Evaluation of the Family Violence Prevention Program

Structure of the Report

This report is divided into six key sections. Section 1 summarizes the federal response to family violence on-reserve, including a profile of the FVPP. Section 2 details the methodology used to conduct the evaluation. Sections 3 to 5 present evaluation findings, and Section 6 discusses the evaluation's conclusions and recommendations.

1.2.1 Federal Context

Indigenous women make up four percent of Canada's female population; however, they represent 16 percent of all murdered women and 12 percent of all missing women on record (1980-2012).^{Footnote 3} On August 4, 2016, the federal government launched the independent national Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The mandate of the inquiry is to "examine and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada and look at patterns and underlying factors."^{Footnote 4} The launch of the inquiry is an important step in the national recognition of the long-standing cycle of violence and harm experienced by Canada's Indigenous women and girls, and a social problem that affects Indigenous communities across the country.

On June 28, 2016, Statistics Canada released a study entitled Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada, 2014. The study, which highlights the continued relevance of delivering family violence prevention in Indigenous communities, focused on the prevalence of various types of victimization and the characteristics of victims, such as gender, age and other risk factors. The study also notes that the overall rate of violent victimization of Indigenous women is 2.2 times higher than that of non-Indigenous women (i.e., 163 versus 74 incidents per 1000 people). This is illustrated in Graph 1.^{Footnote 5} The study notes that prior to age 15, Indigenous women are nearly three times as likely as their male counterparts to experience both physical and sexual maltreatment, i.e., 14 percent compared to five percent.^{Footnote 6}

Note: All differences between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people are statistically significant, except for robbery.
Source: "Victimization of Aboriginal People in Canada," 2014 Statistics Canada Study.

Text alternative for Figure 1: Violent Victimization Incidents Reported by Indigenous (Aboriginal) People and Non-Indigenous (Aboriginal) People (By type of violent offence, provinces and territories. Rate per 1,000 population aged 15 years and older)

Graph 1, illustrates the Incidents of Violent Victimization reported by Aboriginal People and Non-Aboriginal People (By type of violent offence, provinces and territories. Rate per 1,000 population aged 15 years and older). As for the number of "Total" incidents of violence reported, there were 163 for "Aboriginal People" and 74 incidents for "Non-Aboriginal People"; under "Sexual Assault," "Aboriginal People" had reported 58 incidents, and "Non-Aboriginal People" reported 20; as for "Robbery," "Aboriginal People" had reported 15 incidents, and "Non-Aboriginal People" had reported 6; and for "Physical Robbery," "Aboriginal People" reported 90 incidents, "Non-Aboriginal People" reported 47.

The study also found that Indigenous women are more than twice as likely to experience the most severe forms of physical spousal violence. Over 48 percent reported being sexually assaulted, beaten, choked, or threatened with a gun or knife.^{Footnote 7} As well, an Amnesty International 2014 Report found that there was a "disproportionate incidence of violence against Indigenous women in Canada."^{Footnote 8} In a 2009 government survey of the ten provinces, Indigenous women were nearly three times more likely than non-Indigenous women to report being a victim of a violent crime."^{Footnote 9}

Federal Government Response

In general, the chronology of the federal government's engagement and response to family violence in Indigenous communities dates back almost 40 years. Table 10 in Appendix B provides a full overview of the federal government response. Some milestones include:

• 1978: INAC begins its involvement in family violence prevention by providing shelter reimbursements to some provincial governments and to the Yukon territorial government.^{Footnote 10}
• 1988: Start of the Family Violence Initiative and a supporting network of 13 federal government departments.
• 1998: Statistics Canada releases its first Family Violence in Canada study.
• 2016: Federal Budget provides new funds to address Family Violence:
  • $10.4 million over three years for the renovation and construction of five new shelters for victims of family violence in First Nation communities; and
  • $33.6 million over five years and up to $8.3 million ongoing in additional funding to better support shelters serving family violence victims in First Nations communities, including some attention to training initiatives.

The federal response to family violence, led and coordinated through the Public Health Agency of Canada led Family Violence Initiative, has varied.^{Footnote 11} Table 1 highlights the Family Violence Initiative and the partner departments/agencies involved.

Over the years, the FVPP has evolved to more effectively respond to the complex challenge affecting the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples. During the period covered by the evaluation, the 2014 introduction of Canada's Action Plan to Address Family Violence and Violent Crimes Against Aboriginal Women and Girls provided the FVPP with some funds^{Footnote 12} increasing its annual budget allotments to approximately $33 million per year; this supported the expansion of the programs' work to fund off-reserve initiatives to address family violence (See Table 10 in Appendix B).

