PRS Cabinet Submission

Transcription

1 PRS Cabinet Submission August 2014

2 About the OFIFC The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) is a provincial Aboriginal organization representing the collective interests of twenty-eight member Friendship Centres located in towns and cities throughout the province of Ontario. The vision of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre Movement is to improve the quality of life for Aboriginal people living in an urban environment by supporting self-determined activities which encourage equal access to, and participation in, Canadian society and which respects Aboriginal cultural distinctiveness. The OFIFC administers a number of programs and initiatives which are delivered by local Friendship Centres in areas such as justice, health, family support, long term care, healing and wellness, and employment and training. Friendship Centres employ hundreds of program workers and support staff on the ground in communities across Ontario. As notfor-profit corporations which are mandated to serve the needs of all Aboriginal people regardless of legal definition, Friendship Centres respond to the needs of tens of thousands of community members requiring culture-based and culturally-appropriate services every day. Introduction In 2008, Ontario launched the first iteration of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), Breaking the Cycle, with the ambitious goal of cutting child poverty by 25 per cent over 5 years. The PRS was a departure from more traditional approaches as it focused on breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty by targeting supports towards children and their families. 1 KEY FACTS: 84.1 percent of Aboriginal people in Ontario live offreserve. (Statistics Canada. (2011) National Household Survey.) 50 percent of Ontario s Aboriginal population is under the age of twenty-seven, of which 35.7 percent are children and youth aged 19 and under. (Government of Ontario, (2008). Breaking the Cycle, Ontario s Poverty Reduction Strategy, p15 & Ministry of Finance. (2006) Census Highlights: Fact Sheet 9, Statistics Canada.) 36 percent of off-reserve Aboriginal children under the age of 6 live in poverty compared to 19 percent of non- Aboriginal children. (Statistics Canada. (2008). Aboriginal Children s Survey, 2006: Supporting Data Tables, p. 137.) 41 percent of Aboriginal children living off-reserve live with a single parent compared to 13 percent of non-aboriginal children. (Best Start Resource Centre. (2012). Why am I poor? First Nations Child Poverty in Ontario, p. 8.) 22% of Children in care in the in Ontario are Aboriginal. ( nov2013_cwr_2012.pdf, p.6) Since the PRS was launched, some notable progress has been made in the areas of poverty 1 Ontario. (2013). Breaking the Cycle The Fifth Progress Report. Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy 2012 Annual Report. p.3. Retrieved from: p.3 2

3 reduction. In 2011, the overall child poverty rate in Ontario was 13.8% (LIM-AT), a decline of 9.2% from 15.2% in In part, the decline in the poverty rate can be attributed to key investments made by the Provincial government since the PRS was implemented, combined with overall improvements in Ontario s economy following the economic downturn in While these investments mark important progress, more needs to be done to effectively end the intergenerational cycle of poverty in urban Aboriginal communities due to the fact that a disproportionate number of urban Aboriginal people experience poverty. The intergenerational cycle of poverty is born from colonial policies such as Residential Schools and the 60s Scoop, in which community displacement, loss of culture, apprehension of children, disenfranchisement have inflicted trauma that continues to affect the health and wellbeing of current generations that deal with the fallout from this legacy without adequate supports. Reducing poverty in urban Aboriginal communities means employing solutions that make sense to, and originate from, urban Aboriginal communities. In an effort to ensure that the PRS aligns with this principle, the OFIFC is providing the Ministry Children and Youth Services (MCYS) with this targeted submission which presents the needs and barriers faced by Friendship Centre communities in the area of poverty reduction. This submission also provides recommendations for MCYS to bring forward to Cabinet the Committee on Poverty Reduction, Chaired by Minister Deb Matthews. Additionally, the OFIFC has attached its original Response to the PRS, which was submitted in October OFIFC s Preventative and Wholistic Approach to Poverty Reduction Culturally, the OFIFC believes that children are gifts from the Creator. As such, wholistic notions which nurture the development and creation of healthy opportunities for children, youth and their families underpin the work of the OFIFC. We believe children truly are our collective future for the next seven generations, in which Friendship Centres can be the catalyst for their healthy development. Therefore, it remains imperative that resources and programs be culturally competent, appropriate and delivered by, and in partnership with, Aboriginal organisations, such as the OFIFC and Friendship Centres. The OFIFC is dedicated to improving wholistic outcomes for Aboriginal children, youth and their families, particularly given the high urban Aboriginal population living in poverty, which remains rooted in systemic factors. It is our philosophy that Aboriginal children and youth issues cannot be adequately addressed as a standalone issue. Rather, child poverty is intrinsically tied to systemic factors such as poor health, low educational attainment, inadequate housing, mental health issues and addictions, high justice involvement, and high involvement in the child welfare system. 2 Campaign2000. (2013). Beyond Austerity investing in Ontario s Future 2013 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Ontario, p. 4. 3

