Western Standard - Increased Support for Child Abuse Survivors

00:00:00.000 For more information visit www.fema.org

00:00:30.000 everybody's ready okay good morning everyone i'm honored to be here today alongside cyril turton

00:00:42.720 the minister of children and family services and jennifer martin the ceo of the little warriors

00:00:49.120 as the little warriors board co-chair i have the privilege of being your mc today

00:00:55.040 I am pleased to be here in the traditional territory of Treaty 6 and I acknowledge the

00:01:00.380 Métis people of Alberta who share a deep history with this land.

00:01:09.100 I personally commend Little Warrior's team and staff for your tireless dedication and

00:01:14.420 selfless work to help children and youth recover from the impacts of sexual abuse.

00:01:20.180 You all sincerely want to see children and youth become healthy and whole as they process

00:01:25.020 their trauma and walk along their healing journey.

00:01:28.020 I now invite Minister Turton up to the podium

00:01:31.020 to share the great news he is announcing here today.

00:01:38.020 Well, thank you very much, Deli, for that introduction

00:01:41.020 and good morning, everyone.

00:01:43.020 I'd like to begin by thanking Little Warriors

00:01:45.020 for graciously hosting us here at the Be Brave Branch

00:01:49.020 and to all the local leaders and community members

00:01:51.020 for being here today.

00:01:53.020 I also just want to thank Minister Glubish, who is the MLA for Strathcona Shirt Park, for hosting us here in his beautiful writing here this morning.

00:02:01.360 I think I can safely say that everyone in this room shares the same belief that Alberta's government has,

00:02:07.120 that no child or youth should ever have to deal with the traumatizing and lifelong impacts of sexual violence.

00:02:13.820 The sad and troubling reality is that one in three Albertans have experienced sexual abuse while under the age of 18.

00:02:20.500 That includes 24% of boys and 44% of girls, according to the Alberta Association of Sexual Assault Services.

00:02:29.560 Now, these aren't easy statistics to take in, especially when recognizing that those numbers represent children and teens who have had their world shattered

00:02:38.540 and are now battling depression, anxiety, PTSD, and struggle with trusting those around them.

00:02:45.480 And that's why it's so important to me as Minister of Children and Family Services that our government continues to take action to ensure that young survivors are able to get the help and compassionate support that they need, as well as prevent child sexual abuse from happening in the first place.

00:03:02.500 i'm so grateful that we share that commitment with many amazing organizations and partners

00:03:07.940 across the province including the one that we're here in today and that's why i'm so honored to

00:03:14.020 announce that alberta's government is providing five million dollars in funding over three years

00:03:18.980 to little warriors to support their courageous efforts to help children and youth recover from

00:03:24.260 child sexual abuse little warriors is an alberta-based organization and they have spent

00:03:30.100 the last decade raising awareness around child sexual abuse working to prevent abuse from

00:03:35.620 happening in the first place advocating on behalf of survivors and of course providing treatment

00:03:41.220 so that the negative experiences that these children and youth go through do not define

00:03:46.340 the rest of their lives their treatment facility the be brave brand be brave ranch is the first

00:03:52.980 and only facility of its kind in the country it offers survivors a safe haven and the time to

00:03:59.060 process what they've been through and take that first step in their healing journey i toured this

00:04:04.100 facility earlier this year and it's fitting that it has a camp like setting because just like camp

00:04:09.540 for many children what happens here and i'm sure those from little warriors will agree is really

00:04:15.140 special the best example is taking a look at the handprints that survivors who have gone through

00:04:21.220 the treatment program have left behind in the art room each of those and there's a lot of them

00:04:27.620 is a young life that has been changed for the better.

