Jordan's Principle

"Jordan's Principle" means the principle that the government or department that first receives a request to pay for a service for a first nations child must pay for the service and resolve jurisdictional issues only thereafter. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.

"Jordan's Principle" is formal / specialist English meaning the principle that the government or department that first receives a request to pay for a service for a first nations child must pay for the service and resolve jurisdictional issues only thereafter. It is used widely across English varieties. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "the principle that the government or department that first receives a request to pay for a service for a first nations child must pay for the service and resolve jurisdictional issues only thereafter" expressed in standard vocabulary.