1.2.2 Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The expected results of the FVPP are articulated in the Social Development Performance Measurement Strategy under the "People" Strategic Outcome; there are five programs in total nested under this umbrella strategy, including FVPP.^{Footnote 13} This evaluation focused primarily on the immediate outcomes related directly to FVPP:

1.2.3 Program Governance, Key External Stakeholders and Beneficiaries

The FVPP is managed by the Children and Families Branch, Education and Social Development Program and Partnerships Sector. INAC provides operational funding for shelters to First Nations in each province and in the Yukon Territory. These funds are used to support the operation of shelters that primarily serve First Nation women and children on-reserve.

In 1992, under an agreement with the Province of Alberta ("Arrangement for the Funding and Administration of Social Services"), INAC has the authority to reimburse costs for off-reserve, provincially funded shelter services used by on-reserve residents, while the province pays per diems to the shelter for all women who used the on-reserve shelter but are not residents of the reserve.

In the Yukon where there are no reserves, the FVPP reimburses the territorial government for shelter services. All First Nations clients are considered 'ordinarily residents on-reserve' in this territory and have access to all shelters and their services.

1.2.4 Program Resources

The FVPP has two key program components for which it provides funding and which focused on protection and prevention.

• Protection (approximately 75 percent of the budget): Funding for the day-to-day operations of a network of shelters that provide services for women and children living on-reserve in provinces and in the Yukon. The funding envelope for protection includes the salaries of shelter directors and staff who run the network of INAC facilities and offer varying degrees of prevention programming at the shelter or in the community, as part of their regular work duties;^{Footnote 15} and
• Prevention (approximately 25 percent of the budget): Funding for annual or multi-year community-driven prevention projects such as public awareness campaigns, conferences, workshops, stress and anger management seminars, support groups, and community needs assessments on- and off-reserve.

INAC's 2016-17 Report on Plans and Priorities states that there are 12 Human Resources (full-time equivalents). However, the regions, as indicated in the 2012 INAC evaluation, do not have a full-time equivalent dedicated to the FVPP as they manage other programs, for instance, the First Nations Child and Family Services.

Table 2 outlines the resources.

 

P/T: Provincial/Territorial
O&M: Operations and Maintenance

Text alternative for Figure 2: FVPP total allocations 2016-2017 (36.5M)

Pie chart illustrates the total Family Violence Prevention Prorgam (FVPP) allocations for 2016-2017 in the various program areas: In terms of allocations for "Shelter Operations" $22.6 million; the allocation for "Prevention" was $7 million; the allocation for "P/T Shelter Bills" was $4.15 million; the allocation for the "Transfer for Prevention (On/Off Reserve)" was $1.34 million; and finally the allocation for "O and M/ Salary" was $800 thousand.

Funds for the FVPP are primarily disbursed at a regional/community level by INAC regions:

• Funding for the operation of shelters is based on a national proposal-based funding formula, developed in 2006 and designed to establish regional allocations and shelter operating budgets that are fair and consistent across Canada. Shelter allocations consider the size of the shelter, its province of operation, geographic location and, where applicable, the costs associated with remoteness and emergency needs.
• Family violence prevention activities are funded on a project basis in most regions, with some INAC regions placing emphasis on selecting projects based on partnerships and maximizing reach.^{Footnote 18}

2.3.1 Considerations, Strengths and Limitations

3.1.1 Factors Contributing to Family Violence in Indigenous Communities

As noted in the introduction (Federal Context 1.1.2), Indigenous peoples in Canada face a much higher rate of violence in their daily lives and over their lifetime compared to non-Indigenous Canadians. The causes of family violence are complex and, even more so for Indigenous communities. The literature reviewed for the evaluation illustrates the areas impacting the occurrence of family violence and encompass the social determinants of health, including economic and social conditions and their distribution among the Indigenous population.

A range of factors can be summarized under two key areas—social and cultural impacts. These include poor socio-economic conditions, high rates of alcoholism and substance abuse, and sub-standard housing. According to the literature review, the most common unifying experience across Canada's First Nations people is the trauma left by the residential school legacy (Anderson, 2010), which has generated cycles of intergenerational violence.^{Footnote 32} Racism, colonization and residential schools have also had long-term impacts, including a breakdown in connectedness to land and culture, and the impacts of inter-generational trauma on social relationships.^{Footnote 33}

Lack of adequate housing, in general, appears to be a contributing factor to the occurrence of family violence. Crowded living conditions compound the health and violence challenges faced by Indigenous peoples. A safe home requires affordability as well as enough space for the family.

