(Photo credit: Shannon Avison, FNUniv)
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is raising concerns over systemic dysfunction at a non-profit organization in Regina.
Recently terminated employees of the Street Culture Project (SCP) reached out to the FSIN.
SCP has been in operation for over 25 years in the city and provides mentorship, housing, and community outreach to young people with a vision of creating safe spaces for youth.
According to the FSIN, the former employees expressed concerns over systemic dysfunction that they say has attributed to harm and loss of life for high-risk youth that are in SPC’s programs.
On December 18th, 2023, Serenity Severight, a 17-year-old First Nations girl, died by suicide while in the care of the SCP while being housed at the Tuhk Sih Nowin Youth Shelter.
Her parents, Martha and David, continue to seek answers and have concerns that their daughter’s death was attributed to systemic dysfunction.
The FSIN stated it was reported that Severight made staff of the SCP aware of her suicidal thoughts days prior to her death and requested assistance through counselling and a psychiatric unit, both available to the youth within the facility.
Severight’s calls for help went unanswered, and she tragically took her own life.
“This tragedy highlights the persistent systemic failure of placing our First Nation children in care with organizations lacking essential cultural knowledge and training,” said Chief Bobby Cameron. “When our children are separated from their communities and cultural supports, they face devastating consequences. This isn’t a new problem—it’s a continuation of the same harmful practices we’ve been fighting against for generations.
1st Vice Chief David Pratt added, “The ongoing systemic failures in youth care services represent a critical breakdown in the responsibility to protect and support our most vulnerable young people. When organizations entrusted with the care of our youth fail to provide culturally sensitive, compassionate, and responsive support, they are not just failing individual children but betraying entire communities. We cannot continue to allow systems that prioritize bureaucracy over the lives and well-being of our children.”
That FSIN stated that now multiple whistleblowers have come forward and that those individuals were front-line employees or part of mid-level management who were terminated or silenced when bringing forward concerns surrounding systemic dysfunction that put youth and staff at risk. Along with systemic dysfunction concerns, the former employees are raising concerns surrounding unfair labour practices, OHS violations, discrimination, and more.