Nova Scotia First Nations eye better child services on heels of ruling

A recent human rights ruling means Mi'kmaq communities in Nova Scotia could see an expansion of programs for aboriginal children and families.

"We were all overwhelmed and excited about the ruling," said ArleneJohnson, executive director ofMi'kmaqFamily and Children's Services inEskasoni."For us, it means that we can expand on our services andwe know that we will receive additional funding."

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Last month, a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found the federalgovernment discriminates against First Nations children bygranting up 38 per cent less funding to on-reserve child welfare services than is providedoff reserve.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett has said theLiberal government agrees with the decision and pledged it would begin working with aboriginal groups to find solutions. The government said fixes will mean more money.

The additional money would meanMi'kmaqFamily and Children'sServices, which delivers child welfare services to aboriginal reserves across the province,can provideculturally relevant programming for children and families, Johnson said.

All services, especially in prevention, have been underfunded, she said.

More prevention, less adversarial approaches

Johnson said all the service's programs are to be culturallyrelevant, and include "the use of elders, the use oflanguage, and to meet community needs."

One program currently in the worksis called family group conferencing, she said.

It would "use less adversarial approaches in terms of diverting [people]away from courteventually. It's a process, family group conferencing, where we can include the family and the family is involved allthrough the decision making."

The agencyis also working on its adoption program,Johnson said.

"We want it to be enriched with our Mi'kmaq culture and traditions. And it's basicallyabout [children] understanding their identity, you know, being proud of their culture, understanding the culture by traditional learning."

She said she wants to see social and health services forEskasoni families provided in their own community, instead of outside the community.