4 The increase in the percentage of Aboriginal people living in urban centres combined with the knowledge that many of them are children and youth living in poverty, confirms the OFIFC s position that there is beyond a justifiable need to increase sustainable supports for Friendship Centre children and youth programming. Existing urban Aboriginal parent, child and youth programming, are successful in helping families who are living in poverty. However, availability, consistency and frequency of the programs are often limited due to inadequate and/or unstable funding structures that limit the reach of valuable programming (i.e. annualized funding). At the same time, while the Province has prioritized investments in poverty reduction for Aboriginal children and youth through Akwe:Go and Wasa:Nabin, there is an unfair burden placed upon these programs. For instance, government and mainstream organizations operate in ways that require programs like Akwe:go and Wasa: Nabin to address the continuum of issues facing urban Aboriginal people, and that they do so successfully with limited funding and inconsistent support. As the OFIFC approach clarifies, addressing poverty means addressing it through wholistic approaches across all levels, namely: A. Food Insecurity and Nutrition; B. Ending Family Violence; C. Physical and Mental Health; D. Housing and Homelessness; E. Early Childhood Development and Learning; F. Education (K-12); G. Racism and Systemic Discrimination; and H. Employment and Income The items above were selected and analyzed based on the OFIFC Basic Needs Wheel which was developed by Sylvia Maracle as an Indigenous interpretation of Abraham Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs. The OFIFC Basic Needs Wheel effectively demonstrates how essential needs must be met in a wholistic manner before moving on to other needs. Levels A through H, outline some basic needs of urban Aboriginal people that need to be addressed within the framework of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. A. Food Insecurity and Nutrition: Food insecurity and poverty has significant impacts on urban Aboriginal people, particularly women and children 3, including poor academic performance and health issues. 4 The Canadian Community Health Survey found that 33 percent of off-reserve Aboriginal households are food insecure (compared to only 9 percent for non-aboriginal 3 This is particularly problematic in northern and remote communities where food costs are extraneously high. 4 Zamecnik, L. (2009). Canadian Women and Children Hit Hard by the Impacts of Food Insecurity Part One. Esurio: Journal of Hunger and Poverty, 1(1). Available at: 4

5 households) 5. As a result, urban Aboriginal people are accessing food banks at increasingly disproportionate rates. Urban Aboriginal families also access Friendship Centres to aid in alleviating the food insecurity they experience. 6 The existing food aid programs, such as the Student Nutrition Program funded through MCYS, are insufficient in both the quantity and quality to solve urban Aboriginal food insecurity. Although Friendship Centre programs such as Aboriginal Healthy Babies Healthy Children are effective in helping parents learn how to prepare low cost meals, these programs need to be able to reach more families and have increased capacity to purchase food. Poor nutrition and hunger greatly impact a child s ability to learn. It has been noted children have difficulty concentrating to due hunger, which can lead to classroom behavioural problems. 7 Early academic years are a critical learning period and this is when many urban Aboriginal youth become disengaged from the education to employment continuum. Disengaging at this young age can negatively impact a child s learning potential and lead to not completing high school, not attending post-secondary education, unemployment and poverty later in life. B. Ending Family Violence: The experience of family violence in urban Aboriginal communities must also be considered in the context of poverty. Far too many urban Aboriginal families continue to experience poor socio-economic circumstances that lead to stress and an inability to cope in crisis situations or deal with unhealed trauma. These challenges can often lead to incidences of violence in the home. Persistent poverty contributes to chronic crisis and many Aboriginal women stay in vulnerable situations due to lack of economic supports that would grant access to basic necessities for themselves and/or their children. The situation is increasingly tenuous due the fact that women who leave their partners are five times more likely to raise their children in poverty than if they stay with their partners. 8 The Summit III to End Violence Against Aboriginal Women Final Report: Strengthening the Circle to End Violence Against Aboriginal Women (2009) focused on how programs and services offered by the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) can be improved to support Aboriginal women and families who are working to end violence in their lives. Key findings within this report indicate that there is an inadequate amount of resources for urban Aboriginal-specific interventions. To achieve its goal, the PRS needs to work with urban Aboriginal organizations towards ending family violence. 5 Willows, N.D., Veugelers, P., Raine, K. and Kule, S. (2008). Prevalence and sociodemographic risk factors related to household food insecurity in Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Public Health Nutrition, 12(8), p OFIFC. (2003). Child Hunger and Food Insecurity among Urban Aboriginal Families, p. I. 7 Ibid. 8 Canadian Teachers Federation. (2009). Supporting Education Building Canada: Child Poverty and Schools, p. 1. Available at: 5

