Saskatchewan First Nations Jordan's Principle Coordination Report

SFNFCI’s mission is to build capacity within organizations serving children, youth and families based on First Nation values. The Saskatchewan First Nations Family and Community Institute (SFNFCI) became involved with the Jordan’s Principle Initiative in January 2018 through a proposal driven initiative.  SFNFCI created a sub-committee from the Regional Tripartite Table to help guide the project and hired a coordinator, Treena Wynes, to work with the committee and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) on planning the info sessions for First Nations service providers. The following report outlines the execution of activities to complete the contract deliverables. 

In Saskatchewan, ISC has been providing information sessions and receiving applications for Jordan’s Principle since September 2016 with the federal mandate to meet the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) Ruling to ensure First Nations children, both on and off-reserve, received the same level of care.  Jordan’s Principle in Saskatchewan currently has several navigators on and off-reserve, including but not limited to: Early Childhood Intervention Program (ECIP), First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies, Tribal Councils and Health.   

ISC wanted to have more info sessions to share the Jordan’s Principle Initiative throughout the province but required an organization to coordinate the sessions.  This project aligned with SFNFCI’s mission and experience planning and working with many First Nations across the province. 

All 22 information sessions included a meal/snacks, depending on the time of the session. The information sessions in 13 locations across Saskatchewan, from March 8-May 26 focused on providing information to First Nations Service providers on reserve. SFNFCI coordination work with Indigenous Services Canada has proved to be successful in presenting to 764 service providers and providing information to an additional 550 conference attendees about the Jordan’s Principle Initiative. Responses from attendees indicate a need for the initiative and appreciation for the information. Additional comments from attendees indicated the importance of the work to be continued and suggested more info sessions. The value of community-based info sessions heightened the awareness and understanding of service providers and following the sessions, 90% of attendees were ready and very ready to apply for the Jordan’s Principle Initiative.

 

Read the full report for more information and details.


Many thanks to Indigenous Services Canada for funding the project.

 

Please read the report for more information.