NIPAWIN — The North East Outreach and Support Services (NEOSS) will be running a Family Intervention Rapid Support Team (FIRST) program in Nipawin, after $200,000 per year in funding was announced by the province.
The FIRST program, which is being funded for three years, will have two trained outreach workers hired by NEOSS. They will be housed solely in Nipawin to build relationships with and intervene early to provide collaborative and timely services to support families in crisis.
Louise Schweitzer, executive director of NEOSS, said this will be a preventative measure program.
“That means they will be working with families or individuals identified as being at risk of interpersonal and domestic violence and do a holistic approach around them in avocation and working with them to identify what the challenges are [and] assist them in eradicating those so they cannot end up in an interpersonal or domestic violence situation.”
Nipawin is one of five communities the Saskatchewan government announced it will be providing funding for, totaling $1.1 million. The original FIRST program in Saskatchewan was Kindersley through the West Central Crisis and Family Support Centre Inc. in the fall of 2021.
The other new communities being provided funding include Moose Jaw, Estevan, Weyburn, and Carlyle, which will be run through local outreach services.
Schweitzer said Nipawin has for a long time been identified as a community that requires additional support.
“They have the KidsFirst program which they’ve had for probably close to 20 years now, and they have a family resource centre, so it is definitely a community that has been identified as having higher needs in some of those areas.”
In a statement from the province, Gordon Wyant, Saskatchewan’s justice minister and attorney general, said enhancing community safety and the well-being of Saskatchewan families is paramount.
"The FIRST program effectively supports families at a higher risk for violence with early intervention techniques that help to mitigate potential crisis situations at home,” Wyant said.
