The Saskatoon Tribal Council is creating programming to help male inmates reintegrate back into society. The provincial government is committing $800,000 to develop and deliver culturally supportive programming aimed at reducing returns to custody.
“STC remains committed to helping people find a new and healthy path into society,” STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand said. “Our Urban Camp programming offers the supports that can help make that happen for some as we try to break the cycle of incarceration. We thank the provincial government for recognizing through this partnership the outcomes and results we consistently deliver.”
The program will address factors that contribute to recidivism and help participants break the cycle of incarceration by providing mental health and addictions supports, as well as training, education and employment opportunities, access to Elders and other Indigenous-led cultural programming and services.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with the STC and to support them in delivering culturally appropriate programming to offenders at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre’s Urban Camp,” Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Paul Merriman said. “Urban Camp provides supports and opportunities to individuals preparing to leave custody that help create a path back into their communities and out of the correctional system for good.”
The Urban Camp at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre is home to approximately 50 low-security inmates at any given time and is the only urban working camp in the province. It was created over 40 years ago to give reduced-custody offenders the opportunity to participate in supervised work assignments throughout the community. Urban Camp inmates provide services ranging from general manual labour, landscaping, building and property maintenance, cleaning, community gardening, construction, event clean up and disaster relief support. While there, inmates can access onsite addictions counselling, domestic violence, cultural, spiritual, grief, trauma, literacy, parenting, vocational and employment programming.
This will be the second partnership the Government of Saskatchewan has recently entered with the STC to provide Indigenous-led transition programming to offenders. In late 2022, government announced $1.2 million in funding for the STC’s īkwēskīcik iskwēwak (ah-gwee-ski-chick isk-way-wuk) program, Cree for “Women Turning Their Lives Around.” The reintegration program provides up to 18 months of intensive post-custody support to female offenders.