A family from the Wolastoqey community in New Brunswick is facing uncertainty over medical care for their three-year-old child due to delays in processing Jordan’s Principle funding requests.
Stephanie Francis expressed frustration, stating that children should not be deprived of care due to bureaucratic issues. She and her husband, Ashton Francis, parents of three-year-old Beckett with glycogen storage disorder type 1A, reside in Tobique First Nation near Fredericton. Beckett’s condition necessitates overnight feeding through a gastrostomy tube every few hours to prevent dangerous drops in blood sugar levels.
Although doctors at the IWK Health Centre supported the family’s request for a night nurse, their applications to Indigenous Services Canada’s Jordan’s Principle program have faced repeated rejections or delays. Jordan’s Principle aims to ensure prompt access to essential health and social services for First Nations youth, with the responsibility of payment to be resolved later.
Lucy You from Liver Canada highlighted the critical need for overnight nursing care for children with Beckett’s condition, emphasizing the challenges families face in managing complex medical needs independently.
The family’s struggle to secure consistent funding for Beckett’s night nurse underscores the program’s backlog issues. Despite the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s directive to address the backlog of 140,000 applications, Indigenous Services Canada acknowledged the ongoing delays in processing requests.
In a recent meeting with government officials and Indigenous leaders, the Francis family advocated for improved responsiveness to families in need of urgent medical support. Chief Allan Polchies of Sitansisk First Nation echoed concerns about the financial burden on communities covering essential costs while awaiting Jordan’s Principle assistance.
Stephanie Francis hopes that families facing similar challenges in accessing Jordan’s Principle funding will receive timely and reliable support in the future, as originally intended by the program.