3.1.2 Statistical Knowledge Base

The literature review revealed that there is limited to no data about violence facing individuals living on-reserve. This is confirmed by such studies as The Transitional Home Survey^{Footnote 34}, and other wide-ranging surveys of Canadians, including Indigenous people living off-reserve.^{Footnote 35}

Current Statistics Canada data is obtained through police-reported statistics and self-reported victimization surveys. It is important to note that family violence often goes under-reported or unreported for various reasons, including stigma faced by the victims, perceived influence or, mistrust of officials (Child and Family Services or police), manipulation by the perpetrators over younger victims.

The evaluation found that considering the proportion of Indigenous women/people facing domestic violence, the FVPP's relevancy is compromised by a fundamental challenge to its delivery: the lack of reliable statistical information, which appears to limit the FVPP's ability to adjust to different contributing factors and realities emerging at national, regional and community levels.

3.1.3 Jurisdictional boundaries in provision of family violence supports

According to the literature review, there are 627 women's shelters (including provincial and territorial funded shelters) in Canada. This shelter network, both on- and off-reserve, includes crisis response shelters, second-stage (transition) housing and other facilities that provide services to women and their children fleeing family violence. In most provinces and territories, services are provided to Indigenous women and children both on- and off-reserve. Data from the 2014 Transition House Survey indicates that around eight percent (49 shelters) of shelters serve mainly on-reserve residents. While three percent (17 shelters) serve exclusively on-reserve clients, five percent (32 shelters) were located on-reserve and some reported also serving women off-reserve. Twenty-seven percent (169 shelters) that primarily serve off-reserve residents also serve people who live on-reserve.

When responding to the online survey administered as part of the evaluation, shelter workers in INAC funded facilities suggested that many women seek refuge elsewhere (beyond their resident First Nation community) for a variety of reasons.^{Footnote 36}

To validate this information, evaluators visited shelters in "gateway" communities, which facilitate easier access to more remote areas of Ontario in order to understand why and how Indigenous women move from northern, more remote communities to southern shelters, most often to non-INAC funded shelters. Information gathered from these gateway communities indicate that almost all of the shelter clientele arrive from First Nations' communities in remote northern Ontario where emergency services may not be available or where the women rather choose to leave, corroborating reasons provided through the INAC staff-administered survey. Said a shelter manager,

"We serve 26 communities, 19 of them are fly in communities. The ones accessible by road—we use taxi transportation to bring them here. We know where the federal shelters are—but sometimes the women just want to leave and come here for their safety."

3.1.4 Responsive Model and Mechanism

Since the last evaluation, the program has worked to support the expansion of its shelter network guided by a proximity analysis^{Footnote 37} to ensure the widest possible coverage of First Nation's communities served by the existing INAC-funded shelters. However, considering the trend of women desiring to leave their communities and seeking a range of social services off-reserve, the overlay of strategic funding to shelters should not only be guided by coverage among the First Nations, but also by the existing services provided by other off-reserve jurisdictions, as this will ensure that a complementarity of services and cost-efficiencies are arrived at. This may eventually allow for a proportion of existing funding levels to move towards prevention. This re-balance or shift could only occur where off-reserve emergency shelters may be in closer proximity for some First Nations, and/or transportation supports are provided to guide women to nearest available/existing shelter services.

In total, there are 617 First Nations' communities and often times access to both these networks of shelters proves to be an issue. INAC has estimated that 87 percent of the registered Indigenous population is covered by its shelter network (meaning 528 bands either have a shelter located on-reserve or have road access to one of the INAC-funded shelters. (See Table 9 in Appendix B for more detail).

While collaborating with CMHC, the Department maintains, as a priority, its response to community-driven proposals to build shelters in their communities; now with the 2016 Federal Budget, the FVPP is expanding its shelter network.^{Footnote 38} Often, a shelter is prioritized by First Nations' community officials as a tangible and needed response to immediate safety concerns of victims; it appears, however, that perhaps this is done without weighing other options of services available within close proximity. The current role of INAC is to maintain a supportive role in helping those communities fulfill their identified priorities. While not assuming a challenge function, exploiting the possibility of mapping services by looking at the balance of other service providers available in the vicinity could then free up some funding for other equally valuable family violence responses along the Family Violence continuum.^{Footnote 39}

In an era that is now characterized by advances in communications, technology and transportation, a First Nation community's request to build a new shelter within its territory provides a good opportunity, not only to close the distance gap with other unserved First Nations but also to undertake an inventory of support services that are available in neighbouring vicinities, with support for transportation factored in accordingly.

