A holistic approach needed to encourage youth

If you want to help Aboriginal youth to stay in school and out of trouble, you can’t forget about the needs of their parents and grandparents, said the executive director of the Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA).

Lynda Gray manages 21 youth-centered programs at the not-for-profit organization in downtown Vancouver, however, she said the insufficient funding for programs to help victims of Indian residential schools is gravely affecting younger generations.

“If a youth is in a home with a residential school survivor and they stop their healing process, the youth are negatively impacted,” said Gray.

Without proper guidance, Gray said, the Aboriginal youth incarceration rate, addictions and incidences of dropouts from high-school will only get worse.

Her thoughts are echoed in the Canada Council of Provincial Child and Youth Advocates (CCPCYA) study that was released on June 23.

Aboriginal Children and Youth in Canada: Canada Must Do Better is a 14-page analysis of the urgency behind helping young First Nations. It outlines the growing education and health outcomes between Aboriginal youth versus non-Aboriginals.

According to the report, 84 per cent of youth in custody in Manitoba were Aboriginal in 2006, even though they represented only 23 per cent of the provincial population aged 12 to 17. In British Columbia, Aboriginal children are six times more likely to be taken into care than non-Aboriginal children, and, as of March 2010, represent 54 per cent of the province’s in-care child population.

Gray said that as a B.C. organization that receives around 6,000 drop-ins a year, her biggest struggle is maintaining after-school programs that help to encourage youth to stay in school.

More money for programs like UNYA’s tutor-mentor program and the sports and recreational program, along with the creation of a Native youth centre are priorities for Gray. The centre, which is planned to sit on the corner of Commercial and Hastings St., has been in the works for over seven years, but final administration details over the land are still being finalized.

UNYA’s operating budget for 2009 was $4.5 million.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo has openly supported the report and the recommendations made to promote action to solve the pressing issues Aboriginal youth currently struggle with.

“The report points out time and time again that, across almost every area of responsibility, from child welfare to education to criminal justice, there are no adequate, national, coordinated strategies in place,” said Atleo in a press release. “As First Nations, as parents and as responsible citizens we should all be standing up to support a better life for First Nations children. There is no reason that First Nations children should suffer in a country as rich as Canada.”

Atleo added that collaboration between governments and organizations is crucial in order to carry out the four recommendations of the report, which are listed as:
• Creation of a National Children’s Commissioner independent from the Parliament of Canada.

•  A national report on child welfare, education and health for Aboriginal children.

• Creation of a national Aboriginal children and youth participation initiative, with training on child and youth rights, leadership, voice and civic participation.

• Convene a First Ministers Meeting on this issue that includes Aboriginal leaders and child and youth delegates.

Gray supports all four proposals and is particularly passionate about the idea of helping teens take on leadership roles within their communities.
Windspeaker contacted CCPCYA for comment on the report, but our calls were not returned.

Based in Ontario, CCPCYA reports directly to the Legislature and strives to provide an independent voice for children and youth, including children with special needs and First Nations children.