Service agencies to benefit from new institute

On-reserve child and family service agencies operating across Saskatchewan will soon be able to network with each other and have access to the same programming and resources once a planned Saskatchewan First Nations Family and Community Institute is up and running.

While the institute is still in the planning stages, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Vice-chief Delbert Wapass is hopeful it will become a reality in the near future. Funding commitments have already been received from both the federal and provincial governments, with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada providing $150,000 for the project and Saskatchewan promising another $135,000, Wapass said.

"The idea behind the institute is to provide a First Nations approach that is based on collaboration and respect amongst all levels of government to help develop and strengthen First Nations families and values, based on First Nations values and practices."

The role of the institute, Wapass said, is to assist Indian Child and Family Services (ICFS) agencies by developing First Nations' standards for service provision, providing training and assisting in program development. The institute would also help centralize operations, helping to eliminate duplication of services while providing agencies across the province with a means of sharing information with one another.

The idea of creating such an institute is certainly nothing new, Wapass said.

"It's something that the communities have been talking about for a long time. It's something that the leadership have brought forward to the health and social development commission chiefs as well as the legislative assembly. They've had a lot of discussions."

The communities and agencies that will be served by the institute are having their say about how the institute will be organized and operated, Wapass said.

"We started the community dialogues with the First Nations on the work that we want to engage in. A draft terms of reference is being developed with the various ICFS agencies which will then have to go through the various approval processes within FSIN. And the feedback that has been requested from the parties is how will the institute be structured, the size of the governing body, the criteria for the board reps and the typical activities that the institute could assist agencies to deliver. The feedback thus far has been very supportive and constructive," he said.

"Responses emphasize the role of the institute in the development of standards, policies and programs based on First Nations cultures and beliefs and the development and co-ordination of materials that could be used by agencies for the training of staff, board members, caregivers, leadership and community members ... The programs that are going to be developed are going to be ones that are going to be important and relevant to the agencies themselves."

The location of the institute will also be decided in consultation with the communities and agencies the institute will be serving.

Wapass is hopeful that, with the support the project has from both the provincial and federal governments, the institute will be in a position to help address jurisdictional issues that arise in the area of child protection.

"We see a lot of our kids that are apprehended for one reason or another. We see a lot of our kids being lost through the bureaucracy ... it's not a provincial jurisdiction, it's a federal jurisdiction-type situation. We see a lot of our kids losing who they are and we see the impacts once they get old enough to realize and to know that they are First Nation," he said.

"The development of the Saskatchewan First Nations Family and Community Institute is seen as a vital building block in the development of First Nations' jurisdiction over child and family services," Wapass said. "It is a matter of asserting and implementing our treaty rights and exercising our jurisdiction. So to me it is important and for the chiefs of Saskatchewan it's important and for the agencies who we represent, it's very important for them as well."