3.2.1 Horizontal Information-Sharing

INAC officials meet on a quarterly basis with other Family Violence Initiative departments, as convened by the Public Health Agency of Canada.^{Footnote 40} According to participants, the primary function of the Family Violence Initiative is information-sharing, which to date, has proven valuable.

Evaluators found some evidence, which demonstrates that during the period covered by the evaluation, the Family Violence Initiative^{Footnote 41} forum helped enhance program collaboration. Examples of collaboration include:

• Development of a legal toolkit for women in shelters. INAC funded consultations, and Status of Women funded the development of a toolkit. The Department of Justice funded the in-person training for the staff at 41 shelters.(2014)
• Public Safety worked with Health Canada and the RCMP to determine which First Nations communities might benefit from the Community Safety Planning initiative.(2015)
• Health Canada and the Assembly of First Nations worked together to introduce a First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework. INAC is a part of the implementation team and there has been sharing among Family Violence Initiative partners.(2015)
• INAC and CMHC reviews proposals for shelter site selection and renovations. (ongoing)

The Family Violence Initiative collaboration is occurring primarily in the National Capital Region. The evaluation did not probe to determine whether collaboration occurs among federal counterparts located in regions. This issue was highlighted in a number of interviews with key informants:

"There needs to be an ongoing mechanism to get all federal departments who are addressing family violence together and making sure that the funds are being spent effectively and sharing where we can."

3.2.2 Relationship Among Federal Departments on Family Violence

The Prime Minister has identified reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous people as an overarching theme of his government's approach, and underscored among his Cabinet the importance of addressing recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.^{Footnote 42 Footnote 43} The Commission's "Calls to Action" feature several recommendations related to family violence, including calls to address gaps in mental health services, reduce the number of Indigenous people in custody, and create culturally relevant healing centres.

Another instance of federal departments' opportunity to strengthen their relationship is the five-year, Status of Women-led "Canada's Action Plan to Address Family Violence and Violent Crimes Against Aboriginal Women and Girls" (Economic Action Plan 2014). Federal departments collaborate in terms of support and coordination of efforts, sharing of information and best practices. The Action Plan's three pillars (Preventing Violence, Supporting Aboriginal Victims, and Protecting Aboriginal Women and Girls) indicate the Government of Canada's specific focus on addressing violence that is perpetrated against Indigenous women and girls. Through the Action Plan, Heritage Canada transferred responsibility and funding for off-reserve proposals in family violence prevention to INAC in order to better synchronize efforts. (2014)^{Footnote 44}

The interviews with other federal government partners underscored a willingness among working level public servants to share knowledge and practices, however, rarely has it led to much more than cost-sharing agreements around small-scale programs and information-sharing on family violence statistics and programming. This is due to the departmental guidelines and Terms and Conditions, approved by the Treasury Board.

Most interviewees are calling for a major "re-think" of how government works on this issue in order to be more impactful in reducing the incidence of family violence in Indigenous communities. The preferred approach is a combination of improved alignment and a more strategic horizontal engagement that takes advantage of the following opportunities:

• Using the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework to support streamlining programs and policies for enhanced impacts on mental wellness, reconciliation and healing, and overall system level change;
• A proposed Gender Based Violence Strategy to govern program approaches; and,
• A Gender Equality Charter^{Footnote 45} to help support a more strategic and horizontal approach to gender analysis and programming amongst federal public servants.

"We need to get out of the jurisdictional box and figure out a way to work together on this huge issue. I think the Government's strategy to address Gender Based Violence is a great way to get people to think about breaking down silos."

4.1.1 Shelter Use and Barriers to Access

Additional Elaboration on Current Training Approaches

National Approach to Training of Shelter staff: Staff at INAC-funded shelters appears to be fully engaged in shelter operations with little extra time to devote to assisting with broader communitywide strategies. Staff noted that they are open to delivering more prevention programming; however, they require more specialized training to support women in crisis as well as broader prevention strategies in communities. The lack of specialized training is also linked to the unavailability of services for men. During site visits, interviews, as well as the online evaluation survey, staff and shelter directors noted that men's services were often requested but offering these services is difficult due to the lack of accommodation and the need for additional space and training, including enhanced security when dealing with male perpetrators of violence.

Over the course of the period covered by the evaluation, INAC has extended core funding to the NACAFV to support training of shelter directors and staff in culturally-appropriate prevention activities, counselling techniques and self-care for shelter personnel.^{Footnote 61} The long-term relationship has allowed the NACAFV to build a five-year training plan for each shelter and review its follow up with shelter managers. NACAFV is fulfilling an important mentoring and training requirement, as identified in shelter survey and in key informant interviews. Overall, shelter participants expressed positive feedback on NACAFV engagement.