6 C. Physical and Mental Health: Poverty has long-term physical and psychological effects. Urban Aboriginal people are more likely to have higher risk factors, including heavy smoking, drinking, and obesity, and experience chronic diseases, including high blood pressure and diabetes. 9 Early intervention among children can greatly improve their health outcomes later in life. The Province, through the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) committed to fund the Healthy Kids Program through the Healthy Kids Strategy. The Healthy Kids program is tailored to children and designed to increase healthy eating and physical activity levels. However, the MOHLTC has only agreed to fund this program in five Friendship Centre communities for one year. In order to improve health outcomes for urban Aboriginal children, the Province needs to make long-term investments across the Province and not just in selected communities. Poor socio-economic conditions can also cause stress and can potentially lead to addictions and depressed states of being. 10 The limited research and data available in the area of children s mental health suggest that 15 to 21 percent of Canadian children and youth are affected by mental health issues, with significantly higher rates for Aboriginal children and youth. 11 Currently, only five Friendship Centres provide mental health programming through the Children s Mental Health Program (CMHP). The CHMP program provides mostly general supports and is not designed to address more complex mental health issues that may require clinical interventions. D. Housing and Homelessness: Access to stable, safe and adequate housing is a basic human need and an integral aspect of healthy communities that enables individuals to be contributing members of society. However, decades of negligence towards the creation of affordable housing has meant that urban Aboriginal people living on low incomes and/or social assistance have extremely narrow options with respect to obtaining safe housing, in particular women and youth. In many cases, urban Aboriginal families are spending 50 percent, or more, of their income on housing as rental prices continue to rise to unaffordable amounts. 12 As a result, a numbers of families and children are living in hostels or are homelessness. More recently, Friendship Centres have observed an increase in youth homelessness as a growing number of Aboriginal youth have no fixed address and are prone to couch surf. In some instances, Aboriginal youth are forced to leave their home because of 9 Tjepkerna, 2002, as cited in, Place, J., National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. (2012). The Health of Aboriginal People Residing in Urban Areas, p. 15. Available at: 10 Tjepkema, Michael (2002). The Health of the Off-reserve Aboriginal Population, Statistics Canada, Catalogue Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport, Aboriginal Problem Gambling Needs Assessment and Environmental Scan (Toronto, ON: MHPS), OFIFC, OMAA and ONWA (2007). Urban Aboriginal Task Force (UATF) Final Report. Toronto, p. 35. Available at 6

7 family violence and/or addictions and substance abuse. In other cases, Aboriginal youth become homeless as they age out of care. Youth in care, in some cases, lack the basic life skills and the necessary support networks to make successful transitions out of care. At the same time these youth experience difficulty finding employment, as only 44 per cent of youth in and from care graduate from high school compared to 82 per cent of Ontario youth. E. Early Childhood Development and Learning: It is well known that investments in early childhood development and learning are a crucial social determinant of health. Recent studies demonstrate that early years interventions are imperative to the future success of Aboriginal students 13. However, in the Province of Ontario, there are limited culturally-based early learning supports available for urban Aboriginal children. What supports do exist, including Best Start Hubs and Parent and Family Literary Centres, are for the most part delivered by mainstream organizations that lack the training, resources or capacity to provide culturally appropriate services to meet the needs of urban Aboriginal people. Currently, there are only seven Friendship Centres that deliver Aboriginal early childcare services either as an Aboriginal Head Start, Aboriginal Best Start or through their own private capacity development. There are an additional three Friendship Centres which are stakeholders in the local delivery of Aboriginal childcare services within their community. These supports are woefully inadequate considering that Aboriginal children and youth are the fastest growing demographic in Ontario. F. Education (K-12): The barriers to education are complex, many of them systemic, and have been shown to delay and negatively impact people s ability to successfully move through the education to employment continuum and lift themselves out of poverty. The Akwe:Go and Wasa:Nabin programs work with at-risk Aboriginal children and youth to improve educational outcomes through the provision of one-on-one supports and through the development of on-going relationships with teachers, principals and school boards to support Aboriginal students achieving success in schools. These programs have proven to be effective, but their impact is limited to at-risk children and youth. Currently, there are only three high-risk Akwe:Go workers in Friendship Centres and no high-risk Wasa:Nabin workers for youth. At the same time, District School Boards across receive funding under the First Nation Métis and Inuit (FNMI) Education Supplement from the Ministry of Education based on student enrollment in Native Languages and Native Studies and on Census-derived demographics to support educational programs that meet the needs of Aboriginal students. This money is intended to reduce barriers within the education system for 13 Closing the Education Gap: A Case for Aboriginal Early Education in Canada, a Look at the Aboriginal Headstart Program and Aboriginal Young Children s Language and Literacy Development: Research Evaluating Progress, Promising Practices, and Needs 7

