Counselling cut for B.C. First Nation survivors of residential schools who don’t have status cards – Prince George Post

Apr 08, 2024

2,600 providers have four weeks to terminate or transfer their non-status clients out of their care

The First Nations Health Authority is cutting off counselling coverage for former residential school students in B.C. and their families, as well as those of missing or murdered Indigenous women — unless they have a status card.

Registered clinical counsellors and clients from First Nations across B.C. are outraged by the sudden change, which was communicated to treatment providers in an email late last month.

“Only First Nations people with status will be eligible to register for counselling services effective immediately,” reads the health authority’s website. Among those affected are Métis and Nisga’a Nation peoples, and many others in B.C. who have Indigenous ancestry but don’t have a status card.

“This is going to cause a ripple effect of more hospitalizations, overdoses and suicides,” Sheri Stahl, counsellor and owner of Amethyst Therapy Inc. in Williams Lake, said.

Read More: https://www.princegeorgepost.com/news/local-news/counselling-cut-for-first-nation-survivors-of-residential-schools-who-dont-have-status-cards

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