A M\u00e9tis Nation-Saskatchewan mental health program intended to help break cycles of inter-generational trauma for hundreds of citizens is coming to an end.<\/p>\n
The Mental Health Support Line Program was launched in the fall of 2020 as a response to the growing need during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing citizens with accessible care.<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/p>\n
M\u00e9tis Nation-Saskatchewan spokesperson Rena Montgomerie said the program was initially funded as part of the COVID-19 emergency response, but a multi-year federal funding agreement was later established, allowing the program to continue. The value of that agreement was roughly $1.1 million.<\/p>\n
Beverly Fullerton, the M\u00e9tis nation\u2019s minister of health, mental health and addictions explained that citizens who were struggling could reach out through the program, and the M\u00e9tis Nation-Saskatchewan would pay for both counselling sessions and additional wrap-around services.<\/p>\n
Fullerton said the mental health program was working to end inter-generational trauma.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these families are breaking cycles,\u201d through what they learned, she said, \u201ctaking that knowledge home.\u201d<\/p>\n
But now, funding for the program is coming to an end.<\/p>\n
According to Fullerton, the contribution agreement from the federal government is expiring on March 31, and there was no opportunity for the M\u00e9tis Nation-Saskatchewan to apply for funding through an alternative stream.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not an internal decision that was just made,\u201d Fullerton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just learned of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the M\u00e9tis Nation-Saskatchewan tried negotiating to find other ways to keep the program going, or even to fund a slower wind-down process, but nothing worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just met with $0. We can\u2019t do this. Unfortunately, there\u2019s no funding,\u201d Fullerton said.<\/p>\n
Fullerton said the M\u00e9tis nation reached out individually to the more than 1,000 citizens affected by the program\u2019s loss, but she said the program\u2019s impacts stretch even further than that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we include their families and the ripple effect of those services, the majority of our nation is being impacted by this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Six staff members are also losing a job as a result of the program\u2019s discontinuation, although Fullerton said the M\u00e9tis nation is working to re-assign them to other roles.<\/p>\n
More than just one program<\/p>\n
According to Fullerton, Canada and the province say they\u2019re aware of the mental health and addictions crisis, but when it comes down to delivering the programs to help, she said there\u2019s no support.<\/p>\n
For Fullerton, the program\u2019s end highlights a broader issue faced by the M\u00e9tis Nation-Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all Indigenous, but when there\u2019s funding streams specific to First Nation and Inuit, there\u2019s no M\u00e9tis-specific funding. So we are then in competition, nationally, with other organizations and governments for the same dollars,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
M\u00e9tis \u201care known for being the forgotten people,\u201d Fullerton added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen funding cuts happen, it makes us kind of believe that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In an email, Suzanna Su, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada, said that in its 2024 budget, \u201cthe Government of Canada invested $630.2 million over two years, to support Indigenous People\u2019s access to mental health services, including through distinctions-based mental wellness strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, she added, that funding \u201cwas a federal initiative that was designed with defined start and end dates and not intended to be permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Su, Indigenous Services Canada is analyzing the implications and assessing how to meet the government\u2019s expenditure review requirements.<\/p>\n
For mental health help in Saskatchewan people can contact:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A M\u00e9tis Nation-Saskatchewan mental health program intended to help break cycles of inter-generational trauma for hundreds of citizens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-296864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}