A national conference in Winnipeg next week will help aboriginal communities prepare for the massive influx of cash that will arrive once former students of residential schools begin to receive compensation cheques.

Billions of dollars in compensation payments could begin flowing to former residential school students by October, barring future legal challenges.

But on many reserves dealing with overwhelming social problems, there is as much apprehension as anticipation over the arrival of the money.

"We're getting ourselves prepared so we can identify the issues and find solutions," said Jennifer Wood with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, which is organizing the conference.

"A lot of money coming into communities, it attracts drugs, more alcohol," she said. "We're looking at the gang issue. We're looking at potential violence. We're looking at potential abuses: elder abuse, scams, frauds.

"Of course you look at the negative side of things, because it's going to happen," she said.

Organizers hope the conference will produce a reference manual to help former students avoid becoming victims. It will also give advice on investing money.

Ruth Roulette, on the Long Plain First Nation near Portage la Prairie, Man., figures more than $1 million in compensation will be coming to her reserve, and she's worried about it.

"The vulnerabilities out here — I do get worried for our people," she said.

Roulette says she's already seen problems with the advance compensation payments some residents received. Young people have walked off with their elderly relatives' money, she said.

"It's really sad, actually," she said. "People have actually gone to the bank and withdrawn large sums of money for their drugs, and our elders go to the bank and they don't have any money in there."

While the conference is a good idea, Roulette says, communities must also provide information to their residents, so the new cash doesn't end up creating new problems.

The residential school settlement approved by nine superior court judges earlier this year calls for Ottawa to make about $2 billion in "common experience" payments to the roughly 78,000 aboriginal people still living who attended the schools during the 20th century.

There's additional money to compensate people who were sexually or physically abused while they attended the schools, which were typically run by churches. There's also money for healing and commemorative programs.

In total, the compensation deal is worth $4 billion to $5 billion, according to court documents.