Children and youth aged 8-24 years in and from government care will have the opportunity to enjoy a day of creative fun, while providing their input around what their service delivery should look like.
This is the goal for the Carrier Sekani Family Services Out-Spoken In-Care Youth Forum taking place November 24th, 2017 from 9:00am to 3:00pm at Art Space, located upstairs at 222 – 1685 3rd Ave, in Prince George, BC.
In order for services to best meet the holistic wellness and cultural needs of children and youth in care, Carrier Sekani Family Services is hosting this event to provide a positive experience and elicit perspectives on service delivery from children and youth in care.
The secondary goal of the Youth Forum is to encourage youth to sign up for a new Youth Advisory Council. The new Council will provide ongoing guidance on our holistic wellness services for children and youth in care.
The forum will provide a unique opportunity for children and youth in care to have their voices heard through participating in interactive music, art, and cultural presentations in an effort to facilitate positive change for future children and youth in care services.
Children and youth will have opportunities to reflect on questions such as “what does success mean to you” and “what does a healthy, happy person look like.” Children and youth will be able to have a say in service delivery through art, music, and poetry modalities.
Joining the youth on Friday are local professionals, presenters, and artists including Sonya Pighin, a Prince George raised Lheidli Tenneh lawyer and former youth in care; renowned local First Nations artist, Clayton Gauthier; and Meredith Graham, from Victoria, a spoken word artist, former youth in care, and an advocate for systemic change in our child welfare system.
The Out-Spoken In-Care Youth Forum is the first of a few similar forums Carrier Sekani Family Services will be hosting in the upcoming months. The next forum is scheduled to take place in Burns Lake on January 29, 2017.