Return Home Initiative
Across the country, Indigenous youth remain vastly overrepresented in the child welfare system. Although they make up only a small percentage of the population, Indigenous children and youth account for a disproportionately large number of those living in group homes, foster care, and institutional placements.
This imbalance is not just a statistic; it reflects the ongoing consequences of colonization, intergenerational trauma, and the persistent removal of Indigenous children from their families, lands, and cultural roots. Generations of disconnection have left deep scars, and many young people continue to carry the weight of systems that were never built to understand or support them.
At Indigenous Youth Services, we believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to heal, grow, and ultimately return home. The Return Home Initiative was created to directly address this urgent need by bringing culturally grounded care, individualized support, and consistent relational continuity to the door of every youth’s current placement, whether that is a group home, foster home, or institutional care setting.
We meet youth where they are. Our team enters these environments to provide care that is culturally connected, emotionally attuned, and personally relevant. By doing so, we help re-establish cultural identity, enhance care quality, and accelerate the process of returning home.
The Return Home Initiative bridges modern care methods with traditional knowledge and cultural restoration. Each visit, conversation, and connection serves a greater purpose: to rebuild trust, restore belonging, and create a clear, supported pathway from out-of-home care back to family, community, and culture.
Confronting a Failing System
For generations, Indigenous youth have been trapped in a system that was never designed to protect them. The Child Welfare system, intended to offer safety and care, has too often caused further harm. When Indigenous children are removed from their families and communities, they lose more than just a home. They lose the foundation of their identity—their culture, language, traditions, and the support networks that sustain them.
Inside many group care settings, Indigenous youth experience trauma, neglect, and discrimination. They are placed in environments that fail to recognize or honor who they are as individuals. The disconnection from family and community, along with the erosion of language and cultural identity, leaves deep emotional and psychological wounds. These wounds frequently manifest as pain, mistrust, and survival-based behaviors, which are often misinterpreted by the system as defiance or disorder.
The consequences of this systemic failure are severe and persistent. Many Indigenous youth who leave care struggle with homelessness, find themselves caught in cycles of incarceration, or face significantly higher rates of illness and mortality than their peers. The system that was supposed to protect them too often leaves them isolated, vulnerable, and disconnected from the support they need to thrive.
True protection and healing require a system that understands their lived experiences, values their cultural identity, and provides care that strengthens connections to family, community, and heritage. Indigenous youth deserve care that keeps them close to their families, their communities, and the traditions that define who they are. They deserve a system that helps them grow, heal, and thrive, not one that leaves them lost and unheard.
Building a Path Forward
True healing begins when we stop asking Indigenous youth to adapt to systems that were never designed for them and instead reshape those systems to honor who they are. The Return Home Initiative embodies this commitment, working to rebuild the pathways that lead youth back to identity, belonging, and community.
Through a hybrid model of in-person and virtual supports, we meet youth wherever they are, whether in group homes, foster placements, or institutional care, ensuring they remain grounded in culture and connection. Our CareLink platform serves as a continuous lifeline, offering consistent mentorship, cultural engagement, and adaptive growth supports that evolve alongside each young person.
We work hand in hand with caregivers, agencies, and community leaders to ensure that every plan reflects the youth’s story, strengths, and spirit. Our mission extends beyond improving outcomes within the system. It is about helping youth find their way home: to their families, to their communities, and to their true selves.
Every success story is a step toward reconciliation, healing, and restored balance for the generations to come. The Return Home Initiative is how we begin that transformation, one youth, one family, and one community at a time.
Virtual Support (CareLink)
CareLink is our innovative virtual platform designed to maintain connection and consistency between youth and their support team. Through secure messaging, scheduled video sessions, and cultural teachings, youth can access guidance, mentorship, and emotional support whenever they need it most.