00:04:31.720 That's a testament of not only their trauma-informed, evidence-based approach,

00:04:38.760 but the great care and compassion of the staff who work here,

00:04:42.460 from the clinical staff who help them work through and overcome their feelings,

00:04:46.760 to those running different activities like art, animal and sensory therapy,

00:04:51.940 yoga and nature walks to help them find their voice and express themselves,

00:04:56.660 as well as a kitchen staff who make sure the menus are customized for every child

00:05:01.220 in case any of the foods are triggering for them stemming from their abuse through this new

00:05:06.980 additional funding more children and youth will be able to access access the mental emotional

00:05:12.420 and physical well-being supports through little warriors programs and that doesn't begin to touch

00:05:17.540 on their education initiatives so children and families can learn how to protect themselves

00:05:22.740 and spot for signs of abuse and increasing their advocacy and commitment to continually improving

00:05:28.820 how they can help survivors with increasing complex needs it's unfortunate that little

00:05:35.380 warriors in the be brave ranch need to exist in the first place but i'm comforted by the fact

00:05:40.820 that they are here to support not just the survivors but the families who are working

00:05:45.700 through their own difficult emotions about their child being victimized and this ensures that

00:05:51.060 alberta has a diverse fulsome range of supports for those who have experienced sexual abuse now

00:05:57.140 this announcement is the latest in our government's ongoing efforts to protect vulnerable albertans

00:06:03.220 and i was pleased to deliver on our commitment to provide women shelters and sexual assault

00:06:08.100 centers an additional 10 million each for each earlier this year and we will continue to invest

00:06:14.500 3.4 million annually in child and youth advocacy centers our government is continuing our work to

00:06:21.620 end gender-based violence and we will continue to work with our partners to provide fulsome

00:06:26.660 supports to albertans so they have the supports they need when they need them and keeping children

00:06:32.500 safe is everybody's responsibility and i encourage every albertan to learn how to recognize the signs

00:06:38.420 of child abuse and neglect and how does report concerns about a child's well-being

00:06:46.500 do not wait report your concerns by calling the child intervention provincial intake line

00:06:52.340 at 1-800-638-0715 on behalf of alberta's government thank you again to the little

00:07:01.140 warriors and the community leaders and supporters here today for your dedication to protecting

00:07:06.500 children and youth thank you to little warriors and all your staff and volunteers for wearing

00:07:12.020 your hearts on your sleeve now i know helping children and youth overcome their trauma it's not

00:07:18.420 but your work and dedication has a profound impact on the lives and the importance of what you do

00:07:24.180 should never be underestimated and thank you to any survivors who may be watching

00:07:30.100 for your courage and resiliency alberta is a better place because you are here

00:07:34.660 and our government will continue to make sure the supports and help you need

00:07:38.960 are available when you are ready for it.

00:07:41.620 Thank you.

00:07:52.060 A sincere thank you to Minister Turton and his team.

00:07:56.100 I'm so proud our government is stepping up to help more young survivors.

00:08:00.600 I'd now like to invite Jennifer Martin, the CEO of Little Warriors,

00:08:03.900 to the podium to say a few words on how this news will help our organization and

00:08:09.100 the volume the vulnerable children and youth they serve thanks so much delhi

00:08:18.420 and also thank you to our other board members who are here today they're

00:08:24.660 volunteers we couldn't do without you and to all those supporters and staff

00:08:28.740 here thank you for for joining us today thank you Minister Turton for your words

00:08:35.400 and your support on behalf of everyone at little warriors I would like to

00:08:40.620 welcome everyone here to our be brave ranch and this five million dollar

00:08:46.080 investment from Alberta's government is truly a game-changer for little warriors

00:08:51.360 and for the many vulnerable children and youth in our province that we serve

00:08:56.140 through this additional funding we can help more kids get their childhoods back and find their

00:09:03.020 voices again help them heal from the physical mental and emotional effects of their sexual

00:09:10.540 abuse trauma i'd like to tell everyone a little bit more about the work we do and our organization

00:09:18.780 Little Warriors is a national charitable organization based right here in our province.