Training and Mentoring Approach by Regions: The evaluation also found evidence of informal efforts by experienced shelter staff and organizations to train those with less experience. In some instances, INAC regional offices with FVPP funds are playing a role with respect to bridging those knowledge gaps.

An innovation^{Footnote 62} occurring with support from INAC (Ontario) is enabling knowledge transfer among southern Ontario shelters and more remote shelters in northern Ontario (Section 5.3.2). Akwesasne First Nation is paired with Mishkeegogamang Safe House^{Footnote 63} to share knowledge and training modules for delivery in the more remote northern community. The Safe House expects to provide prevention and shelter staff training, under the guidance of Akwesasne staff, in a number of new areas, including suicide prevention and positive fatherhood role models.^{Footnote 64} For more on community stories, see Appendix B.^{Footnote 65}

Other examples of staff training and mentorship supported by the FVPP include:

• (Ontario) Train the Trainer Webinar and Safety Application –a 15-hour Training Webinar to support distance learning for staff in remote shelter locations. The application will assist staff to help clients develop their own safety plans, upon leaving shelter.
• (Saskatchewan) Walk the Good Road program –A prevention training program in Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, which supports adults and youth to become community facilitators on violence prevention programs, integrating cultural stories and beliefs.
• (Alberta) Annual Youth Gathering - Alberta First Nation Youth Peer Education Program. Volunteers from the First Nations from across Alberta are sponsored to attend a three-day training in a variety of lessons. Following the gathering, facilitators are then encouraged to return to their community and offer the information in evening or weekend programing to other youth, acting as a mentor and supporting youth to take the lead role of the facilitator.

4.2.1 Transitional Care - Moving from Crisis to Prevention Work

Transitional Care involves the coordination and continuity of client's care as they move from the emergency shelter to another setting, example a home. Sometimes, the clients may need to learn new skills to face new challenges that come with striking out on one's own. Shelter staff described their work as dealing with the immediate crisis in the emergency shelter, supporting the clients to safe transitional housing and lastly, assisting with their transition back into their community or another one if that is their choice. This is referred to as the tripartite approach or, the delivery of services, which emphasizes primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

As the evaluators found, few shelters are able to provide such second stage housing given the lack of funding and resources. In order to improve the long-term outcomes for shelter clients, more focus is needed on transitional housing and follow up care (as noted in Section 4.1.1). It was noted during a site visit that there is a lack of longer-term programming for women as the focus seems to be on short-term protection when more should be done about prevention and longer term protection.

In another site visit, outreach workers discussed taking the initiative to build a prevention program for the neighbouring communities. This highlights the function of shelters as unique civil society institutions that can contribute to the development of local initiatives and capacity. (See Prevention Section 5.2.1) As the evaluation's literature review suggests, shelters, in addition to providing protection for victims of family violence also act as training grounds (e.g., using a cultural approach, broaden awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the issues) for Indigenous women.

In all areas of family violence, it seems that after-the-fact services predominate over preventive interventions and yet, there is a lack of follow up care, which is a major issue for shelters and their clients. The evaluators found that staff makes sure to ask clients if they want an outreach worker to follow up with them after they leave, but most often the clients refuse ^{Footnote 66}(see Section 4.1.1).

Overall, the concerns frequently noted by interviewees include: the lack of transitional housing and support programs after having been at a shelter; the lack of transportation and daycare; the limited ability of shelter staff to deliver prevention programming in the community as they are fully engaged in protection.

5.1.1 Challenges in Delivery

The document review and interview data suggest that despite a demonstrated need for prevention activities, the successful design and delivery of prevention projects are hindered by such factors as:

• Matching Needs with Appropriate Funding Levels: Interviews with community members and government officials suggest that the level of co-occurring health and social needs with family violence is high (mental health, addictions support, parenting skills). This problem is accentuated in more remote communities that are not as easily served by neighbouring off-reserve programs.
• Limited Participation: Community members interested in participating in prevention activities are often prevented from attending due to logistical issues such as: transportation; uncertainty over sharing personal information with others, and concerns over personnel involved in the activities.
• Reporting Burden: Many key informant interviewees cited the difficulty in drafting proposals and providing corresponding financial data. Where communities do not submit a year-end report, they may not necessarily be considered for prevention project funding in the following year.
• Lack of Capacity (Community Planning): Despite an interest in programs, First Nations face certain limitations with respect to organization/planning skill. There exists an opportunity through Public Safety Canada's Community Safety Plan (a component of its Aboriginal Community Safety Development Contribution Program), to solidify community leadership buy-in and planning of prevention initiatives through a participatory method of drafting these plans, with support from a trained facilitator. Enhanced First Nations' awareness of this initiative will increase the numbers of First Nations who use it.^{Footnote 71}
• Lack of Knowledge: Regarding promising practices or what works best to prevent family violence.

