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 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.

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 Challenges to Family Unity and Opportunities for Promoting Child Welfare in an Increasingly Punitive Immigration Landscape

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 727-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Finno-Velasquez ◽  
Alan J. Dettlaff
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Family Reunification ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Family Unity

This paper describes specific challenges to family unity and child welfare among children in immigrant families resulting from immigration enforcement. Surges in immigration activity over the past decade have resulted in family economic hardship, psychological trauma to children, and difficulty accessing social services. Children whose parents are detained/deported are at risk of unnecessarily entering the child welfare system, and encounter significant barriers to family reunification. In recent months, the scope of enforcement priorities that previously safeguarded many parents now target a much larger group of immigrants for deportation, increasingly disregarding the needs of children. Immigration raids have terrorized communities across the country, and repercussions are being felt by the child welfare system and social service providers. Within an anti-immigrant political climate, there is a desperate need for social workers to lead initiatives to respond to immigrants’ needs. Strategies include: (1) development of social work expertise in working with immigrants; (2) cross-systems and cross-disciplinary collaborations; (3) leveraging existing resources and supports; (4) documentation/collection of data; and (5) focused advocacy efforts.

scholarly journals Anti-oppressive social work practice in child welfare

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Cowie
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
School System ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Residential School ◽  
The Social ◽  
Indigenous Children ◽  
History Of

This article explores the journey of reconciliation, both personal and professional, required for the social work profession to shed its history of colonialism in the context of its relationship with Canada’s Indigenous People, particularly in the realm of child welfare. This process involves becoming accountable for past harms such as the residential school system, the mass removal of children during the ‘60’s scoop’, as well as the contemporary over-representation of Indigenous children in Canada’s child welfare system. Further, this process demands that non-Indigenous social workers locate their privilege in order to become effective allies and partners along this path of reconciliation.

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