Children and Youth with Support Needs – First Nations Engagement
Overview
Who: The Ministry of Children and Family Development
What: Engagement and co-development with First Nations Rights and Titleholders on a system of supports for children and youth with support needs
Where: Province-wide
Why: To build a better system of supports co-developed with First Nations communities
How: Online
Engagement summary
In November 2022, the Province committed to engaging in deeper consultation with parents and caregivers, First Nations, Indigenous Peoples, communities, experts and practitioners, and others with lived experience to inform the Province’s work to improve supports for children and youth with support needs.
B.C. recognizes the importance of children and youth with support needs (CYSN) services that work for every child and is committed to meaningful engagement with First Nations Rights and Titleholders.
The Province is guided by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (the Declaration Act) and the commitment to co-develop legislation, policy, and programming with First Nations Rights and Titleholders.
As part of this commitment, the Ministry of Children and Family Development led an engagement and co-development process with First Nations Rights and Titleholders. This engagement explored First Nations Rights and Titleholders’ vision for their children, families and communities.
Phase 1 of engagement
The first phase of engagement took place in spring and summer of 2023. First Nations Rights and Titleholders were invited to share:
- What is and is not working in First Nations communities for families with children and youth with support needs
- Elements that make up a successful system of services for First Nations children and youth with support needs and their families
- Which CYSN topics should be further explored and engaged on
Engagement learnings:
- Session 1 Summary (PDF, 200KB)
- Session 2 Summary (PDF, 200KB)
- Session 3 Summary (PDF, 200KB)
- Session 4 Summary (PDF, 200KB)
- Honouring Past Wisdom Engagement Summary (PDF, 145KB)
Phase 2 of engagement
The second phase of engagement was held between October 2023 and June 2024 to develop an understanding of the priorities of First Nations communities regarding CYSN supports and services.
Engagement learnings: Visual summaries (PDF, 3MB)
Engagement capacity funding
Provincial funding was available to B.C. First Nations communities to help support their capacity to engage with the Ministry of Children and Family Development and others on their unique needs in the context of supports and services for children and youth with support needs.
Grant funding of $25,000 was available to all 204 First Nations communities in B.C. Funding requests closed on December 2, 2024.
How First Nation communities choose to share their feedback with the Ministry of Children and Family Development is at the discretion of the First Nation and their community.
Broad engagement on children and youth with support needs services
To learn about the broader engagement on children and youth with support needs that took place over 2023 and 2024, please visit the Children and Youth with Support Needs govTogetherBC page.
Related engagements