The aggregate model is used to facilitate the request and delivery of prevention projects and to alleviate some of the aforementioned problems (e.g., reporting). Aggregates are umbrella organizations that offer coverage for groups of First Nations communities in a given region.

The benefits of such organizational practices are twofold: aggregates help communities with low capacity draft proposals for family violence prevention activity funding. As well, the aggregate model builds capacity within the Indigenous communities while alleviating some of the extra administrative burden faced by INAC officials in the regions. However, it is recognized that not all jurisdictions may be in a position to support such models, particularly if prevention boards are not well supported across these jurisdictions.

FVPP program officials have recognized the Three Eagles Wellness Society in Alberta as an example of a successful aggregate organization. The Three Eagles provide coverage for 45 First Nations communities in Treaty areas 6, 7 and 8. In 2015-2016, Three Eagles had helped 27 of the 34 First Nations communities that had applied for prevention projects to receive funding. By assisting communities in meeting the requirements of project proposals and providing the corresponding financial data, Three Eagles has reported a reduction in the number of Alberta communities abstaining from prevention project funding.^{Footnote 72} As well, while the FVPP funding allocated to projects may prove insufficient in covering every aspect of the project, Three Eagles assists the community in partnering up with another program to complete their project.

In the Saskatchewan region, the program funds seven recipients for family violence prevention activities, including all four INAC-funded shelters; this is done, based on location and coverage for services in the province. Five of the seven aggregates provide men's programming. The File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council is accountable to the 11 First Nations communities in proximity to Fort Qu'Appelle (as well as any First Nation that request for services). Amongst other responsibilities, the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council assists in the development of community prevention projects with First Nations communities. The funding of seven recipients for prevention programming is a departure from the period preceding the last evaluation when the INAC Saskatchewan regional officer fielded proposals from up to 74 different communities for prevention program funds (not including multiple proposals from individual communities). The Saskatchewan region's new funding approach yields a less arduous review process for staff and provides funding to recipients that have the capacity and expertise to deliver effective prevention programming.^{Footnote 73}

While these aggregate models allow for a high number of First Nations communities to have their prevention project proposals approved, a small portion of communities fail to submit proposals. Reasons for this include staff turnover, new staff or new Chief and Council or unwillingness to work on a proposal for its perceived low amount of funding. These reasons illustrate that despite the relative success of aggregates, there are still First Nations communities missing out on family violence prevention funding.

5.1.2 Alignment of Prevention Projects with Community Stated Priorities

"Healing programs for women help victims overcome traumatic experiences but they don't do anything to prevent the perpetrators from abusing other partners."

Site visits, key informant and stakeholder interviews, and survey findings have all emphasized the urgent need for access to certain outreach initiatives such as services for men (perpetrators and victims alike), counseling, and anger management training. The overwhelming belief expressed in these lines of inquiry) was that without any services for men and boys, the root causes of violence that are perpetrated in families would not be addressed and therefore the cycle of violence would continue.

Men/boys require services if the lives of Indigenous communities are to be improved. One way to address this issue would be to start a pilot project that would, for example, explore the feasibility of converting an available pre-existing protection facility, or other, into a prevention centre for male perpetrators. At the time of writing this report, there were some examples of male-based programming in place (see Table 7). However, the number of these types of programs remains relatively low.^{Footnote 74} Given that prevention projects are designed by the communities themselves, and considering that males are almost always the perpetrators in cases of family violence, there is an opportunity for the FVPP to explore how it can help First Nations communities increase awareness for prevention activities designed towards treating male community members; this could potentially contribute to lessening the incidence of family violence in the future.

5.2.1 Federally-Funded Service Providers Working at the Community Level

As noted in the report, a high degree of information-sharing occurs in the National Capital Region, among federal departments engaged in family violence prevention and protection issues.^{Footnote 77} A key challenge is how that information-sharing and collaboration could be more effectively transferred to the actual communities. During regional site visits, evaluators found that the connection among federally-funded service providers working on issues around family violence also appears to be focused on referral of clients amongst agencies.

