Agency Receives Grant to Help Youth Transitioning Out Of Child Welfare Care Access Mental Health and Addictions Resources

May 9, 2019

The Metis Child and Family Services Authority is especially pleased to announce during Mental Health Week in Canada that our Metis Child, Family and Community Services Agency is receiving a grant of $46,800 from Children's Aid Foundation of Canada that will be used for a Youth in Transition Mental Health Project that will take place over the next two years.

The grant will support young adults who have transitioned out of Metis Child, Family and Community Services Agency care to receive private mental health and addictions counselling, as well as transportation assistance so that youth can access these resources.

"Many of today's youth struggle to find their way as they learn to navigate their entry into a complex adult world. For those who have been involved with the Child Welfare system, there are increased challenges and trauma to overcome. For many, their lives have already been interrupted by huge emotional burden and pain. Challenged to find healing, some mask their pain by turning to alcohol, drug addiction, and self-harming behaviours," said Ms. Billie Schibler, Metis Child and Family Services Authority Chief Executive Officer. "We are very proud of the efforts and services provided by our Metis Child, Family & Community Services Agency and for the addictions resources and mental health supports they are able to offer. We join our Agency in thanking the Children's Aid Foundation of Canada for this much-appreciated grant."

The grant will also be used to enhance the agency's Metis Spirit Program. In the program, a Metis Spirit Worker position is funded by the Manitoba Metis Federation to work solely with and support youth who have left or are leaving care to access services in areas such as housing, education, health, employment assistance and life skills. Thanks to the generosity of the grant, the program will be able to offer more focused workshops on mental health and addictions as well as offer young people incentives to participate and assistance with transportation.

Greg Besant, Metis Child, Family and Community Service Agency's Executive Director is confident that the extra resources this grant is providing can go a long way toward giving these young people support to help them overcome some of their struggles so they can move forward in pursuit of further education and employment opportunities and continue to gain life skills that can help them be happier, productive young adults.

Removing barriers and creating greater access to mental health supports for young people transitioning out of care is critically important to their futures," said Rebecca Green, Director, Grants and Programs, Children's Aid Foundation of Canada.

Metis Child, Family and Community Services is very grateful to the Children's Aid Foundation of Canada and look forward to working in partnership with them on this meaningful project.

The Metis Child and Family Services Authority is legislated by the Province of Manitoba to serve Métis and Inuit Manitobans as well as any Manitoba family who choose to receive services through our two agencies; the Metis Child, Family and Community Services Agency and Michif Child and Family Services Agency. We are proud to be governed by Manitoba's Metis Government, the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF). In our work making decisions with children youth and families, we are guided by one question: "Is It Good For the Children?"

 

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