Touchstones for Youth

The FNCFCS encourages mentorship activities, engagement and leadership development for Aboriginal youth, in and from the care system, and who also work for Aboriginal associations.

In the spring, we completed the Touchstones for Youth: Reconciliation in Indigenous Child Welfare curriculum. The two day curriculum is based on the Touchstones for Leadership: Reconciliation in Indigenous Child Welfare. The goal of this project is to engage youth ages 15-24 and to train them to deliver community based reconciliation workshops in their communities with an ultimate goal of improving child welfare systems for Aboriginal children. The curriculum provides practical opportunities for youth to learn about the process of reconciliation while exploring each of the Touchstones of Hope Principles which guide the reconciliation process in child welfare: Language, Culture and Holistic Approach, Self-Determination, Non Discrimination and Structural Interventions. By the end of the training, youth will have a better understanding of why reconciliation is important and how reconciliation will result in better outcomes for Indigenous children and young people in child welfare, and more broadly in other areas affecting children.

The curriculum was written by Melanie Ferris, with the assistance of Tee Copenace.

The curriculum (Note: permission from the FNCFCS required to use the contents in these documents):

Module 1: Exploring the Lives of Indigenous Children and Youth in Child Welfare

Module 2: Leading the Way Forward in Reconciliation

Touchstones for Youth Events to date:

Train the trainer: May 6-8, 2009 ; Ottawa, ON

The first youth train the trainer session
Jocelyn Formsma trained 11 youth from across Canada in the new curriculum

If you are interested in this training or hosting a community workshop, please contact Andrea Auger at aauger@fncaringsociety.com or (613) 230-5885 ext. 223