Consulting

Joyful Bear has been living, working and studying trauma informed care and development on the unceded territories of Coast Salish Nations for over twenty years.   Volunteering with VIHA as a teenager led to further studies and eventually the VIHA FASD Respite Pilot Project, which later led to full time foster parenting, which tapered off to providing ongoing respite and relief for foster parents.  Jenn has worked for both provincial government and non-profit organizations in the social service sector, as well as private childcare.  

Jenn has learned from some of the leaders in the field of trauma informed care and development on the South Island, and is connected with multiple agencies and care teams across the region.  Jenn has experience navigating all ages and stages of neurodiversity, including early diagnosis and advocacy, individualized education plans, supported child development, respite funding, evergreen grads, autism funding, care plans, adulthood transition, home share, and second stage recovery supports.  

Despite all of that experience navigating the official "systems" of the "spectrums," Jenn also recognizes that those systems are broken.  Much of what is called "trauma informed care" is actually just science, catching up with indigenous and familial knowledge.  When we lean back into matriarchal systems of kinship care, we see less childhood trauma, which we know leads to more positive outcomes in adulthood.  

Jenn has extensive advocacy and support experience helping keep families unified amidst ministry intervention, as well as working alongside ministry to support children at home before parental burnout.  Jenn has developed child-specific curriculum to educate struggling care teams on multiple occasions. 

If you're feeling alone in your journey, looking for a coach, a sounding board, or an advocate, please feel free to reach out today.  Jenn offers a sliding-scale and accessible rates, as well as rates for grandparents, BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ kin.  

 

Also....

Emergency Medical Responder with  Worksafe BC- OFA Level 3

Roots of Empathy Instructor (and parent!)

Moe the Mouse Indigenous Speech Language Program Facilitator

Neurosequential Method for Therapeutics (NMT) Consultant