First Nations Child and Family Services and Indigenous Knowledge as a Framework for Research, Policy and Practice

This paper provides an overview of the exciting national developments in First Nations child and family service delivery in Canada with a focus on progressive research, policy and practice. Examples of how traditional concepts of interdependence and the holistic worldview inform program design and delivery within First Nations communities are reviewed. In addition, the paper introduces the mandate, strategic directions and services of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. This national organization brings together the 105 First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies in Canada to share best practices, develop professional development programs and conduct research. Emerging policy and research programs within the society are highlighted. FNCFCS, with the generous support of the Voluntary Sector Initiative, will be developing resources and programs to foster effective policy making and program design between First Nations child and family service programs, the public, private and voluntary sectors. These programs are intended to enhance interdisciplinary cooperation and practice in order to meet the needs of First Nations children, families and communities. Special emphasis is also be placed on the First Nations research agenda and the associated steps to increase research capacity within First Nations communities through the Health Canada Child Welfare Centre of Excellence First Nations Research Site in Winnipeg Manitoba

Aboriginal Child Welfare

As the relationships between Canada’s Aboriginal peoples and the state undergo changes, the issue of Child Welfare is in the foreground; for it is around the well being, education and care of Aboriginal children that much of the painful historical relationship between First Nations and Canadian government has been played out. In this paper we consider the major issues in Canadian Aboriginal child welfare, drawing upon an extensive review and synthesis of current theory and research. Although there is an abundance of material available concerning Aboriginal child welfare, much of it exists outside mainstream academic child welfare literature. Some of the salient work on Aboriginal child welfare is contained in the justice literature and much is contained in evaluation reports, operational reviews, submissions to government bodies and in oral stories and testimony. Our goal has been to cull these sources in order to present a coherent understanding of Aboriginal child welfare issues that encompasses history, theoretical analysis, politics, visions, realities, education, evaluation and aspirations

Aboriginal Child Welfare

As the relationships between Canada’s Aboriginal peoples and the state undergo changes, the issue of Child Welfare is in the foreground; for it is around the well being, education and care of Aboriginal children that much of the painful historical relationship between First Nations and Canadian government has been played out. In this paper we consider the major issues in Canadian Aboriginal child welfare, drawing upon an extensive review and synthesis of current theory and research. Although there is an abundance of material available concerning Aboriginal child welfare, much of it exists outside mainstream academic child welfare literature. Some of the salient work on Aboriginal child welfare is contained in the justice literature and much is contained in evaluation reports, operational reviews, submissions to government bodies and in oral stories and testimony. Our goal has been to cull these sources in order to present a coherent understanding of Aboriginal child welfare issues that encompasses history, theoretical analysis, politics, visions, realities, education, evaluation and aspirations

Placement decisions and disparities among Aboriginal groups: An application of the Decision Making Ecology through multi-level analysis

a b s t r a c t Objective: This paper examined the relative influence of clinical and organizational characteristics on the decision to place a child in out-of-home care at the conclusion of a child maltreatment investigation. It tested the hypothesis that extraneous factors, specifically, organizational characteristics, impact the decision to place a child in out-of-home care. A secondary aim was to identify possible decision making influences related to disparities in placement decisions tied to Aboriginal children. Research suggests that the Aboriginal status of the child and structural risk factors affecting the family, such as poverty and poor housing, substantially account for this overrepresentation. Methods: The decision to place a child in out-of-home care was examined using data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect. This child welfare dataset collected information about the results of nearly 5,000 child maltreatment investigations as well as a description of the characteristics of the workers and organization responsible for conducting those investigations. Multi-level statistical models were developed using MPlus software, which can accommodate dichotomous outcome variables, which are more reflective of decision making in child welfare. Mplus allows the specific case of the logistic link function for binary outcome variables under maximum likelihood estimation. Results: Final models revealed the importance of the number of Aboriginal reports to an organization as a key second level predictor of the placement decision. It is the only second level factor that remains in the final model. This finding was very stable when tested over several different levels of proportionate caseload representation ranging from greater than 50% to 20% of the caseload. Conclusions: Disparities among Aboriginal children in child welfare decision making were identified at the agency level. Practice implications: The study provides additional evidence supporting the possibility that one source of overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in the Canadian foster care system is a lack of appropriate resources at the agency or community level

Wanted: Moral Courage in Canadian Child Welfare

Child welfare stifles change and innovation in a system that desperately needs it by promoting conformity and awarding subordination to bad ideas (Blackstock, 2009). If neglect means not doing the right thing for children even when you know better and can do better, and have the resources to do it, then too often child protection neglects First Nations children and their families. This essay explores whether emancipating moral courage in child protection is the key to ensuring good research translates into real benefits for First Nations families. This paper begins with a description of moral courage in child protection across the decades before drawing on my own experiences with moral courage in the child welfare field. It concludes with stories of how moral cowardice diminishes children and how moral courage uplifts them. Implications for research, policy and practice are discussed

The Occasional Evil of Angels: Learning from the Experiences of Aboriginal Peoples and Social Work

This paper explores how the propensity of social workers to make a direct and unmitigated connection between good intentions, rationale thought and good outcomes forms a white noise barrier that substantially interferes with our ability to see negative outcomes resulting directly or indirectly from our works. The paper begins with outlining the harm experienced by Aboriginal children before moving to explore how two fundamental philosophies that pervade social service practice impact Aboriginal children: 1) an assumption of pious motivation and effect and 2) a desire to improve others. Finally, the paper explores why binding reconciliation and child welfare is a necessary first step toward developing social work services that better support Aboriginal children and families

First Nations Children Count: An Indigenous Envelope for Quantitative Research

Indigneous peoples have increasingly called for disaggregated data to inform policy and practice and yet there has been very little discourse on how to “Indigenenize” quantitative research. This article provides a synopsis of Indigenous research goals before moving onto describe how quantitative research can be placed in an Indigenous envelope to advance Indigenous child health and welfare policy goals.Keywords: Quantitative data and research, Indigenous research goals, Indigenous child welfare, policy

Residential Schools: Did They Really Close or Just Morph Into Child Welfare?

Minister Jane Stewart made the Statement of Reconciliation in 1998, two years after the last residential school closed in 1996. This statement acknowledged the multigenerational harms arising from the forced placement of Aboriginal children in residential schools, thereby creating opportunities for restitution and, equally important, learning by government so it does not happen again. Ten years later, on February 23, 2007, National Chief Phil Fontaine announced that the Assembly of First Nations was joining with the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada to file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission to seek redress for Canada’s inequitable funding policy that contributes to more First Nations children being in state care than at the height of residential schools. If reconciliation means not having to say sorry twice— Canada is failing. This article provides some background on the human rights complaint and sets out some of the evidence supporting the claim

“Same Country; Same Lands; 78 Countries Away”

As the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (2003) noted, Aboriginal children face more discrimination and increased risk factors than other Canadian children. Their lived experiences are shaped by the policies of assimilation and colonization that aimed to eliminate Aboriginal cultures through repression of fundamental freedoms, denial of ownership and the operation of residential schools (RCAP, 1996; Milloy, 1999). First Nations child and family service agencies have expressed concern about the lack of resources available to support families in redressing the significant impacts of colonization. The voluntary sector provides a myriad of important social supports to Canadians off reserve and this research project sought to determine how accessible voluntary sector resources were for First Nations children, youth and families resident on reserve in British Columbia. Results of a provincial survey of First Nations child and family service agencies and child, youth and family voluntary sector organizations indicate very limited access to voluntary sector services. Possible rationales for this social exclusion are examined and recommendations for improvement are discussed