scholarly journals Canadian First Nations Child Welfare Care Policy: Managing Money in "Ottawapiskat"

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darcy Joseph Tootoosis
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Residential School ◽  
Child And Family Services ◽  
Family Services ◽  
Nations Child ◽  
First Nations People

The inter-generational loss of Indigenous identity in Canada has been a result of Canadian Aboriginal policy in the past and present. The policies of the residential school era and the policies of today’s child welfare system lead to similar outcomes, particularly governmental determination of how the next generation of First Nations people are affected by the state. By 1997-1998, the Department of Indian and Native Affairs reported that First Nations child and family services were administering services to 70% of children on reserves, and that number was projected to increase to 91% by 2002. In 1940 when the residential school system was still in full use, there were almost 8,000 children in the schools across the country; compare that statistic to the year 2002 when there were over 22,500 First Nations children in the child welfare system, showing a progression of almost three times the number living in state care. The numerous social problems resulting from poverty are re-enforced by the Federal Government’s policy decision to neglect taking action despite their own commissions and research data. Procedural problems in child welfare administration arise due to government jurisdictions, which will also be discussed.

scholarly journals Reflections of a Mi’kmaq social worker on a quarter of a century work in First Nations child welfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45
Author(s):  
Nancy MacDonald ◽  
Judy MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Nations Child ◽  
The Sixties ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
The 1960S

First Nations people would argue that the ‘Sixties Scoop’ of removing their children from their homes and culture never ended. First Nations children entering ‘care’ of child welfare agencies has increased significantly since the 1960s and 1970s. Storying the journey of a Mi’kmaq social worker working with a First Nations child, aspects of the child welfare system will be theoretically and historically located and critiqued from a social justice perspective. Schools of Social Work will be challenged to provide an education inclusive of decolonization, understanding the historical limitations of the child welfare system and its impact upon First Nations peoples.

scholarly journals "For the Good of the Child": The Colonial Machinations of Child Welfare in Canada

INvoke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Sunday
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
School System ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Residential School ◽  
School Project ◽  
The Past

Although residential schools no longer exist today, the systems of oppression which allowed them to operate continue. These systems have existed non-linearly throughout time, as the past, present, and future effects of colonialism intersect in the lives of First Nations. The spiritual successor of the residential school project can be viewed in many contemporary structures; specifically, in the institutionalized violence accumulated within the child welfare system. In this paper, I argue that the contemporary child welfare system in Canada, as it relates to both on- and off-reserve First Nations children, is the modern-day successor of the Indian Residential School System. Specifically, the strategies of racialization and subalternation underpinning the colonial machine, and exemplified within the residential school system, have surreptitiously reformed into the child welfare system.

scholarly journals Meenoostahtan Minisiwin: First Nations Family Justice "Pathways to Peace"

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88
Author(s):  
Joe Pintarics ◽  
Karen Sveinunggaard
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Child And Family Services ◽  
Family Services ◽  
Nations Child

