The Safe Kids and Youth (SKY) Coordinated Response Program will benefit from a $140,000 boost from the provincial Civil Forfeiture Grant Program.
The SKY program is operated through the Kootenay Boundary Community Services Co-operative (KOOP), which is a co-operative of nonprofit community service agencies throughout the Columbia Basin and Boundary region.
Krysta Aronson, Interim Executive Director of the KOOP, explained that the SKY program ensures children and youth who have experienced abuse and neglect receive the best response from service providers.
“The program helps the multi-disciplinary team members who typically would respond to child and youth victims work together more collaboratively, which saves the child they’re helping from having to retell their story multiple times. It also helps them navigate the different services that they would interact with when there is a disclosure.”
Aronson said an average of 30-60 kids and youth utilize the SKY program each year.
The program is only available in the West Kootenays right now, with multi-disciplinary teams in Trail, Castlegar, Salmo, Nakusp, Nelson, and Kaslo.
The teams are made up of service providers who respond to child and youth victims.
They include the police, partners from the Ministry of Children and Family Development, victim services, child and youth counsellors, school districts, health partners, and other local supports.
The program has been fully operational since 2016 and is funded entirely through civil forfeiture grants. This year, however, it also received a grant from the Department of Justice.
Aronson explained that the funding supports training initiatives for team members and funds child-friendly outfitted rooms with up-to-date video and audio equipment for facilitating child interviews.
The funds also help KOOP cover costs associated with Trusty, an accredited facility support dog who supports kids and youth during interviews and appointments.
Trusty is a lab retriever cross provided to the organization by the Lions Foundation of Canada. Aronson said he plays a vital role in the program and is well supported.
“We get a lot of community support for Trusty. Total Pet and Pet Valu help support us by supplying some of his equipment and food. Selkirk Vet has also done all of his care at a reduced cost. We are really grateful for all the support that we get for him. He does really amazing work throughout our region in supporting vulnerable kiddos.”
The Kootenay Boundary region is also set to introduce Foundry services soon.
In March, the province announced it would provide $1.5 million to the KOOP to develop the service in the region.
The $1.5 million, according to Aronson, is for capital projects to create spaces for the Foundry services.
The program is still in the development phase, and Aronson couldn’t provide many details on how the service will be rolled out, but she said each community in the entire Kootenay Boundary region will have its own Foundry hub.
“What we do know is that Foundry response in our region won’t look like a single brick-and-mortar centre; it will look like hubs located throughout the Kootenay Boundary region. But we are engaging with our community partners right now to develop a model that will work for our very unique region.”
To learn more about the SKY program, visit www.skykids.ca.
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