The Return Home Initiative
Across the country, our youth remain vastly overrepresented in the child welfare system. Although they make up a small fraction of the population, more of our children are being removed from their families today than at the peak of the residential school era. This is not just a number. It is a reflection of the ongoing effects of colonization, intergenerational trauma, and the systemic separation of children from the families, communities, and cultures that are meant to sustain them.
Every child removed from home carries with them the loss of connection to their heritage, traditions, and identity. In too many cases, our youth enter care without the cultural supports and individualized attention they need to heal. Group homes, foster placements, and institutional settings often fail to provide consistent care or respect the unique strengths and histories of each child.
At Indigenous Youth Services, we believe every young person deserves the chance to heal, grow, and return home with dignity. The Return Home Initiative was created to address this urgent need. Our model focuses on restoring cultural connection, nurturing emotional well-being, and providing consistent, relationship-based care that follows each youth wherever their journey takes them.
Through this approach, our children can reclaim their sense of belonging, develop resilience, and grow into the leaders, caregivers, and community members they are meant to be.
We are committed to a future where no youth is lost in a system that does not understand or honor them. Every child deserves a path back to home, culture, and community, and we are dedicated to making that path a reality.
Addressing the Overrepresentation of Indigenous Youth in Child Welfare
The Return Home Initiative was created to directly address this urgent need by bringing culturally grounded care, individualized behavioral 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 a sense of belonging, and create a clear, supported pathway from out-of-home care back to family, community, and culture.
Our program ensures that youth are not left to navigate placements alone. We walk with them through every transition and provide the emotional, cultural, and behavioral support needed to thrive in and beyond care.
This initiative fills critical gaps in the current child welfare system by offering a dedicated, culturally grounded, individualized support system that brings care directly to the youth in any environment. For many Indigenous young people, this becomes the difference between feeling lost in the system and feeling genuinely cared for.
How it works
Our Hybrid Model: Virtual and In-Person Support
Healing does not occur in isolation. It requires presence, connection, and relationships that stay stable even when everything else changes. The Return Home Initiative uses a hybrid model that combines virtual engagement through CareLink with in-person support delivered directly inside group care, foster homes, and treatment facilities.
This model provides an additional layer of care that strengthens and enhances the support youth receive in their placements. It ensures that their cultural, emotional, and individual needs are met consistently, regardless of location.
Our approach adapts to the youth rather than expecting the youth to adapt to the system. Whether a young person moves placements, returns home, or relocates for treatment, our care stays with them. The consistency we provide is fundamental for Indigenous youth who often experience multiple transitions within the child welfare system.
CareLink: Continuous Virtual Support
CareLink is our innovative virtual platform designed to sustain meaningful relationships through ongoing communication and cultural programming. Youth can connect with their dedicated support staff through secure messaging, scheduled video sessions, and on-demand check-ins.
This virtual support ensures that no matter where the youth is placed, they never lose access to trusted mentors or stable relational connections. CareLink can include:
- Regular virtual sessions that provide guidance, emotional support, and mentoring
- Cultural teachings and language sessions that nurture identity and belonging
- Quick check-ins that allow youth to reach out during difficult moments
- Continuity of care across every placement or transition
CareLink becomes a lifeline, offering stability in a system where change is common and relationships are easily lost.
In-Person Support Delivered Directly to Youth
While CareLink provides continuous virtual connection, our in-person supports bring care directly into the youth’s living environment. Our team works hands-on within group care homes, foster placements, and out-of-home settings to create a consistent and culturally grounded presence.
This in-person involvement acts as an additional layer of care that complements and strengthens the support already provided in the placement. Our approach includes:
- Trauma-informed behavioral support
- Individualized care planning and mentoring
- Identity-based guidance and cultural reconnection
- Collaboration with caregivers, placement staff, and caseworkers
- Support for family reconnection and community reintegration
By showing up where the youth live, grow, and struggle, we demonstrate that they are not alone. Our presence is intentional and consistent, built on understanding, compassion, and cultural respect.
Cultural Reconnection and Healing
Culture is the foundation of healing. For Indigenous youth, reconnecting with culture strengthens identity, confidence, and emotional resilience. The Return Home Initiative integrates cultural teachings, ceremonies, and community involvement into each youth’s care plan.
Youth participate in experiences that reconnect them to their language, traditions, and values. Through relationships with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and cultural mentors, they rediscover pride in who they are and where they come from.
These cultural connections are not symbolic. They are essential to healing and long-term success. They help youth rebuild a sense of belonging and strengthen the cultural roots that support their journey home.
Bringing Youth Home
The ultimate goal of the Return Home Initiative is to bring Indigenous youth back home to family, community, culture, and identity. We work closely with caregivers, community supports, and family members to ensure that every step toward reintegration is safe, meaningful, and supported.
Our hybrid model provides stability during care and creates a foundation of trust, resilience, and cultural strength that empowers the youth to return home successfully.
Youth are not left behind. They are not forgotten. They are supported, seen, and guided every step of the way.