FMS FAQ: What is family?

What is ‘family’?

March 31, 2021

Family Managed Services (FMS) is a funding option that enables families to hire and direct their own staff to support a family member with developmental disabilities to live a full life in community by having friends and close relationships, living in their own home, having a job and a career, being a life-long learner, enjoying recreational and leisure activities and expressing creativity. The term ‘family’ is used a lot in FMS, but what exactly does it mean?

What is ‘family’?

Our definition of family is not limited to the traditional definition of a nuclear family (parents, children, etc.) but can consist of two or more people, living together or apart, related by blood, marriage, adoption or by a commitment to love and support one another.

Over the past 40 years, Inclusion Alberta families have discovered the power of inclusion in normative pathways. They found that people with developmental disabilities thrive when they are immersed in the same paths through community life as any other person at a similar stage of life. To learn more about FMS and to see if it is a good fit for your family, visit our Online Guide to FMS here.