In northern Ontario (Mishkeegogamang First Nation), the FVPP and Health Canada-funded programs were strongly linked. The federally-funded service providers at the Mishkeegogamang Safe House and Health Centre had a good level of awareness and understanding of each other's services, and seamlessly referred individuals to services. Health Canada's mandated community-level services include the operation of the Health Centre, the provision of mental health counseling (provided by an external support who visits twice a month), post-rehabilitation addictions support, adult and youth suicide prevention, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome supports, infant and child care support and some parenting skills. Beyond the community, a state-of-the art health facility—the Meno Ya Win Health Centre in Sioux Lookout, Ontario,^{Footnote 78} provides medical programs and support for both in and out-patients. Medical vans link Mishkeegogamang with services in Sioux Lookout.

The most repeated concern of health and social service providers in the community were provision of urgent and expanded access to mental health/addictions services in the community; and, where community-level services were available, how to bolster/expand them. An example is the National Native Alcohol and Drug Addiction Program,^{Footnote 79} where there is only one existing worker for a community of 1,100, with a caseload of up to 40 to 60 clients per month. The National Native Alcohol and Drug Addiction Program's greatest challenge appears to be the lack of space to hold and /or to organize some group activities and the lack of trained workers.^{Footnote 80}

In the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation shelter, the staff has been successful in fostering partnerships throughout the community.^{Footnote 81} Examples include:

• Working with federally-funded service providers (namely Health Canada) in parenting and life skills, mental health and addictions counseling, so that they include elements of family violence prevention within their programming activities.
• Incorporating a balanced combination of clinical skills and knowledge with the family and community values found in Mohawk traditions and culture; a key component in getting community acceptance and commitment.
• Establishing more than 20 partnerships that delivered over 50 distinct prevention activities to many different age and interest groups.

Similar to northern Ontario, in Saskatchewan there were reciprocal relationships that were established between the health officials, Child and Family Services, Social Services and the shelter. Information sharing between these organizations was happening on the ground level.

In Alberta, the Three Eagles Wellness Society has an administrator who works with all of Alberta's First Nations in preparing project proposals, provides training to First Nation Coordinators, collects the required reports from the First Nations who received project funding, and works with the auditors on the annual audit submission to INAC. In 2008-2009, the Society formed a partnership with First Nations and Inuit Health branch of Health Canada regarding the Blood Borne Pathogens initiative. This initiative is included in workshops with First Nation Coordinators at Annual Youth Gathering.

As in past years, all funds that have not been allocated by the Society are directed towards functions that will provide awareness, prevention and education projects that will benefit all communities within the Alberta region. With these funds, projects such as Coordinator Training, Youth Gathering and Awareness Campaigns can occur. Some of the events that were organized in partnership with Alberta First Nations Inuit Health Branch Blood Borne Pathogen /Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Program include:

• 2015 Annual Youth Gathering Facilitator Training;
• 12th Annual Alberta First Nations Youth Gathering;
• Community Coordinators Annual Training; and
• Mindfulness Meditation.

5.2.2 Provincial and Community-level Partnerships on Family Violence

The evaluation observed that responding to family violence through prevention and protection is an intricate process that requires both a coordinated as well as a comprehensive approach; this approach involves, for example, provinces and territories and organizations. The process is even more complex, particularly in the case of Indigenous women living on-reserve who wish to seek support services outside of their resident community, and off-reserve women, whose community is in close proximity to provincial or civil society-funded services. The evaluation also observed that certain of these jurisdictions (federal, provincial and territorial governments) have policies and strategies that address Indigenous-related family violence. The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Family Violence Table, which is chaired by the Public Health Agency of Canada, has addressed some of the complexities of the prevention/protection process.

Provincial authorities identified some key areas for collaboration with INAC around family violence supports and prevention. In the three jurisdictions visited, provincial counterparts identified the following as where they could work more strategically with federal stakeholders: children's programming to counter trauma; men's programming; follow up and outreach services; services in for the North and other remote areas.

Each province is governed by its own legislative and policy frameworks, which generally support Indigenous communities. The evaluation found that it is primarily the responsibility of INAC officials at regional offices to modify program models to provincial circumstances. The level of engagement is also related to the individual capacity of regional office staff to undertake this work. Some provincial authorities communicate more frequently with INAC regional offices (Ontario, Alberta) on longer-term issues; other provinces focus on the specific co-funding issues arising from specific shelters (Saskatchewan); and, in some instances (Quebec), there does not appear to be any evidence of regular communication at all.

5.2.3 Community-Level Partnerships

Community-level partnerships are an important factor in determining the success of prevention projects. As family violence is a multi-faceted problem, addressing the causes of this issue requires an exchange of information on the parts of law enforcement personnel, health care officials and social workers. In Alberta, one such venue for the exchange of this information has been weekly "hub" meetings. These meetings bring partners together to discuss specific instances of violence in the community and what ought to be the appropriate response. The hubs feature a number of key band organizations, including individuals representing such sectors as Health and Wellness, Housing, Child and Family Services, as well as shelter staff and elders from the community. The experience of the hubs in Alberta is encouraged as it enhances the exchange of expertise on addressing the issue of family violence.

