advancing to Level 3 or higher requires completing additional PRIDE training modules and demonstrating capacity for the specific needs of children at those care levels.
Who qualifies to provide therapeutic care: MSS determines eligibility based on the caregiver's training, home environment, support systems, and prior fostering experience. You don't self-select into therapeutic care — you're matched with children whose care plan identifies a therapeutic home as appropriate, and you and MSS jointly assess whether it's the right fit.
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Choosing Your Role
Many first-time applicants start by asking MSS to place "any child we can help." That's generous, but it's not actually useful information for a placement worker. The most productive starting point is being honest with yourself about what you can realistically take on.
Emergency care demands immediate availability and strong tolerance for crisis. Respite is bounded and predictable. Therapeutic care requires both specialized training and robust personal support systems. Most experienced foster families start with standard placements before moving into therapeutic care.
The Saskatchewan Foster Care Guide covers the full placement type framework, the financial structure of PRIDE Levels of Pay, and what the home study process looks like for each care level.
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