00:09:26.080 We are focused on awareness, prevention, and treatment of child sexual abuse.

00:09:32.160 We also advocate on behalf of and work with survivors.

00:09:37.140 Our Be Brave Ranch is a specialized, intensive trauma-informed and evidence-based treatment center

00:09:44.080 focused on helping children, teens, and their families impacted by complex trauma caused by

00:09:52.300 child sexual abuse. The Ranch offers a one-year program that is a combination of on-site and

00:10:00.240 outpatient therapy designed with significant input from many leading academic and clinical

00:10:07.380 experts who specialize in treating child sexual abuse and trauma. We have published numerous

00:10:14.380 research articles in well-known publications and typically Little Warriors has always invested

00:10:20.820 about $100,000 annually on research over the past decade. Our commitment to evidence-based care

00:10:29.520 and measured outcomes continues. It's key to providing the best possible treatment and help

00:10:36.520 to survivors of child sexual abuse. Independent research shows that for every $1 invested in

00:10:43.780 Little Warriors, our programs save $11 in social services because children and teens that we serve

00:10:53.180 go on to avoid addiction, criminal justice interactions, health care needs, and other

00:11:00.880 services due to their improved incomes or outcomes pardon me that gives you some insight into what

00:11:08.080 kind of impact the five million dollars will have in helping more children youth and families across

00:11:14.080 alberta who are impacted by child sexual abuse to get the supports and the services that they need

00:11:20.400 it will help us change the lives of so many young people across our province as well as the lives

00:11:26.880 of families walking alongside their children as they all recover from the impact of child

00:11:32.680 sexual abuse. Thank you once again to Minister Cyril Turton and Alberta's government for

00:11:38.600 this commitment. It will truly make such a meaningful difference. Thank you.

00:11:53.460 Thank you, Jennifer, for your words and for all the incredible work your team at the Little

00:11:58.040 Warriors does every day.

00:12:00.300 To speak a little more on the impact of this organization, I invite Dr. Wanda Polzin-Holman,

00:12:06.820 the clinical director of the Be Brave Ranch, to say a few words.

00:12:12.120 Good morning, everyone.

00:12:17.160 well i am just so thrilled as the clinical director at little warriors in the be brave ranch

00:12:22.920 to be able to celebrate today and celebrate the amazing contributions of the alberta government

00:12:31.960 today this has been a long time coming for us and we have continued to work really hard

00:12:38.440 as an organization and as a clinical team our clinical team is built of a multidisciplinary

00:12:46.040 group of folks who come together to support children in our children's program ages 8 to 12

00:12:53.800 years old our teen program serves adolescents age 13 to 18 and most recently we have also opened up

00:13:03.400 a family program our program is evidence-based as has been mentioned and we work in collaboration

00:13:10.440 with the university of alberta and our scientific and clinical council to be able to ensure that we

00:13:17.320 are offering leading practice and that our outcomes are informed and our programs are informed

00:13:25.880 with the best trauma treatment that is offered as we continue on this journey with other stakeholders

00:13:33.960 in the community dogs with wings rugby and myself are just so proud of the work that's been done

00:13:42.040 and note that there's so many people who come together whether it's donors or therapists

00:13:51.320 other stakeholders that we continue to work with and we hope that the work that we continue to do

00:13:57.560 continues to build the capacity that's needed unfortunately as we see the rates in child

00:14:05.160 sexual abuse continue to increase so thank you today on behalf of the children the teens and

00:14:12.840 the families that we serve we're just so grateful for this opportunity to continue to serve in an

00:14:18.760 evidence-informed manner. Thank you.

