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August 2023

Native Child & Family Services of Toronto Recognition of OTF Funding

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     

TORONTO, ON – On Thursday, local MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam met with Native Child and Family Services of Toronto to recognize funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, a $663,200 GROW grant and $100,100 Resilient Communities Fund grant. The grants have allowed for the second and final year of Native Child and Family Services of Toronto’s After Hours Mental Health and Crisis Support Telephone Service (After Hours Help Line) to run as a safe response to meet urgent community needs through immediate telephone access.

“I am immensely proud to congratulate Native Child and Family Services of Toronto on their funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The After Hours Mental Health and Crisis Support Telephone Service has emerged as a lifeline for residents facing urgent mental health challenges. The invaluable support provided through immediate telephone access, a full Outreach Worker, and Case Manage has undoubtedly impacted the lives of countless Indigenous youth and families. I applaud the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their astute vision in recognizing the importance of this initiative and providing support,” said MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam.

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto continues to support the community members with their full suite of in-house social services, including access to Indigenous healing, housing support, a wide array of mental health and addictions services, family/domestic/intimate partner violence support programs, and anti-human trafficking programs.

Three years of funding provided by the OTF GROW grant has allowed for Native Child and Family Services of Toronto’s Bekaadendang (Being Peaceful) Program to scale up the prevention component of our culturally-informed anti-human trafficking model to strengthen urban Indigenous youths’ social and emotional skills to prevent human trafficking.

The grant allowed for the hiring of a full time Outreach Worker, a full-time Case Manager and training peer mentors, an Elder, and a person with lived experience to deliver skills-building workshops to high-risk Aboriginal youth in Toronto. The workshops enhanced the participants’ resilience by equipping them with the skills and tools to make informed decisions. The Outreach Worker grew the program’s capacity-building efforts by offering trainings to community partners and schools, reaching additional Indigenous youth across Toronto.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations celebrates 40 years of grant-making in Ontario and making a lasting impact in communities. Last year, OTF invested over $110M into 1,022 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Visit otf.ca to learn more.

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For more information contact:

Freida Gladue
Manager of Communications
Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
437-244-2816
[email protected]

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MEDIA ADVISORY: Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant Recognition

WHAT

On Thursday, August 3rd at 1:00 PM, local MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam Will be at NATIVE CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF TORONTO (NCFST) for a recognition of Ontario Trillium Foundations support towards NCFST’s Crisis Support Telephone Service and Bekaadendang (Being Peaceful) Program for Toronto’s Indigenous community members.

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam and an Ontario Trillium Foundation volunteer, will attend the event to mark the work done as a result of receiving a grant from the Foundation.

Melissa Hamonic, Director of Holistic Healing, will be talking about these programs and their impacts on community.

WHO

  • Kristyn Wong-Tam, MPP for TORONTO CENTRE
  • Ontario Trillium Foundation volunteer
  • Melissa Hamonic, Director of Holistic Healing, NATIVE CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF TORONTO
  • Freida Gladue, Emcee, NATIVE CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF TORONTO

WHEN

Thursday, August 3rd at 1:00 PM

WHERE

Native Child and Family Service of Toronto, 30 College Street Toronto, ON

Photo and Interview opportunities available

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For more information, please contact:

Freida Gladue, Manager of Communications
Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
437-244-2816
[email protected]

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March 2023

December 2022

October 2022

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation: Calls to Action Webinar – Recording

On Friday, September 30th, 2022 Native Child and Family Services of Toronto hosted a webinar and simultaneously released an annual report back to community addressing the priorities for redesigning child welfare to help reduce the number of Indigenous children in care. Listen to our recorded webinar as our special guests join in a conversation around the importance of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and the Truth and Reconciliation’s Calls to Action.

Joined by our host Bob Goulais, Knowledge Carrier, Alita Suave, Singer and Language Instructor, Rollin Baldhead and the following special guests:

  • Hon. Chystia Freeland, Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
  • Hon. Merrilee Fullerton. Ontario’s Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
  • John Tory, Mayor of Toronto
  • Mae Maracle, NCFST Board President
  • Jama Maxie, Former Youth in Care
  • Jeffrey Schiffer, NCFST Executive Director
  • Ron Hodson, NCFST Director of People and Culture
  • Melissa Hamonic, Associate Director of Holistic Services
  • Jennifer Turner, NCFST Manager of Child and Family Wellbeing

Download the Indigenous Child Welfare Reform Annual Report to Community

* Our apologies, the audio fades in and out through parts of the webinar.*

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Indigenous Child Welfare Reform Annual Report to Community

On Canada’s first NDTR, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto (NCFST) announced its commitment and dedication to decolonize Indigenous child welfare services in the city of Toronto. Over this past year, NCFST went through a critical examination of our child and family wellbeing services, including standards, service eligibility criteria, assessment tools, and current practices. This report addresses priorities for redesigning child welfare with the intent to help reduce the number of Indigenous children in care.