Public Safety Canada's Community Safety Plan Program is another example of an initiative designed to encourage First Nations to form community-based partnerships to achieve stated safety outcomes. At the beginning of the program in 2010, Public Safety Canada worked with the RCMP and other partner organizations to create a list of 50 vulnerable communities that would be offered the Community Safety Plan. While only 13 communities initially participated in the program, the number has increased to 26 since then. Program officials have attributed the spread of the Community Safety Plan to word of mouth efforts. As well, the safety outcomes determined by the community often require partnerships to be achieved. In this way, communication between communities and different programs are essential to the design of the Community Safety Plan.

5.2.4 Leveraging Resources from Other Program Areas

Successful prevention projects typically involve strong partnerships and the leveraging of resources from other program areas. A number of key informants signaled the need for a 'single window' approach to prevention program funding as it would help focus departments around key objectives, resulting in greater impacts for First Nations across the country. It was suggested that since Health Canada and INAC's mandates with respect to First Nations are closely aligned, an enhanced effort should begin there by pooling prevention-specific funding. Evidence suggests that this is already happening. For instance, given the FVPP's limited funding for prevention activities, some First Nations communities have used Health Canada's Brighter Futures^{Footnote 85} program funding to leverage their resources to acquire enough funding in terms of preventing family violence.^{Footnote 86} Brighter Futures encompasses a wide scope of activities to address community-determined priorities and is well-designed for this purpose. Given that every community receives some funding for the program, there is the possibility for resources to be allocated to family violence prevention programming.

The Thunderbird Partnership Foundation in southern Ontario is an organization that facilitates the leveraging of resources. A key informant stated that the foundation was a good model for supporting horizontal approaches to prevention funding. While prioritizing a continuum of care available to all First Nations, the foundation focuses on building capacity for communities to address substance use and addiction.^{Footnote 87} The foundation employs personnel with expertise in pooling resources for broad health care initiatives. This approach allows for augmented prevention funding.

While there are examples of resources being leveraged, evaluation findings suggest that more could be done through these horizontal initiatives to support the FVPP prevention projects. Several key informants suggested that Family Violence Initiative partners work in silos, thus undermining meaningful interaction. It was stated that collaboration has not progressed much beyond 'information sharing.' Interviewees therefore suggested that having a "single window" to family violence prevention funding could help avoid any unexpected or possible duplications of services.

5.3.1 Participation and Community Feedback

Determining levels of success of prevention programming remains a challenge. Baseline data on family violence on-reserve are unavailable. Gauging reduction in the rates of family violence as a result of prevention initiatives (i.e., attribution) goes past shelter and community capacities. The literature review found that other countries with significant Indigenous populations have found it challenging to determine whether rates of family violence have been increasing or decreasing in recent years as a result of prevention activities. The research showed that many Indigenous prevention programs are tailored towards youth with the goal of breaking intergenerational cycles of violent behaviour. As confirmed by the literature, the outcomes of such prevention efforts, with sustained monitoring, are likely only to be seen over a long-term period. Despite the challenge in data collection on family violence, several lines of evidence have illustrated that prevention activities are generally well received by communities. The fact that these activities are largely designed by the communities themselves has contributed to high rates of participation in many cases.

Determining the impact of prevention has been mostly anecdotal and evidenced by instances of communities engaging in prevention activities over a sustained period of time. Overall, measuring effectiveness of prevention projects and determining attribution can be difficult. This is particularly so when several factors such as funding amounts or joint funding are taken into consideration. Prevention projects in the sites visited show that some of these projects benefited from joint funding with other initiatives. Further, the information gathered suggests that many factors that transcend the FVPP influence behaviour of community residents. For example, prevention activities are usually long-term in nature and therefore, success can only be measured over time. However, other means like short-term evaluations, assessments, or surveys, as undertaken by the FVPP, assist in early detection of some indicators of effectiveness.

Community stories from the evaluation team's four site visits have been included in Appendix B. These stories highlight some of the achievements of FVPP prevention programming. In Mishkeegogamang, the shelter staff has used innovative approaches to implementing knowledge sharing around available prevention services, despite the community's remote location. Fort Qu'Appelle has initiated a number of culturally appropriate, male-based healing programs, including the Leading Thunderbird Lodge and the "Walk the Good Road" program. Finally, Akwesasne and the Three Eagles Wellness Society have been able to extend the reach of prevention programming to a high number of First Nations communities in their respective provinces.