This virtual connection ensures that, regardless of how often a placement changes, the youth’s relationships with trusted mentors and supports remain uninterrupted. The familiar faces, voices, and routines they rely on continue to be part of their lives, helping to nurture trust, build stability, and maintain emotional safety..
In-Person Support
While CareLink ensures continuity from afar, our in-person supports bring care directly to the youth’s environment. Our staff work hands-on within group care homes, foster homes, and institutional settings to create a consistent, relational presence. We don’t wait for youth to reach out for help; we come to them.
During in-person visits, our team provides trauma-informed behavioral support, individualized care planning, and cultural mentorship tailored to each youth’s personal journey. We focus on identifying strengths, uncovering root causes of distress, and building the skills and confidence needed to move forward successfully.
Every interaction is guided by patience, empathy, and understanding. Our staff work alongside caregivers, social workers, and community partners to ensure that the youth’s needs are met holistically, addressing emotional, cultural, and practical dimensions of care.
The goal of our in-person support is to reconnect youth to their identity, rebuild family and community relationships, and prepare them for a safe, supported return home. By showing up in the spaces where they live and grow, we remind each young person that they are not forgotten and that their path home is within reach.
Cultural Connections
Culture is not simply an element of care; it is the foundation of healing. For Indigenous youth, reconnecting with their cultural identity is more than a comforting reminder of who they are; it is a lifeline to resilience, strength, and purpose.
Many youth in care have been separated from their communities, languages, and traditions for much of their lives. The effects of this disconnection can be profound, leaving them unsure of where they belong or who they can trust. The Return Home Initiative recognizes that true healing requires more than behavioral support or clinical intervention. It requires reconnection to self, to spirit, to culture, and to community.
Through this initiative, we bring cultural teachings, ceremonies, and mentorship directly to the youth, whether virtually through CareLink or in-person at their placement. Our programs are designed in collaboration with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and cultural leaders to ensure authenticity, respect, and alignment with local traditions.
Youth engage in experiences that restore pride, belonging, and identity. These may include:
Learning traditional stories, songs, and languages that link them to their ancestors
Participating in virtual and in-person cultural gatherings, ceremonies, and seasonal teachings
Connecting with Elders and mentors who offer wisdom, guidance, and grounding in traditional values
Exploring land-based learning opportunities that help youth rebuild a relationship with the land and its teachings
Each of these experiences is intentional. They remind youth that they come from strong, resilient people and that their identity is not defined by the system they are in, but by the culture and community that stand behind them.
Through consistent exposure to cultural practices and teachings, youth begin to rediscover who they are and where they come from. They learn that their identity is a source of strength, their heritage is a foundation for growth, and their culture holds the keys to healing, stability, and future success.
Bring Our Kids Home
The goal of the Return Home Initiative is simple yet profound: to bring Indigenous youth back home to their families, communities, and culture as safely, meaningfully, and quickly as possible.
Every youth supported through this program receives a personalized plan that addresses both immediate needs and long-term goals. Our collaborative approach includes close coordination with social workers, caregivers, and community leaders to ensure that each step toward home is supported, sustainable, and built on trust.
By bridging modern technology with traditional knowledge, we are redefining what care can look like for Indigenous youth. Our model ensures that no young person is lost in the system. They are seen, valued, and consistently supported by people who believe in their potential and walk beside them throughout their journey.
Our Vision
We envision a future where Indigenous youth no longer age out of care disconnected from who they are, but instead return home empowered, confident, and rooted in culture and community. We strive for a system that uplifts rather than confines, one that restores rather than replaces, and one that listens deeply to the voices of the youth it serves.
Join Us in making our communities whole again
Every child deserves to grow up surrounded by love, family, and belonging.
The Return Home Initiative is more than a program; it is a commitment to reconciliation in action, to healing through connection, and to rebuilding what has been broken.
If you are a social worker, agency partner, caregiver, or community leader who shares our vision, we invite you to connect with us. Together, we can help bring Indigenous youth home and create lasting change for generations to come.
