VACFSS conference focused on future of Aboriginal youth

A three-day conference sponsored by the organization responsible for Aboriginal child and family services in the region sought to bring about dialogue, sharing, connecting and learning on how to best work with children and youth.
The Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS) conference, entitled "Honouring Our Children and Youth" opened May 14 with song, prayer and ceremonies following the protocols of the people of the land, attended by dozens of First Nations and non-First Nations delegates.
VACFSS President Kathy Louis noted the conference was the second sponsored by the organization, the first having occurred two years previous. She added the event offers opportunities to create and nurture a community of like-minded care-givers, professionals and service providers.
"I believe we all recognize that there is no more important work that can be done than working with children and youth," she said. "They are our future and they are our hope. VACFSS knows this conference is not a solution to our problems, but we hope it is a part of it, as it is through dialogue, connections and relationship-building that we can not only heal but we can thrive."
Half of all children in-care are First Nations, and the number is rising. Cultural beliefs, values and traditional teachings need to be foundational in the delivery of programs and services to children, youth and families, and the community can move forward through sharing knowledge and experience to facilitate collective improvement, Louis said.
"By bringing the service providers together and people in the community that have a passion and interest in child welfare and Aboriginal child welfare, it's about building those networks, sharing innovations and best practices that are happening out there," added Beverly Dicks, regional executive director for the Vancouver coastal region with the Ministry of Child and Family Development (MCFD).
Kathy Bedard Sparrow, president of the Vancouver Coastal Aboriginal Planning Committee (VCAPC), added that a forum like the conference, which brings key players together in one room, is very important considering that historically those various players - government bodies and Aboriginal organizations - haven't worked together as they are today.
"We all are here for the same reason, and so it only makes sense that we would work together in one direction for our children," she said. "We are taking back control. And it's about healing. It's about the future of our children, our families, our communities. And it's about hope.
The fact that numerous high-ranking government delegates made appearances at the conference is a historical one, according to Bedard Sparrow.
"We've never had that kind of support, ever, and it makes all the difference to us being able to work together, finally," she said.
Louis said she hopes the conference will allow for continued collaboration and networking and that it will provide an opportunity to share the things VACFSS - which recently was delegated child protection responsibilities for urban Aboriginal children and families (see page 11) - has been able to accomplish, especially in terms of incorporating traditional teachings and culture into service delivery.
"The mainstream system, MCFD, has an awful lot of resources that they're not utilizing as they could from the Aboriginal people, from the Aboriginal organizations," Louis said. "This is something that we would like to think we're trailblazing on, and we need to work much closer together and build trusting, respectful partnerships with government people."
The conference featured dozens of sessions on a variety of topics related to child and family services, including incorporating traditional Indigenous approaches and cultural identities; youth engagement and empowerment; the role of men in communities; language; artwork; and, psychology.
The keynote speaker was Calvin Helin, a member of the Tsimshian nation, a successful lawyer and business person and the author of "Dances with Dependency: Indigenous success through self-reliance."
Helin's speech delivered the same message his book presents, that is that Indigenous self-reliance is a way forward based on economic integration into the modern economy, and that Aboriginal people need to go to work to support themselves rather than be caught up in the "welfare trap."
Helin said Aboriginal people have been "socialized into a dependency mindset. "Under this current welfare trap system we are killing our kids and I believe our women," he said.