00:14:32.760 Thank you Dr. Polzin-Holman for sharing some of that information with us. We certainly

00:14:38.160 appreciate it. Last but certainly not least, I'd like to invite a big supporter and a great

00:14:43.520 man paul collins of colin steel to say a few words about the impact little warriors has

00:14:55.760 first of all i'd like to say thank you for inviting me out today and considering me as a

00:15:02.320 voice for little warriors i support little warriors because the work they do is based on

00:15:08.000 compassion. In their compassionate work, they relieve children from the trauma of sexual abuse

00:15:15.920 and help them live healthy and happy lives. This organization transforms sexual abuse victims

00:15:24.800 into a people who strengthen the fabric of society. It's truly a pleasure to be here today

00:15:31.360 to witness the partnership being formed between Little Warriors and the government of Alberta.

00:15:37.440 thanks to minister torton and the cabinet for the vision to recognize the importance of the

00:15:43.040 work that's carried out here and the return on the investment will be beyond measure

00:15:49.600 truly a great day for little warriors and all who are involved in this compassionate work

00:15:55.440 since its inception we've had many people before us and surely there'll be many people after us

00:16:03.200 but thank you to everybody along the way we as stakeholders and little warriors

00:16:10.240 are very grateful and we really look forward to great things coming forward thank you

00:16:25.600 thank you very much paul as you've all heard here today little warriors is making a monumental

00:16:30.720 difference in the lives of the children and youth traumatized by sexual abuse as our board co-chair

00:16:37.360 i'm tremendously proud of the work the organization does each and every day to help those children

00:16:43.360 the compassion you have for survivors is inspiring and i'm grateful the alberta government is able to

00:16:49.120 support you all i know this investment will help ensure survivors get the help and healing they

00:16:54.320 need for a brighter future i will now turn things over to children and family press secretary ashley

00:17:00.640 barrett for the q a portion of the announcement all right thank you everybody for joining us we

00:17:08.800 will now move on to the q a i asked reporters please state their first name and their last

00:17:13.840 name and their outlet and who they are directing their question to i will start with questions in

00:17:19.280 the room hello morgan black with global edmonton i'll try and direct each question to the right

00:17:23.920 person so i think the first will be for mr churton you are already stepping up to the plate i

00:17:29.360 appreciate that um you mentioned you know kind of the ongoing funding annually that you give

00:17:34.160 various um centers that help children experiencing abuse how would the government characterize um

00:17:41.520 further need or the scope of you know what what more supports are needed to to make that we heard

00:17:48.000 that rates are rising so yeah no great question um since i've been appointed as minister just

00:17:54.880 over a year ago you know traveling around the province and talking with the families

00:17:58.640 and the kids i clearly have heard their their cries for help in terms of additional supports

00:18:04.000 in this area and that's why i was very excited to be working with little warriors as well as

00:18:09.200 other organizations around the province as well my door is always open for myself programs like

00:18:15.840 we have here at little warriors really begin that that first step for a child to heal and

00:18:21.920 i'm a dad myself and i understand the impact and how vulnerable sometimes our children can be and

00:18:27.360 so knowing that there's organizations like little warriors that are stepping up to provide the help

00:18:32.640 that these children need is immense value not just for the province but for so many families so

00:18:38.080 i'm looking forward to having ongoing conversations with other organizations around the province and

00:18:42.800 i think you know the children of this province will be better off because of those types of

00:18:46.720 conversations and the investments that our government has made into programs like little

00:18:50.640 warriors my next question is for miss martin please

00:18:53.600 Hello. I'm wondering if you can give us kind of a firmer figure on how many more children

00:19:03.640 and youth will be able to be helped through this $5 million investment over the three

00:19:07.840 years.

