Grants to Support Child and Family Services Coordination Agreements and Related Fiscal Arrangements: Interim Terms and Conditions

Introduction

As stated in An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (the Act), the Government of Canada is committed to working in cooperation and partnership with Indigenous peoples to support the dignity and well-being of Indigenous children and youth and their families and communities, as well as the achievement of their full potential. The Government of Canada is committed to respecting, strengthening and building on the accomplishments of Indigenous peoples in this regard, to achieving reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis through renewed nation-to-nation, government-to-government and Inuit-Crown relationships and facilitating the self-determination of indigenous communities when it comes to child and family services.

The establishment of this new grant program will support the implementation of the Act by enabling the conclusion of coordination agreements, and associated fiscal arrangements, for the first several Indigenous communities exercising their jurisdiction over child and family services.

These terms and conditions will provide a framework for early adopters that removes eligibility gaps for First Nations off reserve, Inuit and Métis, as well as provide sustainability, flexibility and adaptability as the implementation of the Act continues to be co-developed with partners. In line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by Canada, like all children, Indigenous children have the right to non-discrimination, the right to grow up in their families, the opportunity to participate in matters affecting them and the right to grow up with members of their group.

The Act came into force on January 1, 2020. It contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and establishes national principles such as substantive equality, cultural continuity and the best interests of the child, have been established to help guide the provision of Indigenous child and family services while supporting Indigenous groups and communities transition toward exercising partial or full child and family services jurisdiction at a pace that they choose.

Legal and policy authority

Authority is provided under the following:

• Department of Indigenous Services Act, S.C., 2019, c. 29, s.336
• An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, S.C. 2019, c. 24

Purpose, program objective and expected results

The purpose of this grant program is to fund and support activities that will allow early adopter Indigenous communities to implement their child and family services legislation, as established through coordination agreements and supporting fiscal arrangements, where applicable until new terms and conditions to implement the Act are co-developed with Indigenous partners.

The grant provides funding for sectoral self-government, specifically in the domain of child and family services. The community will therefore define indicators and report on results that it deems valuable. There will be an annual report to its citizens that Canada will be able to access upon request. It will include an audit of finances, done according to generally accepted accounting principles. Specific reporting requirements are to be negotiated in individual financial relationship agreements, therefore Canada needs to provide a rationale that is persuasive to the Indigenous group, for example, reporting child and family services data in order to measure whether preventive care measures are reducing the number of children removed from their homes.

Expected results of the implementation of coordination agreements include the timely transfer of funding in accordance with fiscal arrangements, timely support for Indigenous communities in the operationalization of their child and family services laws and the safety and well-being of Indigenous children.

This initiative aligns with the 2022 to 2023 Departmental Results Framework and aligns with the Health and Social Services core responsibility as it provides support to the departmental result Indigenous people receive social services that respond to community needs.

Eligible recipients

Indigenous Governing Bodies (IGBs) as defined in the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families: a council, government or other entity that is authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Type of activities and nature of eligible expenditures

One-time and ongoing initiatives and activities relating to the provision of child and family services by IGBs that support the implementation of the Indigenous group, community or people’s legislative authority effectively as identified and agreed-upon through their respective coordination agreements and supporting fiscal arrangements.

This includes funding to support the establishment and operation of child and family services programs and service delivery models including costs associated with:

• prevention services
• child protection services
• ageing out and post-majority support services
• operational expenses
• additional expenses related to program administration, information management and information technology and cost adjustments relating to remoteness
• liability insurance
• community based adjudication and dispute resolution mechanisms
• governance
• First Nations and community representative services
• initial startup funding
• captial and infrastructure
• capital operations and maintenance

Stacking limits

The stacking limit is the maximum level of funding to a recipient from all sources, including federal, provincial, territorial and municipal, for the same purpose and shall not exceed 100%.

Method for determining the amount of funding

The annual amount of funding for each IGB is established via the coordination agreement process. IGBs, authorized by section 35 rights-holding communities, are expected to come to the coordination agreement discussions with their own approaches in the context of developing a fiscal arrangement to implementation their needs-based child and family service model.

ISC’s Interim Funding Framework allowed Canada to work with IGBs wishing to immediately exercise their jurisdiction in relation to child and family services. The Interim Funding Framework provides the direction for the federal approach to developing a fiscal arrangement for an IGB to exercise jurisdiction and implement its child and family services model.

The coordination agreement discussion process is focused on coordinating and funding the exercise of jurisdiction over child and family services and it is not in any way a transfer of programs from a delegated agency to the IGB.

The Interim Funding Framework does not establish the amount of funding required to implementation the proposed child and family services model, instead, it serves to guide discussions and set reference levels for consideration on the overall discussion on funding and resources required.

Where applicable, year 1 of the agreement is adjusted incrementally for subsequent fiscal years in alignment with future cost increases via the Canada Final Domestic Demand Implicit Price Index (FDDIPI) and community population growth. Where applicable, a schedule of funding pertaining to the fiscal years will be established via the coordination agreement process.

Eligible federally support responsibilities as determined and agreed-to in a coordination agreement can be funded retroactively to the effective date of an Indigenous law obtaining the force-of-federal law.

Maximum amount payable

The maximum amount payable to any recipient will be $125,000,000 per year.

Basis for payment

To meet the objectives of the grant and to maximize flexibility and predictability, a single installment may be made available at the beginning of each fiscal year, if requested by the IGB, provided the eligibility requirements and terms and conditions of the funding agreement are met.

Application requirements and assessment criteria

IGBs express interest in receiving funding through this grant by submitting a request under section 20(2) of the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families. Canada then assesses whether the group on whose behalf a notice or a request under section 20 of the Act was submitted is a section 35 rights holding group and whether the entity that submitted the notice or request is duly authorized to represent the group.

Funding will be made to eligible recipients carrying out an activity as defined through their coordination agreements and fiscal arrangements.

Due diligence and reporting

Recipient’s will be required to make annual audited financial statements and annual reports publicly available to their citizens.

Official languages

Where the recipient’s activities may be delivered to members of either official language community, a clause may, as appropriate, require that access to services from the recipient be provided in both official languages. In addition, the department will ensure that the design and the delivery of programs respect the obligations of the Government of Canada as set out in part VII of the Official Languages Act.

Other terms and conditions

None.