Safe Kids & Youth (SKY) Coordinated Response South - Castlegar, Salmo and Trail

Helps to ensure that children and youth in the West Kootenay Boundary region who come forward about their experiences of abuse, violence or neglect receive the best possible response from the range of services they connect with.

Young victims of abuse along with their siblings and their caregivers, receive consent-based support from SKY through the coordination of any one of six multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) located in Kaslo, Nakusp and Nelson (SKY North) and Castlegar, Salmo, and Trail (SKY South)

These teams consist of police, Ministry of Children and Families (MCFD), victim services, child and youth counselors, school partners, health services, Indigenous supports, and the SKY Coordinator for that region.

The SKY Coordinator explains SKY to families, ensures they are getting all the support they need, and keeps the MDT coordinated. They also help to schedule and organize SKY interviews.

In each SKY community, there are child-friendly rooms where a child or youth can be interviewed by a specially trained interviewer in a way that reduces the trauma experienced by having to tell their story. The interview is recorded, so that, with consent, other investigative agencies can access the interview, preventing kids from having to tell their story repeatedly. 

SKY is a program of the Kootenay Boundary Community Services Co-operative (KBCSC).