The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council supports B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth’s new report

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - 11:14

PRESS STATEMENT
April 6, 2017

The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council supports B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth’s new report
The Delegated Aboriginal Agency’s report emphasizes lack of funding for Indigenous child and family services

(Port Alberni, B.C.) The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) is pleased to support B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth’s new report, which successfully highlights the dangerous underfunding of Indigenous youth services in British Columbia.

It’s what we’ve been advocating since the beginning. Usma Nuu-chah-nulth family and child services agency was the first delegated aboriginal agency in the province. It has successfully provided social services to children and families across Vancouver Island for almost 30 years.

The Representative for Children and Youth has helped shed light on an important issue, which Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations and the NTC have been expressing as an urgent need to address. Our delegated aboriginal agencies are grossly underfunded and positioned to fail. We do our best with a lack of resources and limited funding to keep our children out of care. This report effectively slams the federal government and their lack of accountability to our Indigenous youth.

Although First Nations delegated aboriginal agencies have been working with the federal and provincial government for over 20 years, underfunding still exists. Reports and recommendations on the issues have been presented to both levels of government over the past few decades with little done on their end to remedy the situation. Just last May, in a statement provided by Debra Foxcroft, President of NTC, clear recommendations were given to the province and Ministry of Children and Family Development, including the need to develop of a B.C. First Nations Child and Family Action Plan and Strategy. These recommendations included and stressed the dire need to increase funding and develop an action plan to implement Jordan’s Principle (attached).

We appreciate and support the highly publicized Representative’s for Children and Youth’s report released last week. We hope for the sake of our children, youth and families that this will be a pinnacle turning point for Indigenous youth services. Our children are our most precious resource and are worth the investment, just like any other child in Canada.

Report can be found here:
http://www.rcybc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/reports_publications/rcy-daa-2017.pdf‎

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About Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) provides programs and services to over 9,000 registered members. The role of the NTC is to represent fourteen First Nations in three regions stretching 300 kilometers of the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island from Brooks Peninsula in the North to Point-no-Point in the south. Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council represents Ahousaht, Ditidaht, Ehattesaht, Hesquiaht, Hupacasath, Huu-ay-aht, Kyuquot/Cheklesaht, Mowachaht/Muchalaht, Nuchatlaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, Toquaht, Tseshaht, Uchucklesaht and Ucluelet First Nations and provides a variety of programs and services to them. For more information, please visit www.nuuchahnulth.org.

For more information, please contact:

Debra Foxcroft, President
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
P: 250.724.5757 ext. 231
C: 250.720.5336
E: deb.foxcroft@nuuchahnulth.org

Ken Watts, Vice-President
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
P: 250.724.5757 ext. 232
C: 250.731.7218
E: ken.watts@nuuchahnulth.org

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