Batshaw pledges to improve services to Indigenous youth

Article content

After coming under scathing criticism for its treatment of Indigenous youth, Batshaw Youth and Family Centres says it’s improving services for aboriginals under its care.

The Quebec Human Rights and Youth Commission suggested many of the changes last spring in a report that concluded young Inuit from Nunavik have been “denied their right to cultural preservation and cultural life.”

Some aboriginal children were also deprived of a proper education and, in some cases, discouraged from speaking their mother tongue during certain interventions with Batshaw staff, the report found.

Batshaw has denied that staff discourage youth from speaking Inuktitut.

However, in order to clarify the issue, the code of conduct in residential centres will be translated into Inuktitut and it will specify that Inuit youth can speak in their mother tongue, said Katherine Moxness, director of youth services for the CIUSSS de l’Ouest de l’île de Montréal, the regional health agency that oversees Batshaw.

Youth from Nunavik are often placed in group homes or rehabilitation centres in Montreal and the Laurentians because of a lack of residential care services in their community.

On most days, Batshaw has 12-18 aboriginal youths living in group homes or rehabilitation centres.

Batshaw says it has also ironed out longstanding issues that have made it difficult for aboriginal youths to obtain English eligibility certificates.

Difficulty obtaining documentation from family members up north or from education officials in Quebec City often delayed their ability to attend school in Montreal.

In order to strengthen bonds with their peers back home, youth in care will be offered an extracurricular activity that promotes storytelling.

Facilitators who speak Inuktitut will lead the students in a storytelling class that Moxness hopes will strengthen links with their community and promote academic success.

Although Moxness says Batshaw is committed to improving services, groups that work with Inuit families say there continues to be evidence of systemic racism within the organization.

On Tuesday, the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal asked the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Commission to launch an investigation into systemic racism in employment and services at Batshaw.

Last month, Nakuset, the shelter’s executive director, said the organization was suspending its involvement with Batshaw’s senior management, citing inaction on recommendations for Indigenous youth and families.

The shelter began working with Batshaw more than a decade ago to identify issues in the youth protection system and come up with solutions to ensure Batshaw employees had the proper tools to deal with Indigenous youth, including hiring staff that speak Inuktitut.

But she claims her suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.

Moxness and Nakuset are at odds over why there’s only one Indigenous staff member at Batshaw.

Batshaw has a bad reputation among many Indigenous families because of decades of mistreatment by social workers, Nakuset says.

“They have to change the image of the social worker for them to be more helpful in their role,” she said during a news conference on Tuesday.

Batshaw says it has been trying for more than a year to hire two Inuktitut-speaking facilitators, but there have been no applicants.

“We even modified the criteria for the liaison workers so we could broaden whom we could recruit,” Moxness said in an interview with the Montreal Gazette.

Moxness said she disagrees with Nakuset’s call for an investigation into systemic racism at Batshaw, adding that Nakuset is misinformed about changes Batshaw has in the works.

“We’re trying to increase the number of interpreters; there’s never enough,” she said. “I disagree that there’s inaction.”

Moxness also disputed allegations that Inuit youth are discouraged from speaking their mother tongue.

She said she is aware of only one case from 2018, where a youth, who was suicidal and threatening to run away, was told that she needed to speak English to a staff member so he could provide support.

kwilton@postmedia.com