Bands to manage children's services

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FORT ST. JAMES - The Nak'azdli and Tl'az'ten First Nations in British Columbia have signed an agreement with the government enabling the bands to receive federal money to develop their own services for children's safety and well-being.

A ceremony was held Oct. 16 as the Nezul Be Hunuyeh Child and Family Service Agency accepted the responsibility on behalf of the two First Nations. The agency will take over the management of a full range of child protection and intensive youth and family support services within three to five years. Currently the Ministry for Children and Family Development delivers those services.

"The most important advancement for this community is that they are going to be able to deliver prevention and intensive family support services that they haven't been able to receive under the Ministry for Children and Family Development, because currently what they have are services addressing only crises and child protection matters," said Bernadette Spence, who facilitated the planning phase.

"In other words, the services are not available to prevent crises or situations where children need to be brought into care," she added.

"Between the two communities there are 500 children under the age of 19," said Spence, "and there are approximately 40 children in care from those communities.

"One of the main priorities is to repatriate those children where it is appropriate to do so, so that they can grow up within an extended family or community."

This agreement is the twenty-first in the province.