Keep program for high-needs kids, officer/dad urges
Circles of Care, credited with saving son’s life, to end in August
In the wake of the recent shooting death of a 17-year-old boy, a Saskatoon police constable says a pilot program that saved the life of his adopted son should be expanded rather than discontinued.
For Const. Matt Ingrouille, the importance of the Circles of Care pilot program is more obvious than ever. The program, according to Ingrouille, saved the life of his son, who has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. They are mourning the death of his son’s friend, who was killed in a shooting in February.
Circles of Care is aimed at supporting high-needs children and youth transitioning back to their families from Eagles Nest Youth Ranch.
The pilot, created through a partnership between Eagles Nest and the Ministry of Social Services, will continue until the end of August,
the ministry confirmed in an email on Feb. 25.
“We believe the youth (in this program) are better supported and served at home with their family,” the ministry said.
A ministry spokesperson could not pinpoint how much funding the ministry has provided for the pilot, but said that in the 2018-19 fiscal year, it provided Eagles Nest with about $13.5 million to deliver residential and support services.
Ingrouille, in an open message to his MLA, Gord Wyant, that was shared widely on social media, called for expansion of the program. Linked to Ingrouille’s Feb. 18 Facebook post was a Saskatoon police media release announcing the death of Isaiah Brunton from a gunshot wound on Feb. 15.
“The child in this media release was a good friend of my sons. The only difference between Isaiah and (Ingrouille’s son), was that Isaiah had no one with the support needed to succeed. Our foster parents aren’t supported enough to handle children with severe trauma and/ or fasd,” he wrote.
Ingrouille, who declined to comment beyond his open letter, founded a drug education program called Say Know. The organization recently addressed his open letter in a post on its Facebook page, noting that the aim of discussing the systems in place isn’t to find blame, but the hope is that the conversation moves on to ways to serve foster families.
Ingrouille’s family is part of the Circles of Care pilot, which is currently working with 12 youth between the ages of eight and 16 and their families. Not all have FASD. Eagles Nest executive director Susan Luedtke said youth in the program receive help with their mental health and behaviour. Families are provided with roundthe-clock support.
Eagles Nest receives referrals from the ministry and First Nations child and family service agencies for its programs. Before the pilot project started, Eagles Nest services were provided to children, youth and adults who stayed at the group homes the organization operates.
In an email, Luedtke wrote that each child and family has an individualized support plan, and each month, families have a respite weekend when the child goes to the Circles “hub home.” During the week, they take part in recreational, cultural and life skills activities.
Andrea Kotlar-livingston, executive director of the FASD Network, said she agrees with Ingrouille that more resources are needed — for all caregivers of children and youth with the disorder.
Her colleague, Shana Mohr, provides six hours of training through the FASD network to families. Her position isn’t funded, so the organization has to charge families a fee for the training to recover costs.
“We have this training, this excellent training, and we have to charge people in order to take it because we don’t have the funding for that position,” Kotlar-livingston said.
Right now, the ministry requires foster families take three hours of FASD -related training, which introduces caregivers to how FASD may present in their child and provides them with strategies for working with children and youth with FASD.
“It’s a start; it’s definitely not enough, but it’s a start,” said Mohr, who is also a parent of a child with FASD.
Kotlar-livingston said the network is working with the Saskatchewan Foster Families Association on a “part two,” which would be an extension to the initial three hours of training.
The SFFA’S executive director, Deb Davies, said the association provides training to foster families in different, specific areas and works with other agencies that are the authorities in different areas, such as working with the FASD Network to co-ordinate and promote that organization’s training.
When asked if more supports and funding are needed, she said in her opinion it isn’t a matter of funding.
“I think that what we need to do is always be looking at ways to expand our training, do we expand our support,” she said.
The SFFA introduced mandatory trauma-related training for all foster parents approved by the provincial government.
“We’re always looking to how we can better support foster families,” Davies said.