8 Aboriginal learners while increasing opportunities for cross cultural learning through the inclusion of culture-based curriculum. However, School Boards have the authority to decide where the money is spent and, as such, have the ability to move funds from one category to the next with no obligation to report how it was spent. As a result, in some instances the Aboriginal-specific funds are not being allocated in line with their intended purpose. Often these funds are not allocated appropriately to Aboriginal organizations and communities that have the knowledge and expertise to address barriers to Aboriginal education in a manner that is culture responsive. G. Racism and Systemic Discrimination: One of the most pervasive barriers to reducing the gap in poverty levels between the urban Aboriginal and non-aboriginal population is the everyday racism and systemic discrimination Aboriginal people face in every facet of society, namely, employment, education, access to housing, health care, the justice system, and service provision. 14 This systemic racism compounds the effects of poverty for urban Aboriginal families. Research from Friendship Centre communities continuously indicates that urban Aboriginal people prefer to access services from Aboriginal agencies. 15 For many, this is due to a lack of culture-based service provision in mainstream organizations and a sense of discomfort in accessing mainstream services due to systemic discrimination. Coinciding with this, research from a study at the University of Waterloo found that mainstream agencies feel at a loss in terms of their ability to provide appropriate services despite a desire to serve Aboriginal people. 16 The systemic failure to provide culturally safe services has meant urban Aboriginal people often have negative experiences when accessing services. Until the widespread and systemic racism and discrimination is addressed and culturally safe services are made readily accessible, urban Aboriginal people will be kept from achieving an adequate quality of life in the urban and remain entrenched in poverty. H. Employment and Income: Urban Aboriginal people, youth in particular, face considerable challenges in their transitions from education to employment, which has resulted in high levels of unemployment, underemployment and low-income. The OFIFC s Urban Aboriginal Labour Force and Training Strategic Framework seeks to address these gaps and to ensure more urban Aboriginal people are able to transition into meaningful and sustainable employment. Friendship Centres are administering numerous successful preventative programs for urban Aboriginal youth that aim to strengthen their cultural identity and increase positive 14 OFIFC, OMAA and ONWA (2007). Urban Aboriginal Task Force: Final Report, p. 21. Available at 15 OFIFC, OMAA and ONWA. (2007). Urban Aboriginal Task Force: Final Report, p. 90. Available at 16 Cooke, M., Woodhall J., and McWhirter, J. (2013). The Social and health Service Needs of Aboriginal Peoples in Smaller Urban Centres in Southern Ontario: A synthesis Paper for Service Agencies, Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series. 1(1), p. 1. 8

9 life outcomes, such as the Alternative Secondary School Program, Aboriginal Healthy Babies Healthy Children, Akwe:go, Community Action Program for Children, Children Who Witness Violence, Children s Mental Health Project, Wasa-Nabin, Urban Aboriginal Youth Program, and Apatisiwin Employment and Training. While many of these prevention and intervention programs may not have immediate outcomes of participation in the economy, it is crucial for government to recognize that these programs are successful because they function within the lifelong education to employment continuum. A key element of this programming is that they are culturebased, which is critical in the development of urban Aboriginal youth s self-confidence, essential life skills, and community connectedness. An adequate minimum wage should also be a critical element of a provincial poverty reduction strategy. Working full-time on minimum wage should enable individuals to sustain themselves and their families at a reasonable standard of living and commensurable with current costs of living. The provincial government has an obligation to ensure that full-time employment is a pathway out of poverty, and as such the minimum wage floor must be increased from its current state. Given that the minimum wage represents a regulatory tool by which government can accelerate economic involvement and spur consumerism, it is expected that individuals who are employed full-time, in any occupation, should be able to lift themselves and their families out of the cycle of poverty. Conclusion The healthy development for Aboriginal children and youth outcomes must include the recognition of the role that culture plays as the basis for developing healthy community resiliency. Only a wholistic perspective and concerted action will result in essential healthy intergenerational change and an end to poverty. This requires the dedicated and sustained efforts of all levels of policy, resources and implementation across all sectors of government with meaningful participation of Aboriginal people, communities, leaders and organisations. As this submission demonstrates, the OFIFC and its member Friendship Centres play critical roles in lifting urban Aboriginal children and families out of poverty through the provision of wholistic supports that address essential needs. Through the delivery of culture-based programming, Friendship Centres have proven to be effective at addressing unacceptably high levels of poverty in urban Aboriginal communities. Therefore, the Provincial Government, through the framework of the PRS, should prioritize strategic and long-term investments in Friendship Centres in the areas of child care and early learning, literacy, education, justice prevention, health promotion, employment, social assistance, justice prevention, and housing. These activities should be coordinated under an overarching Framework for a Strategic Approach to Urban Aboriginal Issues developed in partnership with the OFIFC. 9

