Developing effective and culturally appropriate speech-language services for First Nations children living on-reserve

Research conducted by the First Nations Information Governance Centre and Aboriginal Child Survey have found speech and language delays to be the most common developmental challenge facing First Nations children. Despite the prevalence of these challenges, many First Nations children in B.C. are unable to receive adequate speech and language services due to barriers such as geographic location, service coordination, and the lack of culturally appropriate services. This capstone employs a literature, jurisdictional scan, and expert interviews investigate these barriers and to propose three policy options to address them. The proposed options are then evaluated using a multi-criteria analysis. Through this analysis, this capstone makes a series of short and long-term recommendations to promote language development and improve the ability of First Nations children in B.C. to access culturally appropriate speech-language services.