Funding Crisis: Aboriginal Child Welfare

By: Joel Cowan, Heather Cox-Gurdon, Eloise Daff,Crissy Payne, and Anthony Turco

Presented to Chuck Stral, Minister of Indian Affairs

Background

Colonization

Residential Schools

60’s Scoop

How did we get here?

What does it look like today?Less than 5% of children in Canada are Aboriginal yet Aboriginal Children comprise approximately 40% of the total number of children in care

Abuse is not the cause

Aboriginal children do not come into care because of abuse

Neglect- referring to situations of poverty, inadequate housing and substance misuse

Symptom not the cause

Despite the over-representation of First Nations children in child welfare - they have less access to resources than non-Aboriginal children

Aboriginal children are removed at twice the rate of their non-Aboriginal peers and child functioning differences between the populations cannot explain this

First Nations children are placed in child welfare at three times the rate

Rationale

UN Convention on the Rights of Children

Responsibility of Government(s)

Loopholes and necessary action

Importance of Issue and Our Demands

What needs to be done

Increase funding for proactive and preventative child welfare practices specifically for Aboriginal children, also known as “least disruptive measures”

Increase federal funding for Nations Child and Family Service agencies (these agencies currently receive 22% less funding than their provincially funded, non-Aboriginal-specific counterparts)

Guiding values

Self-determination

Culture and Language

Holistic Approach

Structural Interventions

Non-Discrimination

Accountability

Four Phases of Reconciliation

Resiliency in Action

Discussion!!!

Thanks for your time!

Questions, comments, concerns?