Many thanks to community who participated and help us every day in our continuous efforts to heal and find a better way forward.

Annual Report to Community

As part of our annual report back to community for 2022, our Quality Assurance and Decolonization team has prepared a separate report on the activities, reform and discussion ideas provided by both the Community Advisory Circle and various Staff consultation processes, including the Staff Advisory Group.

Transformation in Action at NCTST Report

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September 2022

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Calls to Action

September 30th is Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR). On this day, we honour the children who never returned home from Canada’s residential schools along with the Survivors, as well as their families and communities. Remembering the painful and tragic history and acknowledging the ongoing impacts of residentials schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process with Indigenous peoples.

On Canada’s first NDTR, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto (NCFST) announced new commitments dedicated to continuing our journey to decolonize Indigenous child welfare services in the city of Toronto. Over the past year, NCFST went through a critical examination of our child and family well-being services, including standards, service eligibility criteria, assessment tools, and current practices.

NCFST invites you to join us on Friday, September 30th at 10 AM – 12 PM where we will provide a report back to community addressing the priorities for redesigning child welfare to help reduce the number of Indigenous children in care. During this virtual event we will have special guests join in the conversation around the importance of this report and we will share some exciting new announcements.

This event has passed, please find the recording: https://youtu.be/-QNmN1jxlcg

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August 2022

Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series #6 – August 23, 2022

Webinar #6 of our Decolonizing Child Welfare Learning Series focuses on the services we offer when vulnerable children must be removed from unsafe circumstances and placed in alternative care. In this webinar, we address some of the most crucial questions arising from the experience of Indigenous children and families with colonial child welfare systems.

  • How do we meet the holistic needs of children and youth placed in care? What are the dimensions that guide us?
  • How do we work alongside the Alternative caregivers to guide them, in helping our children and youth who are placed in their homes?
  • How do we work to keep children connected with culture, family and community while they are in care?
  • How do we work to keep children to family, extended family and community and culture?

Please join us to explore the programs, resources we use, and the challenges we face as we work to help children to heal and stay connected to family, community and culture.

This event has passed, please find the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M00RnANQRR0

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June 2022

Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series #5 – Recording

Webinar #5 of our Decolonizing Child Welfare Learning Series focuses on Holistic Healing, Prevention and Early Intervention programs.

NCFST offers a wide array of programs available to children, youth, individuals and families open to all self-identifying community members, whether or not a child welfare file is currently open. Holistic programs seek to empower families to access resources and supports that can avert crises that may necessitate child welfare, and to support Youth in strengthening resilience and personal growth in contemporary cultural contexts.

In this webinar, we describe how our culturally grounded holistic healing and early intervention services work to provide the necessary resources and supports to families to prevent the need for Child and Family Wellbeing (child welfare) involvement or help families succeed so that time involved in child welfare services is minimized. We discuss how our services work together and work with external Indigenous and mainstream services to strengthen parents and children at risk of involvement in child welfare services or who are already working with child welfare services as part of their healing journey.

Join our host Terri Jaffe, and the following panelists:

  • Pat Green, Knowledge Carrier;
  • Daniella Robinson, Supervisor of Bekaadendang Program
  • Jennifer Gray, Supervisor of Early Years
  • Jessica Wilson, Manager of Early Years & Community Programs
  • Julianna Meawasige, Supervisor of Aboriginal Child and Family Centre
  • Siobhan McCarthy, Director of Holistic Services
  • Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director;
  • Mark Atanasoff, Director of Quality Assurance & Decolonization

Below is the recorded webinar available for viewing.

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2021-2022 NCFST Annual Report

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto is pleased to release our 2021-2022 Annual Report. We would like to express our deep gratitude to our partners, funders, and community members for supporting us through this past year of uncertainty, growth, and development. Please read the detailed report on the progress our agency has made during such a challenging year.

In addition to our Annual Report, we have also released our Audited Financial Statements for 2021-2022.

This year’s Annual Report and Financial Statements, as well as previous Annual Reports and Financial Statements, are also available on our Policies and Publications page.

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