Community justice initiatives are now common in Canada, both for young offenders and in adult criminal cases; there are only a few examples of alternative methods for dealing with justice issues in the area of mandated child welfare services. The initiative outlined in this paper represents one of the most comprehensive family justice initiatives in First Nations Child and Family Services in Canada. Meenoostahtan Minisiwin: First Nations Family Justice offers a new way of addressing conflict in child and family matters, outside of the regular Child and Family Services (CFS) and court systems. It incorporates the traditional peacemaking role that has existed for centuries in Northern Manitoba Cree communities, alongside contemporary family mediation. The program brings together family, extended family, community members, Elders, social workers and community service providers in the resolution of child protection concerns through the use of properly trained Okweskimowewak (family mediators). The Okweskimowewak’s role involves assisting participants to articulate their personal ‘truth’ (dabwe) and to hear and respect the dabwe of others; to create a safe and nurturing context by addressing inherent power imbalances; to explore the root causes of family conflict in order to address the long term best interests of children; and to facilitate innovative and collaborative planning outcomes for families. The program was developed by the Awasis Agency of Northern Manitoba, a mandated First Nations Child and Family Services agency, although it receives its services mandate from the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Exectuive. It is jointly funded by the Aboriginal Justice Strategy of Justice Canada and the Manitoba Department of Family Services and Housing. Overall direction for the program is provided by the First Nations Family Justice Committee, a sub-committee of the MKO Exectuive Director of Awasis Agency, and representative chiefs of the MKO region. The program currently employs a Program Coordinator, two full time regional Okweskimowewak, two full time community-based Okweskimowewak and an administrative assistant. Since its inception in 1999, the program has received referrals involving more than seven hundred families, including well over 1900 children and 1500 volunteer participants. Services have been provided in seventeen First Nation communities in Northern Manitoba as well as in Thompson, Winnipeg, The Pas, and Gillam. The Meenoostahtan Minisiwin program responds to all aspects of mandated child welfare, as well as other situations where the best interests of children are in jeopardy. These have included mediating care placement arrangements; child-parent conflicts; family-agency or family-agency-system conflicts; assisting in the development of service plans in neglect and abuse cases; advocating on behalf of families attempting to access services; family violence; larger community-wide conflicts; and working to address systemic problems which impact the lives of First Nations children and families. We believe that by establishing processes which focus on restoring balance and harmony within families and communities, we are working towards an overall increase in the health and wellness of community members. And you who would understand justice, How shall you, unless you Look upon all deeds In the fullness of light? Only then shall you know that the erect And the fallen are but one man standing in The twilight between the Night of his pigmy-self And the day of his god-self. K. Gibran

Exploring Alternate Explanations for Agency-Level Effects in Placement Decisions Regarding Aboriginal Children

2020 ◽  
pp. 215-234
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Fallon ◽  
John D. Fluke ◽  
Martin Chabot ◽  
Cindy Blackstock ◽  
Vandna Sinha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Placement Decisions ◽  
Aboriginal Children

This chapter summarizes a series of published papers that used data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) to explore the influence of case and organizational characteristics on decisions to place Aboriginal children in out-of-home placements. The premise of the analyses was that these influences were consistent with the framework of the Decision-Making Ecology. In Canada, Aboriginal children are overrepresented at all points of child welfare decision-making: investigation, substantiation, and placement in out-of-home care. Case factors accounting for the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children at all service points in the child welfare system include poverty, poor housing, and substance misuse, and these factors, when coupled with inequitable resources for First Nations children residing on reserves, result in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in the Canadian child welfare system. For this study, the authors examine case characteristics and organizational factors in a multilevel context, hypothesizing that children are more likely to be placed out of home in agencies that serve a relatively high proportion of Aboriginal children. According to the statistical models presented, the most important of these factors is whether the provincial government operates the child welfare agency. As with the proportion of Aboriginal children on the caseload, the risk of a child being placed is greater in government-run agencies compared to agencies operated by private funders. Further analysis needs to be conducted to fully understand individual- and organizational-level variables that may influence /decisions regarding placement of Aboriginal children.

scholarly journals Let’s Not Call in the Lawyers: Using the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Decision in First Nations Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron S Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Child And Family Services ◽  
Family Services ◽  
Nations Child ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
First Nations Education

In January 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal released its decision regarding the provision of Child and Family Services to First Nations living on reserves and the Yukon. The Tribunal found that the government of Canada had discriminated against First Nations children on the basis of their race. Many of the arguments made by the government of Canada to describe their actions in the provision of First Nations child and family services can be easily transferred to the provision of First Nations education programs and services to First Nations children throughout Canada. This article has replaced child and family services terms and phrases with education terms and phrases in the decision. Hopefully, the federal government of Canada will see the futility of fighting First Nations in education as they did in child and family services. It is time to provide First Nations students on reserves a comprehensive system of education.

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