The
Ontario Indigenous Children and Youth Strategy (OICYS) is a bilateral strategy
between Indigenous peoples and the Ontario government through the Ministry of
Children and Youth Services (MCYS). It is designed to improve outcomes and
opportunities for First Nations youth by changing how services are designed and
delivered. More specifically, it outlines key principles that enable First
Nations to control programming that is developed holistically rather than
imposed externally.
Background
The
road to the OICYS began with a 2011 report by John Beaucage, Aboriginal Advisor
to the Minister of Children and Youth Services. After studying Children’s Aid
Societies (CASs) in Ontario for a year and consulting with communities,
Beaucage concluded, “The child protection system in Ontario is broken for
Aboriginal children and youth and it must be fixed.” This report stated the
need for culturally grounded, community driven children’s services for
Indigenous communities. Responding to that report, MCYS worked with Indigenous
partners for two years (2013-2015) to develop the current OICYS.
In September 2015, the AOCYS received Cabinet and Treasury Board approval to move forward with implementation. This is a visionary document. In other words, the strategy is implemented in the regular activities of the Ontario government, and is fleshed out in a number of other policies and strategies. This makes it incredibly important as a strategic document but also difficult to track at the program level.
The OICYS as a strategy has five key
pillars: 1) First Nations Jurisdiction and Control, 2) Prevention, culture, and
opportunities, 3) coordinated and responsive circle of care, 4) monitoring,
evaluation, and shared accountability, and 5) transformed relationships and
collaborative, holistic action. These elements will guide the provinces
engagement with First Nations and its development of programs for children and
youth. In addition, the OICYS is supported by Ontario’s Strategy to End Violence Against Indigenous Women, the First Nations Health Action Plan, and The Journey Together.
Implementation
The Ontario government is working
towards implementing the OICYS through a multi-phase approach. Currently, the
OICYS is nearing the end of phase 1 which will lay the groundwork for
substantive movement toward the strategy’s pillars.
The first stage included several steps
that will make it possible to substantively improve a budgetary
mapping project which identified the funding available to Indigenous children
and youth, and how that funding was spent. The Ministry of Children and Youth
Services worked internally to find how their funding was allocated, and then
worked with communities to identify spending patterns on the ground in order to
identify where and how to more efficiently use available money.
In addition, the OICYS included a
legislative review of the Child and Family Services Act. While the initial
intent was legislative amendments to the existing act, engagement with PTOs and
Indigenous organizations showed that this was insufficient. Instead, entirely
new legislation was passed (Bill 89: Supporting Children, Youth and Families Act)
which more effectively included Indigenous peoples in policy and program
development, and recognized Jordan’s Principle.
The province worked with Indigenous
partners to identify data performance measures for a transformed relationship
and improved outcomes. These agreed upon outcomes focus on measurable
objectives for children and youth, communities and organizations, and programs
and services. In order to counter the pervasive and lasting effects of the
residential schools, Ontario acknowledges that meaningful changes to the
justice system are necessary. These changes require the closing of service gaps
for Indigenous victims and accused through the provision of culturally relevant
and appropriate services. In addition, actions must be taken that clearly
recognize the value and legitimacy of Indigenous legal principles, legal
systems, autonomy and cultures These agreed upon outcomes, which will
likely be ratified soon, will then inform strategies and programs from the
government. The working group will then use the data maps to inform strategic investment
planning in such a way that would protect First Nation jurisdiction of children
and youth services.
Finally, the government has issued $80
million in funding for an Indigenous family well-being program, which is noted
in the one year update to The Journey Together. This funding went
to assist communities in designing culturally appropriate programs that suit
the local needs of the community, and funded one support worker per community
(First Nation, Friendship Centre, Metis Community, etc.).
Next
Steps
Once all these projects are completed, phase two of the OICYS will begin,
which will work more substantively towards the shared goals established in
phase one. This will include First Nation jurisdiction over programs, and First
Nation control of children and youth services.
Chiefs of Ontario holds a participant status in the Technical Roundtable discussions and efforts with the implementation of OICYS, as per Resolution 08/16 at the All Ontario Chiefs Conference. Its role is to coordinate communications, advocacy efforts, and implementation activities under the direction of the PTOs, IFN, and unaffiliated First Nations.
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