Rapport final du programme communautaire d’intervention en situation de crise

Context

Communities committed to the process of moving from crisis to long term healing can bring significant changes in individual and families’ lives.

Suicide and other crisis situations are not new to Aboriginal communities, and report after report have called for improved action. Use of solvents for intoxication among children in some Aboriginal communities is a serious concern. In some remote Indigenous communities, gasoline sniffing, primarily by young people, have contributed to a systematic breakdown of community and family relationships. There are indications that tobacco and injecting drug use are also particular concerns among Aboriginal populations, with, for example, one in five Indigenous street youth in seven major Canadian cities reporting they had injected drugs.

The growth in recent years of public awareness regarding widespread and frequent substance abuse among children and youth in First Nations and Inuit communities has been spurred on abuse among children and youth in First Nations and Inuit communities has been spurred on by several solvent abuse crises in remote communities. In each of these circumstances, behaviours were exhibited that posed extreme, persistent threats to the health and safety of the participants. Understandably, these situations have drawn national media attention; they are, obviously, the “sensational” stories that attracts the press and electronic media.

Unfortunately, there are no sensational, “quick fix” solutions readily available to solve the agonizing problems of this nature. The factors contributing to the problem of groups of children and adolescents tempting the fates by ingesting potentially lethal doses of mood modifying substances are numerous. The social, economic, cultural and personal factors that may be implicated are not sufficiently concentrated on a single or limited cluster of causes to yield to the accurate aim of any single “magic bullet.”

Out of a request by First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) of Health Canada to the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation (NNAPF Inc.) to develop and, if appropriate, to manage and deliver a formal program response to recurring substance abuse crises in which children and youth were placed at extreme risk.

Following this call for the development, management and delivery of a formal response to recurring substance abuse crisis in which children and youth were placed at extreme risk, and understanding that there are no sensational, quick fix solutions readily available to solve agonizing problems of this nature, NNAPF advanced the CERP Project first through the development of a proposal, then through a series of collaborative initiatives with partners, First Nations and Inuit agencies and communities.

The outcome of these intensive, Canada wide consultation was the drafting of a Community Emergency Response Program model.

This project was based on NNAPF’s belief in the principle that only communities themselves can make changes by taking the lead, and transform the existing system into effective, culturally appropriate and sustainable healing responses. The entire CERP project is a community-oriented, community-based initiative.

On January 28 and 29, 2001, a workshop involving representatives from all First Nation and Inuit health regions was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on, designed to elicit input into the selection of the principles and practices that would comprise a culturally appropriate and effective program. The workshop was hosted and facilitated by Karen Pine Chee Choo, who was contracted by NNAPF to facilitate consultations and input.

In 2002-2003 CERP worked in partnership with Brighter Futures and Building Healthy Communities and had a fully operational office in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Meetings occurred with all Regional Working Groups with the exception of the North West Territories, which does not have a Regional Working Group in place at this time.

A draft Criteria for the Expert Advisory Committee was completed with the selection criteria for the National Crisis Response Team.

Regional Working Groups created a Regional Crisis Response Programming Templates which will form the basis of regional response protocols and partnerships.

On the basis of a review of available evaluation literature on effective intervention and crisis intervention models used with youth and the general direction suggested by the recommendations at the Saskatoon workshop, a program model was drafted by Socio-Tech Consulting Services, and then reviewed and revised through a continuing consultation process.

Beside the research, planning and consultation work involved in the development of CERP, NNAPF undertook the following three major initiatives:

• The CERP Environmental Scan, conducted to obtain a portrait of the situation in First Nations and Inuit Communities regarding crisis resources and needs.
• The Program Model to Address Child & Youth Substance Abuse Crises. This model was developed as an Aboriginal-driven, collaborative effort to provide an integrated, culturally appropriate approach to Community Emergency Response.
• Conducting Assessments in First Nation and Inuit Communities: A Training and Reference Guide for Front Line Workers In First Nations and Inuit Mental Health and Addiction Services. This manual provides general guidelines on how to conduct various types of assessments for individuals, families and communities and how to utilize the information to assist community members to move towards improved health and wellness.

Funding for this promising and innovative initiative was cut in FY 2003-2004.

Although NNAPF Community Emergency Response Program model is to remain as a draft, we believe it stands as a record of NNAPF’s significant work in this important area.

We believe that communities can still be inspired to use it or develop their own based on the model.