Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) is an 80/20 funding partnership between the province, municipalities and Metis Settlements. Under FCSS, communities design and deliver social programs that are preventive in nature to promote and enhance well being among individuals, families, and communities. The programs depend on community resources, often involving volunteers in management and delivery.

The FCSS philosophy is based on a belief that self help contributes to a sense of integrity, self-worth and independence. The programs developed are intended to help individuals in their community to adopt healthy lifestyles, thereby improving the quality of life and build the capacity to prevent and or deal with crisis situations should they arise.

One of the key principles of the FCSS Program is local autonomy in priority setting and resource allocation. FCSS emphasizes local decision-making for programming, based on the belief that communities have the desire, energy and resources to build community capacity.  Each municipality or Metis settlement determines how the dollars they receive should be allocated to best meet the needs of their community.