00:19:08.840 So typically we would serve about 500 individuals per year in a combination of our teen program,

00:19:15.440 our children's program, and our family program. And we also have prevention programs that

00:19:21.320 serve 7 000 canadian or you know people across canada take it but primarily this funding is for

00:19:27.400 on-site here at the ranch and what it means is that you know we've just received some funding

00:19:34.920 now we've received one installment and that going forward we can look at serving more children so

00:19:43.800 we don't have a number on that yet but what it honestly does for now too is it relieves the

00:19:48.760 pressure. Charitable organizations in Alberta, as well as across the country, have been really hit

00:19:54.760 hard by inflation. There's been changes to CRA rules for donors. And so we are constantly feeling

00:20:02.260 up against our budget. And so what this funding does is to first of all, ensure that we can

00:20:08.540 maintain the rates we have. And then throughout the course of the three years, look at ways that

00:20:13.780 can potentially expand those so our board will consider what and where does that look like

00:20:19.460 um our mandate is to to part of it is to certainly heal children so um this funding we'll be looking

00:20:25.700 at uh that going forward and we know it's a one-of-a-kind center i believe it was in canada

00:20:31.540 right one of a kind um similar question to minister turton do you think there's a need for more

00:20:38.500 spaces like this in our province or even an expansion of little warrior services

00:20:42.660 absolutely uh little warriors was created by albertans right here in alberta and it's a

00:20:48.740 national treasure the things that we are doing here are evidence-based created in partnership

00:20:54.980 with our partners at the psychiatric department the university of alberta so we know it works 0.91

00:20:59.620 it's been 10 years and because we measure our outcomes we are ready um to start saying what

00:21:05.860 next um and i think that uh you know we have a great board of directors and together with the

00:21:11.700 clinical team here we'll look at what that involves but the need is massive we are seeing

00:21:18.580 exponential growth in child sexual abuse we're seeing rising acuity since covid no one in the

00:21:25.860 space is really sure why just yet not a huge chance to research that but rising acuity means

00:21:32.660 what we're seeing in the cases is exactly that more acute it's just worse the kids walk by my

00:21:39.540 window and my my office door is right here where we're standing and you know especially you see an

00:21:45.220 eight-year-old boy or girl or a 17 year old teen and i just think what did someone do to you and

00:21:53.780 so they're here through no fault of their own we have people that like to help out with our

00:22:00.020 downtowns and it's something across the province in the country well if you don't want someone

00:22:05.060 sleeping on the sidewalk and treating their pain with addiction or winding up in a tent or in our

00:22:10.180 emergency rooms this is one way that we can help them 10 years before they might wind up there so

00:22:16.660 i really applaud this minister's vision super proactive let's help kids who need it when they

00:22:22.660 need it we should be considered really no different than a children's hospital that serves complex

00:22:27.860 specialized cases that need a specialist to care for them that's what we're doing here at little

00:22:32.900 warriors and then my final question is for dr polzin homan and my question for you is just

00:22:42.180 what makes this space so effective and work so well from the medical side of things yeah

00:22:48.500 so i think the moment that you walk onto our property um people reflect and feel safe right

00:22:54.900 away i think our clinical team has done a phenomenal job of intertwining different

00:23:01.460 evidence-based treatment so we look at multi-modal treatment whether that's art therapy music

00:23:08.420 therapy we do individual therapy group therapy family therapy and we weave that in for each

00:23:18.020 child and each teen and their family or caregiver what's different is that we are also episodically

00:23:25.460 based so we work with very acute trauma and when the child or teen comes to us along with their

00:23:32.900 family we serve them in episodes of care to allow them time in between rounds of therapy to be able

00:23:39.940 to build their skills both from the perspective of the child but also the caregiver and support

00:23:46.580 the community supports around them to be successful that's it probably all right we will now move to

00:23:52.900 the phones operator put through the first caller please

00:24:00.500 hi there could you please tell me how did this funding arrangement come to be

00:24:04.180 is it a grant was there an rfp for this service did little warriors lobby the

00:24:08.580 government for this funding

00:24:12.660 yes thank you so much for the question so it really came about

00:24:16.660 conversations with little warriors since being appointed as minister over the

00:24:19.700 last year and as a government as a minister we're always on the lookout for innovative new programs

00:24:25.700 that can help children especially on their first step to healing so it is a three-year program at

