Aboriginal agency will lead expanded services to Aboriginal families

When Aboriginal Home Visitation Services are expanded in the fall to Calgary families with infants and children to age three, an Aboriginal agency will be at the forefront.

That’s an important distinction, says Mark Laycock, director of Métis Calgary Family Services. “First contact often occurs with the disenfranchised, for example, an expectant mother.”

Although Laycock’s organization submitted a proposal for the contract, MCFS was not successful.

While the expansion of Aboriginal home visitation services is not connected to the recently announced partnership with Calgary Police Services to expedite criminal record checks, Laycock believes that Human Services Minister Manmeet S. Bhullar is looking for bold solutions.

However, Laycock isn’t convinced the bureaucratic system with its “firmly entrenched processes” is supportive.  He questions the effectiveness of the tendering model itself.

“The tendering process is not the right one for Aboriginal organizations. If the framework agreed upon with the Métis Nation was engaged, that can solve the problem,” he added.

The Métis Nation of Alberta and the province signed a framework agreement in 2008 which, included, among other points, that the MNA have “input into the development and delivery, where appropriate, of policy, programs and services significantly affecting Métis people.”

 “(Bureaucrats) are good-hearted people trying to do a good job, but they are missing the mark,” said Laycock. “I would have felt better if there had been more consultation with the community.”
The community connection is vital, he says. “Connection with the community is imperative in an Aboriginal-based community. With three quarters of kids in care that are Aboriginal, outcomes are more important than evidence-based models.”

For Laycock, evidence-based programming challenges are at the crux of the issue. “Whose evidence is it? Is it relevant to the Aboriginal community in Calgary or some other community?” he asked. “There’s lots of evidence, but what happened with the outcome?”

Laycock holds that the system in Alberta has been in evidence-based programming for years and the positive effects have yet to be seen.

“The outcome with kids in care doesn’t reflect that. The outcome with kids in school doesn’t reflect that. The outcome with kids and suicide doesn’t reflect that. The outcome with kids incarcerated doesn’t reflect that,” he said.

Laycock emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach that is grassroots, broad, and community-based that follows best practices.  He cites examples of effective programs his organization uses, such as a long-running American initiative adopted from the National Indian Child Welfare Association used by many Canadian agencies. The program focuses on positive Indian parenting of children by their own tradition.

“Authentic Aboriginal programming and the western social work model are under a lot of stress, grappling with ways to find solutions,” he said. “We are caught up in marrying an old school of social work practices with what really is a community-based model.”

Sally Stuike, communications manager for Calgary and Area Child and Family Services, said the agency that received the contract to expand services to Aboriginal families will be announced in the fall.

“The group awarded the RFP will have met all the requirements, and the contract will go to the best provider who applied. I do believe it is a combination of people in human services and people in the community,” she said.