FORT FRANCES—A blessing of the future site of the new aboriginal youth detained custody centre here was held last Wednesday morning as area First Nation partners are moving forward in the process to manage and operate the first facility of its kind in Ontario.
Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services—the lead agency in a consortium consisting of Weech-it-te-win Family Services, Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre, Seven Generations Education Institute, Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Authority, and Creighton Youth Services—submitted a second report to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services on Jan. 15, completing the final phase of a two-part proposal process.
The report outlines various facets of running the new facility, from building design to what programming the agencies will provide, how staffing and recruitment will be conducted, and what types of employees (from a manager and supervisors to social workers, cooks, and maintenance staff) will be needed.
“Keeping in mind it’s an aboriginal-specific facility, the cultural programming is quite key in putting this together,” Tony Marinaro, economic development advisor with Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services, said during an interview last Wednesday.
“And so the partnership of all our resource agencies here in the Fort Frances area were able to put together a complete package,” he added.
This consortium will begin negotiations to manage and operate the facility with the ministry after a provincial review team goes through the document.
If all goes according to plan, the ministry will award the construction contract for the project in February, with work to begin later in the year.
The facility is to be completed and fully operational by April, 2009.
Concurrently, the consortium of local aboriginal services also will be busy developing programming and preparing to operate the future facility.
“We’ve gone to all our resource people as far the education, the counselling, the resources we can offer,” said Marinaro. “And again, because it’s aboriginal-specific, what better place to go to than the service providers that we have right here in the area?
“We’re developing programs that meet the ministry criteria and which have—I don’t want to say have an aboriginal flavour because that’s not strong enough—it has to be culturally-appropriate so it has the effect we want it to have,” he stressed.
While the detained custody facility will create new jobs and other economic spin-offs for the Fort Frances area, agencies involved are keeping their focus on the true purpose of the youth centre—to help aboriginal youth in trouble with the law get their lives back on track.
“It’s not really about how we can make an economic change in the area,” said Naicatchewenin First Nation Chief Wayne Smith, who also sits on the board of directors for Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services.
“One of the primary goals of this initiative is to really start looking at helping aboriginal kids,” he remarked.
“For years, our tribal organizations have been practising a traditional process. I think it’s time we take all these skills we have and combine it into one package.”
“It’s an opportunity for us to develop a unique partnership and a unique approach that works,” said Donna Murray, project manager with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, adding the new aboriginal youth detained custody centre is unique.
“What’s happened in the past hasn’t worked,” said Marinaro. “This a great opportunity to bring both parties together now. I’m sure we’ll see a difference.”
While local First Nations and municipal leaders lobbied to get an aboriginal youth justice facility built on Couchiching about eight years ago, it ended up not coming to fruition.
But Richard Bruyere, executive director of Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services, said the “focus hasn’t changed at all” since that original initiative, and this new project is a sort of fulfillment of that process.
“Seven or eight years ago when Chief Leonard and the other chiefs of the day were pursuing this to start with, this was the vision they had at that time—to make it aboriginal-specific,” he noted.
“They knew the existing system wasn’t really working for our kids,” echoed Marinaro, adding the location is basically the only difference with the new facility.
Murray explained the purpose of the facility is to provide both secure detention and secure custody—meaning it can house youths before and after sentencing in the courts.
“Many people think of it as a jail, where kids are sentenced and do their judicial order. That’s their punishment,” said Murray.
“But it also becomes an opportunity for us to have some positive interventions with these kids, and try to divert them away from continuing a life of anti-social and criminal behaviour and bringing them back to more socially-appropriate behaviour,” she stressed.
“That’s what the facility will be trying to do. Doing interventions, doing something to help these kids get back on track again.”
The facility will house 10-12 youths aged 12-18.
“This isn’t a large facility,” noted Murray. “You have got the opportunity to develop some relationships with the kids and have a very individualized approach.
“The goal is not to institutionalize these kids and have them reliant on the system, but give them opportunities,” she remarked.
Murray admitted while there’s a feeling of “apprehension” from some local residents regarding the new facility being built in their neighbourhood, she feels that will disappear in time.
“I think a lot of it’s a fear of the unknown ,” she said. “Any of the issues that have been brought forward to us that we can deal with, we have dealt with, as far as the design and the positioning of the building on the site.
“I’m sure over time a lot of those fears will be allayed; people’s fears will not come to fruition.” Murray also said the facility will not interfere with the Eighth Street trail system.
As mentioned above, local First Nations leaders were trying to get an aboriginal youth justice facility built on Couchiching about eight years ago, but that ended up falling through.
Youth justice then shifted from being the responsibility of the Ministry of Correctional Services to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in 2004, and the latter ministry began looking at what it’s needs were.
It ultimately decided that an aboriginal youth detained custody centre should be built in this area.
The ministry announced its plans last June to build an aboriginal youth detained custody centre on provincially-owned land on Eighth Street at Christie Avenue.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
