Description and purpose:
The AFN is facilitating a national dialogue on a First Nations Early Childhood Strategy to inform the Federal Government ECD policy positions. The dialogue process will provide Chiefs, Councils, and Regional First Nations leadership with a venue to advance a vision for holistic, comprehensive, culturally responsive and integrated early childhood education, care and development for our children, birth to six years of age, who are members of First Nations Bands and/or live on-reserve in British Columbia.
The purpose of this document is to provide you, the participant in a dialogue about Aboriginal Early Childhood Development (AECD), both with some background and history on AECD in Canada, including the development of government policies and funding initiatives and to then lead you into a series of questions which we are asking your input on. Once you have read the introduction and background, including two tables that summarize documents exploring the integration of First Nations Early Childhood programs and services and series of potential challenges and constraints associated with a single window approach of AECD, please begin to consider the questions which you will find on the last page of this document. We value your input!