The goal for a pilot project from the province and the Saskatoon Tribal Council is to reduce the number of women returning to jail. The STC will design and deliver a community-based reintegration program, which will help ensure supports are in place for those coming out of the criminal justice system.

Tribal Chief Mark Arcand says this pilot project is for women who are in and out of jail on minor offences. It’s for women province-wide, but the pilot project’s facility will be based in Saskatoon. There will be 18 months of intense support for the participants before they move back home. The Indigenous-led program will focus on healing and wellness, education, training and employment, and will promote positive family relationships. When a participant is ready to move back home, there will be conversations with the leaders and Elders in that home community to figure out what supports would be available for her there.

It’s a three year pilot project with the province funding $1.2-million annually, and then there will be an option of extending for two more years. Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister, Christine Tell, considers it a major milestone to overcoming barriers for female offenders as they find stability and are able to leave behind the criminal lifestyle. She says, “This makes perfect sense and STC is a great partner. We are hopeful, as hopeful as they are in the programs and services they are going to deliver, that we will see a reduction in recidivism. If they are continually coming back into our institutions, their communities are suffering – they are suffering.”