Support Placements
Therapeutic Environment
Indigenous Youth Services provides short and long-term placements for Indigenous youth with a wide range of social, behavioral, and mental health needs. Our team is composed of professionals who are educated, trained, and experienced in providing culturally sensitive care to clients across the risk-level spectrum. Our mission is to bring culture to care in order to cultivate a lifetime of belonging and growth for Indigenous youth.
We understand the importance of bridging the cultural gaps in youth mental health and childcare systems for Indigenous youth. To this end, our residences are designed to reflect real-world homes rather than institutionalized settings, remove stigma, and promote cultural identity and connections. Each home is limited to two youth to ensure that each child receives the individual attention they need. We also do not have locks or restrictions on food access as we believe that each child should have the freedom to make their own choices.
We use an attachment-based staffing approach, which means that we focus on building strong and supportive relationships with each youth in our care. This approach allows us to provide a safe and nurturing environment where youth can build trusting relationships with our staff.
Our residences are de-institutionalized and welcoming. We prioritize community engagement and frequent outings as a way to promote social and emotional development. We also focus on life-skill and independence development, which means that we support our youth in developing skills such as cooking, cleaning, and managing their own finances.
We recognize that many Indigenous youth have experienced trauma and work with a trauma-informed approach. Our team is trained to provide a supportive and healing environment that takes into account the effects of trauma on our youth. We also create therapeutic environments that promote healing and growth.
We take pride in creating homes that reflect the cultures of the Indigenous youth we serve. Our homes are furnished with consultation from elders, educators, and community members to integrate Indigenous artwork, furniture, and cultural items within the living environment. We believe that by creating an atmosphere that fosters cultural connectivity, we can promote acceptance of heritage and facilitate community practices.
Our specialized program aims to create lasting impact and positive change in the youth and communities we serve. We recognize the unique challenges that Indigenous youth face and strive to provide the care and support they need to overcome these challenges and thrive. Contact us today to learn more about our program and how we can help your child
Fostering Foundational Change
Cultural Enrichment: Our programs prioritize the incorporation of Indigenous food, artwork, teachings, and practices to facilitate cultural engagement, acceptance, and connection to heritage. We collaborate with elders, community members, educators, and local Indigenous organizations to build networks of support for our youth and ensure the cultural authenticity and sensitivity of our programs.
One-on-One Support: Our residences are staffed with an equal ratio of staff-to-client, allowing for the highest degree of personalized intervention and support. Our paired-staff model fosters client-driven growth, crisis management tailored to individual needs, and around-the-clock support, resulting in enhanced success outcomes.
Limited Capacity: Our residences have a capacity limit of two clients per home to ensure a focused and individualized approach to care. This approach helps to mediate negative behavioural development and minimize the amplification of maladaptive behaviours through negative peer influences.
De-Institutionalized Environment: We strive to create a welcoming, supportive therapeutic environment that reflects real-world settings as closely as possible. Rather than modifying the environment to accommodate behaviours, we focus on identifying and targeting foundational causes of negative behaviours. We aim to change maladaptive behaviours into adaptive behaviours with the ultimate goal of empowering individuals to thrive in any environment. Our residences are designed to mimic traditional homes, and we use techniques that focus on achieving change through insight rather than consequence-driven compliance approaches. These fundamental behavioural insights create genuine, positive, and lifelong changes within the youth and families we serve.
Result-Focused: Our ultimate goal is to create significant, measurable, and lasting change in our clients' lives. We distinguish ourselves from the "housing station" models that numerous agencies in this field have fallen victim to becoming. We are committed to empowering and improving the lives of the youth we serve by providing malleable and dynamic support that allows for constant progress response measurements and result-driven modifications to ensure consistent individualized client improvements.
Catered Client Care: At IYS, we provide every client with catered and individualized support structuring that takes into account their unique social, medical, behavioural, and response patterns histories. We focus on therapeutic rapport building and highlight individual strengths/motivational factors to formulate support plans in which clients are personally invested in their participation and success.
Support Models
Generating Lasting Impacts
At IYS, our primary focus is on the long-term success of the youth we serve. We believe that the theme and purpose of all our interactions with clients should be to foster fundamental positive changes that will follow them throughout their lives. Our success is measured solely by the success of those we serve, and we are committed to changing the youth care field for the better.
Our ultimate goal is to help every one of our clients become positive, happy, and independent members of society. We believe that this can only be achieved through a combination of personalized care, result-focused interventions, and a commitment to cultural enrichment and community involvement.
We work tirelessly to create an environment that supports our clients' growth and development, both inside and outside of our residential support facilities. We recognize that the journey towards independence can be challenging, but we are committed to providing the resources and support necessary to ensure that our clients are well-equipped to meet any challenges they may face.
In short, our mission is to empower the youth we serve to achieve their full potential, both now and in the future. We believe that by focusing on the long-term success of our clients, we can create positive change that extends far beyond the walls of our residential support facilities.
A.I.M Model.
The AIM model is an evidence-based framework that provides a systematic approach to understanding and addressing the emotional and behavioral challenges faced by youth. It is grounded in the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy, trauma-informed care, and developmental psychology. The model consists of three components: Action, Intention, and Motivation.
Action focuses on the observable behavior of the youth in response to specific situations. Its goal is to identify the behavior that needs to be addressed and to develop strategies to stabilize the youth's behavior. For example, if a youth throws a glass against the wall nearly striking another youth, the action component would focus on the behavior of throwing the glass.
Intention delves into the intentions behind the youth's behavior. Its goal is to identify the underlying reasons why the youth engaged in the behavior. For instance, the youth may have thrown the glass with the intention of scaring, hurting, or asserting dominance over a particular individual or group.
Motivation component explores the underlying emotional and psychological factors driving the youth's behavior. Its goal is to identify the foundational factors that contribute to the youth's behavior. For example, the youth may feel powerless and unheard at home, leading them to seek control and power in other areas of their life.
Through the utilization of advanced therapeutic interventions our teams isolate the youths root action, intentions, and motivational factors leading to the behavioural formation. By uncovering and understanding these components, the AIM model provides a structured approach to addressing the complex emotional and behavioral challenges faced by youth. Through evidence-based practices, the model helps youth learn healthy coping mechanisms, regulate their emotions, and develop positive relationships with their peers and family members.
AIM model is an effective tool for professionals working with youth who may be struggling with emotional and behavioral challenges. By identifying the underlying causes of problematic behavior, the model can inform targeted interventions and help youth develop healthy coping mechanisms for navigating their emotions and interactions with others.
Results Focused
At Indigenous Youth Services, we are committed to providing our clients with leading-edge, result-focused, and culturally sensitive intervention approaches. To achieve this goal, we have consulted with experts from across the country to develop customized care plans that are tailored to meet the unique needs and response patterns of each individual youth in our care.
Our team of experts includes professionals with backgrounds in mental health, social work, and Indigenous culture and traditions. Together, they work to develop interventions that are evidence-based, culturally appropriate, and designed to achieve optimal, lasting treatment outcomes.
Each youth in our care receives a personalized care plan that is molded to their individualized needs and response patterns. These plans are designed to address the underlying factors that contribute to their social, behavioral, and mental health needs, and to promote healing, growth, and lifelong well-being.
Through our commitment to providing result-focused and culturally sensitive interventions, we aim to make a lasting and positive impact on the lives of the Indigenous youth and communities we serve.