2017- 2018 NEW BEGINNINGS PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT City of Spruce Grove – FCSS Project Number: N/A Project Sponsor: City of Spruce Grove - FCSS Title of Project: New Beginnings Project Manager: Beverley Barker Project Consultants: Marnie Suitor/Shelly Anderson Project Start Date: January 25, 2017 Date of Project Completion: January 31, 2018 CONTRACT SCOPE/DELIVERABLES The City of Spruce Grove, FCSS engaged the consulting services of In Synch Consulting Inc. (ISCI) to assist in furthering the work accomplished in Phase One of the New Beginnings Project to develop a tri-regional strategic response to the increasing number of Indigenous families and individuals seeking services from the City of Spruce Grove, Town of Stony Plain and Parkland County area in general. The project’s overall goal is to: Address ways to remove barriers and strengthen relationships with the urban Aboriginal1 people in the area, Enhance regional cooperation, with nearby First Nation Communities, the Government of Alberta and the Federal Government, and Build upon current collaborative programs and services to improve current access, service delivery and social policy initiatives while continuing to provide crisis intervention services. It was determined very early on that the project would involve multi-stakeholders and included a number of complicating factors to be considered, namely: • Hearing the voice of the First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples, • Gaining the respect and trust of the Indigenous community, • Support, input and guidance from the City of Spruce Grove, Town of Stony Plain and Parkland County, • Input from the various service organizations whose work touches the lives of the Indigenous community, • Community awareness and engagement, and • Developing relationships with the First Nations, Metis local and Inuit representative organizations. It is important to note that the project encountered many other unexpected aspects that resulted in the Project’s overall outcomes: Project Scope Change The initial focus of the Project (Phase One) was to include all Indigenous people residing in the geographical boundaries of Parkland County, and as such, encompassed the four First Nations that are part of the land base defined as Parkland County. The scope of the work was redefined by the funder in June 2017 to focus specifically on the urban Indigenous population, those living off-reserve/off-settlement. 1 The term Aboriginal is used throughout the document in that at the time of the various projects and reports this was applicable terminology. The reference has subsequently changed to Indigenous. 1 2017- 2018 NEW BEGINNINGS PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT City of Spruce Grove – FCSS Efforts shifted more towards this approach, however the relationships established with the First Nations during 2016 to date continued to be maintained, particularly considering the migratory nature of the community members, and the need for collaboration between the programs and support services relative thereto. The relationship with Paul First Nation continues to be unique. Some FCSS clients are from that community and face unique challenges. Resource Changes The Project Lead within FCSS left the organization in early September and was replaced late November. Numerous initiatives and opportunities to further relationship building were delayed, and the Project continuity was disrupted. As a result, the Project completion date was extended by the province to March 31, 2018. Not withstanding, the Project deliverables were achieved and the new position incumbent has been hired and is integrating into the role. Project Timing Summer vacation schedules and Indigenous events precluded the Project team from making much progress in the months of June thru August. This also contributed to the extended Project completion date. Below is a chronological listing of the various activities that were undertaken within this phase of the New Beginnings Project. PROJECT UPDATE MEETING An in-depth meeting was held on April 27, 2017 with municipal stakeholders, service organizations, and Indigenous community leaders to update the group on the results of Phase One and present the work planned for Phase Two. A copy of the meeting minutes, including attendees, is attached hereto. The following excerpt identifies the key messages of the initiative. Draft Vision To improve program and service delivery to the Indigenous Community members accessing assistance within Parkland County. Critical Success Factors • Senior leadership support and endorsement from all orders of government within Parkland County. • Cooperation and partnership with surrounding First Nations, Metis and other Indigenous organizations, groups and individuals. Project Objectives • To enhance the services and programs offered to Indigenous clients by broadening the awareness, understanding capacity and capability of service providers. • To improve the access and response times for programs and services to Indigenous clients. • To engage the service delivery providers within the region in this strategic initiative. 2 2017- 2018 NEW BEGINNINGS PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT City of Spruce Grove – FCSS • To improve the relationship between the municipal service providers and the First Nations within the County of Parkland (Enoch Cree Nation, Paul First Nation, Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation and Alexander First Nation). • To improve the relationship between the municipal service providers and the Metis Nation/Metis locals within the County of Parkland. • To ensure the needs of the Inuit community members are included in the strategy. Of importance is the fact this meeting discussion took place prior to the change in project scope, therefore many of the initiatives were modified through the work plan to better align with the revised focus. EXPANDED RESEARCH Primary Research Further conversation was held with key organizations and government representatives who were not present nor included in the first round of data gathering. The primary intent of these sessions was to share the key learnings and observations from the first round to better achieve the following: • Expand the awareness and knowledge of the challenges facing the Indigenous community, as well as understand the opportunities that are present to make positive change, and • Obtain “buy-in” and agreement to work collaboratively on the vision of program and service improvement. Information gathering took the form of one-on-one interviews, focus groups and talking circles which included NeighborLink Parkland, Alberta Government (Human Services/Indigenous Relations), Native Friendship Centers (2), as well as several meetings with Metis community members and members from the Michel First Nation, Parkland Metis Local. The information garnered during these discussions has been integrated into the knowledge compiled during Phase One and is contained within in the What We Heard section on Page 17. Updates were also provided to the attendees of the April 27, 2017 to advise them of the project scope change. Secondary Research External research during this phase consisted of best practice research, investigation of and application for synergistic funding, preliminary identification of potential collaborative partnerships for future strategic initiatives, demographic statistics specific to the Indigenous population of Parkland County, and additional recent publications pertaining to the issues facing Indigenous peoples. Best Practice With the consent of the Alberta Native Friendship Centers, the key findings and information from a province-wide study completed between 2015 - 2017 was utilized as the best practice research model. The study and resultant reports were conducted by In Synch Consulting Inc. (ISCI), providing them with first-hand knowledge and experience of the issues/opportunities that the Indigenous community members in these locations were facing. 3 2017- 2018 NEW BEGINNINGS PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT City of Spruce Grove – FCSS The study involved 15 smaller urban communities within Alberta2, all having a Native Friendship Centre that provides services to varying degrees to the significant Indigenous population within their geographic area. The objective of the Project was to determine the challenges, concerns and opportunities facing the Indigenous community members. As well, bringing the community together to develop a community plan that incorporated strategies that, if implemented, would improve program and service delivery and build relationships with this population base. Given the similarities in demographic and geographic scope, the research from this study was deemed to be the most applicable for comparative purposes. It should be noted that the large centers within the province (Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Red Deer and Grande Prairie) also engaged in a similar study utilizing a different pool of consultants. The results of the large vs. smaller centers was undertaken at the end of the Project to ascertain variances, which were minimal. Additionally, ISCI was engaged in the portions of the Canadian Native Friendship Centre (Edmonton) plan that overlapped with the End Poverty Project of 2016; namely on Education and Employment, Housing and Child and Family Services. The key learnings from these various reports were presented as best practice considerations and were used as a baseline of information for the strategic planning retreat held in November 2017. It is provided with the consent of the Alberta Native Friendship Association to assist with the work