00:24:30.820 this point and look forward to working with the little warriors team seeing the positive results

00:24:35.940 that they can do and and continuing those conversations about how as as a government

00:24:40.900 we can help support those kids and those vulnerable kids and and ensuring that they receive that

00:24:46.340 receive the supports that they need did you have a follow-up yeah if you could just clarify if this

00:24:54.580 organization received any provincial government funding previously but also like what about the

00:24:59.700 longer term it's if you're trying to build capacity in a program three years of funding

00:25:04.820 is great for that three years but what about beyond that time with it well i'm glad you asked

00:25:10.420 that question because minister turtin is right here and i'm sure in three years we'll be asking

00:25:14.660 the same i will just address the first part for you happy to help there the government of alberta

00:25:21.140 before minister turton took over the portfolio was supportive of little warriors there is money

00:25:27.220 available for programs like ours through arrangements contracts you could call them

00:25:32.180 with children and family services numerous agencies have them there can be red tape involved

00:25:40.340 so before it might have been that well it was that we would take a child we would treat them

00:25:46.100 regardless of whether we knew if that alberta child or teen would get any support throughout

00:25:52.500 other avenues we're barrier free so we just always make sure that if a child teen or their

00:25:57.700 family needs our help we serve first and ask questions about money later so there was some

00:26:04.660 support but there was a really i would call it a drop in the bucket in our five million dollar

00:26:11.940 budget that was flowing through so what minister turton has done is provided a grant to ask answer

00:26:19.140 your question where the money comes first because we are operating right now and we make sure that

00:26:25.940 we are serving alberta children and teens as we always do throughout the three years with some

00:26:31.700 great reporting including their outcomes and our budgets and so i think a really responsible grant

00:26:38.820 and it provides help up front as opposed to us serving the child or teen and then having to

00:26:45.620 kind of jump through bureaucratic red tape to secure support after the fact so red tape

00:26:51.220 reduction at its finest operator put through the next caller please

00:27:01.700 Hello, my question is for Minister Turden.

00:27:06.700 You said the Alberta government was providing $5 million to Little Warriors over the next

00:27:12.700 three years.

00:27:13.700 How did you decide on the amount being $5 million?

00:27:18.700 Great question.

00:27:20.700 Obviously, in conversations with Little Warriors, we looked at what it would actually take to

00:27:25.700 provide a safe place for children to receive the care that they have.

00:27:29.700 I know that there's always conversations about more funding, but in this case, I think the funds will be put to well use.

00:27:37.900 I know Little Warriors has a long proven track record in terms of providing services to vulnerable children and look forward to seeing how over the next three years in terms of the metrics, making sure that the Albertans are being served with these funds.

00:27:52.380 And, you know, just seeing the incredible success stories about children receiving the care and help that they require just to continue on their healing journey as they deal with sexual abuse.

00:28:06.620 Did you have a follow-up?

00:28:07.880 Yes, you spoke about this funding going to allow people to access trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment programs.

00:28:17.880 Why do trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment programs matter when it comes to sexual violence?

00:28:23.880 So we want to make sure that children are looked after.

00:28:27.880 We want to make sure that limited tax dollars are put to good use, that there is a positive benefit from children being looked after.

00:28:35.880 after and we want to be able to show accountability that the government is investing these dollars

00:28:40.520 wisely so that's why we put in a number of metrics we're looking forward to seeing at the end of this

00:28:44.520 three years and during the process make sure that the programs will offer the results that we know

00:28:50.200 that they need to in order to keep children safe and for us it's just another example of how as a

00:28:56.280 government that we are being responsible with taxpayer dollars all right operator are there any

00:29:03.240 more callers? There are no other questions in the queue at this time. All right and seeing

00:29:09.760 no more questions in the room that concludes our press conference. Thank you for being

00:29:12.860 here today.

Western Standard - May 28, 2024

Increased Support for Child Abuse Survivors

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