Federal government, B.C. and First Nation in Okanagan sign care co-ordination deal – Okanagan | 24CA News
The supply of kid and household providers grounded in Indigenous tradition and neighborhood was celebrated on Friday in British Columbia’s North Okanagan with the signing of the province’s first care coordination providers settlement.
Indigenous youngsters thrive after they can stick with their households and communities and are surrounded by their tradition and language, federal Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu mentioned in an interview after the ceremony.
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The settlement between the federal, B.C. and Secwepemc Nation governments gives the authorized framework and funding for the co-ordinated care providers, she mentioned.
“This is an exciting time in the history of our country and the history of the First Nations that are doing this work,” mentioned Hajdu.
The minister mentioned governments over the subsequent 10 years will switch $136.2 million to the Enderby-area Splatsin First Nation to assist and proceed their long-standing dedication and work on household and baby providers.
“This community now has the legal co-ordination of care agreement between B.C., the federal government and the community itself to reassert the rights of Splatsin people to have self-determination over the care of their children and families,” Hajdu mentioned.
The settlement, which is the primary of its sort in B.C. and the fifth in Canada, addresses the supply of emergency providers, mechanisms for First Nations youngsters to train their rights and sustainable and constant needs-based funding, she mentioned.
“This is a community that has actually by and large been doing this but with a lot of interference from colonial systems that have made it difficult for Splatsin to keep kids connected to their communities,” Hajdu mentioned.
Splatsin Chief Doug Thomas mentioned in an announcement that the settlement continues the accountability of each nation member to care for kids previous, current and into the longer term.
“This high level of responsibility for our children falls not just on the shoulders of leadership, but every Splatsin community member,” he mentioned.
“It takes a community to raise a child, and at Splatsin we do our best to live by those words.”
Hajdu mentioned the settlement will guarantee Splatsin youngsters keep within the communities and stay linked with their tradition.
It specifies “how things should unfold to support families to stay well and also to support families that are struggling,” she mentioned.
Mitzi Dean, B.C.’s minister of youngsters and household growth, mentioned in an announcement the Splatsin have been working for many years to make sure their youngsters and households stay linked to their tradition and communities regardless of the constraints of the kid welfare system.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
