TRC Calls to Action: #2

Legacy
Child Welfare

2. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, to prepare and publish annual reports on the number of Aboriginal children (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) who are in care, compared with non-Aboriginal children, as well as the reasons for apprehension, the total spending on preventative and care services by child-welfare agencies, and the effectiveness of various interventions.

This one is fairly straight-forward: governments are keeping tabs on the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in care, and making sure those in care are there for the right reasons. According to reports I've seen, "the rate of Aboriginal children and youth in care is not decreasing as fast as originally anticipated." (Ministry of Children & Family Development 2016/17 Annual Service Plan Report) In fact, apparently Canada is still removing "indigenous children from their families at a rate that ranks among the highest in the developed world"; "while only seven percent of children in Canada are Aboriginal, they account for close to half of those in foster care. (The Guardian, November 2017) Sooo we're obviously not doing enough in terms of prevention on that front... studies show that access to education, healthcare, sanitation and basic needs and rights like food and shelter contribute to lower rates of poverty and other circumstances that often lead to children being put in foster care. So why are we still failing to provide these things to Indigenous communities?

This is a rather complex issue, so I would strongly encourage you to read the Guardian article, which pretty clearly explains how systemic bias is still occurring against Indigenous kids and their families, as well as do your own research for similar articles and reports. In studying this Call I've learned that the reports stated within are fairly easy to find, and going forward I'll be interested to continue going through such reports to see how we're doing on this particular Call...