10 OFIFC s Recommendations The OFIFC is determined and dedicated to increasing the healthy development of Aboriginal children, youth and families by building community capacity to effect sustained healthy intergenerational change within the family and community, strengthen and increase community partnerships, and bring forward urban Aboriginal children and youth concerns to all levels of government. Implementation of the key recommendations contained herein will mark a significant step forward for us all. The OFIFC recommends: A. Food Insecurity and Nutrition Recommendations: 1. That targeted infrastructure investments and additional funding be given to Friendship Centres to increase their capacity to provide and prepare nutritious food and planned physical activities (e.g. building industrial kitchens, play grounds and gyms); and, 2. That additional supports be made both within Friendship Centres and Social Assistance rates to reflect the regional cost for food; B. Ending Family Violence Recommendations: 1. That the Strategic Framework to End Violence Against Aboriginal Women is implemented and adopted as an official provincial policy; and, 2. That new investments are made within Friendship Centres to end family violence and that existing supports, such as Children Who Witness Violence, are expanded to all Friendship Centre communities; C. Physical and Mental Health Recommendations: 1. That the MCYS implement the Aboriginal Children and Youth Strategy that aligns with the Joint Submission, prepared by the OFIFC, Ontario Native Women s Association (ONWA) and Métis Nation of Ontario; 2. That the MOHLTC evergreen fund and expand the Healthy Kids Program to all Friendship Centre communities across Ontario; and, 3. That culturally-driven services and supports, that are designed and delivered by the Aboriginal community, are available to address the full spectrum of mental health needs from promotion and prevention to highly specialized interventions for serious, ongoing, and concurrent disorders. D. Housing and Homelessness Recommendations: 1. That the Provincial government prioritize investment in transitional and supportive housing for Aboriginal youth and that specific supports be made available for Aboriginal youth ageing out of care; and, 2. That new monies are set aside to increase the available stock of affordable housing across Ontario. 10

11 E. Early Childhood Development and Learning Recommendations: 1. That significant investments are made to create a new culture based early learning model that would increase the number of Friendship Centres designated as Best Start Hubs and Family Resource Centres and that the existing full suite of Early Learning programs, including Full-Day Kindergarten, be culturally competent; and, 2. That cultural based childcare be supported, expanded and connected to Friendship Centre programming in consideration of the fact that Aboriginal children are the fastest growing demographic in Ontario. F. Education Recommendations: 1. That the funding be made available through MCYS, through the framework of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, to increase the number of At-Risk/High-Risk Akwe:go and Wasa:nabin Children and Youth Program Workers in Friendship Centre communities across Ontario; 2. That the Ministry of Education hold District School Boards accountable by mandating them to provide Friendship Centres with Aboriginal-specific dollars from the FNMI Education Supplement to provide education supports to urban Aboriginal students in the community. G. Racism and Discrimination Recommendations: 1. That the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care engage the OFIFC to coordinate cultural competency training for front line service providers and Ministry staff to foster better understanding of, and communication with, urban Aboriginal clients; and, 2. That investments set aside for Aboriginal poverty reduction through the framework of the PRS be allocated to urban Aboriginal organizations who have a long-history of successfully developing and delivering culturally-based, wholistic services to urban Aboriginal people. H. Employment & Income Recommendations: 1. That the Province of Ontario immediately move forward with the proposed integration of Employment Ontario and Ontario Works Employment Supports at the Service System Manager level and designate Friendship Centres as full service EO partners ensuring that urban Aboriginal people have access to culture based training and employment support services; 2. That all provincial employment supports be streamlined and integrated with urban Aboriginal ASETS holders and that Youth employment programs funded by, or offered through, the Government of Ontario incorporate Aboriginal-specific streams or considerations to increase accessibility; and, 3. That Urban Aboriginal youth have greater access to culture-based social and recreational prevention and intervention programs that promote development of self-confidence, essential life skills, and community connectedness to better enable them to transition into employment during and after their education. 11