Jordan’s Principle info session upcoming
After procedural changes earlier this year sowed confusion for communities across Turtle Island seeking to access Jordan’s Principle services, Kahnawake Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services (KSCS) has announced an information and Q&A session for the community, in the hopes of providing clarity to families accessing care.
“The changes are going to affect our community members, and I felt it was important enough to get them together and discuss as much as we know about the operational changes that are coming,” said Kirsten Sheridan, the health programs liaison at Onkwata’karitahtshera, which manages Jordan’s Principle requests in Kahnawake, and is a part of KSCS.
“We want to touch on some of the things that may not be covered by Jordan’s Principle in the future, because a lot of our community members rely on these services.”
The procedural changes had been announced by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) in early February, with the ministry announcing a narrowing of eligibility criteria as well as increased documentation requirements for requests.
The announcement came on the heels of an ongoing Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) against Canada concerning Jordan’s Principle and other types of services, which has been largely let by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.
Canada was facing around 129,000 backlogged Jordan’s Principle requests as of January this year – ISC did not reply with an updated number in time for The Eastern Door’s deadline, though Sheridan said that she’s finally started to see some of Kahnawake’s backlogged cases begin to be addressed.
“We pressured them, I was sending excel sheets and proof of all the requests we’d sent in that hadn’t been approved. Some were for school tuition that we sent out in September and they still haven’t been approved yet, and we’re going into the last term of the school year,” Sheridan said. “They stepped up their game and started sending in a whole lot of approvals, which was great to see, but we’re still sitting on some that go back to September, October, and November.”
Reimbursement requests have been particularly slow to be approved, and Sheridan said that’s part of what she plans to tell attendees at the information session next week.
“If community members decide to pay for their children and services in the hopes that they’ll get a reimbursement and be funded by Jordan’s Principle, and it won’t be, I think it’s something they need to know ahead of time, instead of walking into it blindly.”
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The public information session will include an overview of Jordan’s Principle followed by a question-and-answer period with Onkwata’karitahtshera representatives. It will take place on Tuesday, April 15, from 5-7 p.m. at the Golden Age Club, with snacks and refreshments provided for attendees.
