“Pathways in a Forest: Indigenous guidance on prevention-based child welfare” is a law reform report developed collaboratively by West Coast LEAF and the families, Elders and staff at Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Lii Michif Otipemisiwak and the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association. The report highlights efforts by Indigenous families, communities and Nations to revitalize Indigenous approaches to child welfare, develop comprehensive community-based supports and fight for self-determination.
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Culture and language
Recommendations for legislative reform
Recommendation 5: MCFD should amend the guiding principles of the CFCSA to ensure that children’s rights are not viewed as hierarchical but interdependent. The guiding principles should reflect the holistic nature of children’s rights including the right of the child to maintain relationships with their family and community, the child’s right to support services, and the importance of maintaining the child’s relationship to their culture.-
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- Classism ,
- Culture and language ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Human rights system ,
- Indigenous children and youth in care ,
- Indigenous rights and self-governance ,
- International human rights ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public services ,
- Racism
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Recommendations for legislative reform
Recommendation 8: MCFD should, in consultation with Indigenous communities and Nations, amend legislated timelines to allow for an opportunity to develop creative family plans.-
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Discrepancies in the delivery of child welfare services
Subtitle:SYSTEMIC RACISM
Recommendation 12: Project participants also expressed the need for training to cover the following topics: genderbased violence; Indigenous rights, identities, and cultures; the role of ongoing colonialism on intergenerational trauma; the potential for communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing; and the importance of culture and connection to the child’s well-being.-
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Discrepancies in the delivery of child welfare services
Subtitle:A TOP-DOWN APPROACH
Recommendation 13: MCFD must review its policies and practices to increase the use of ADR processes, including changing the definition of family in ADR processes to recognize and honour Indigenous conceptions of family.-
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Substance use: Current MCFD approaches and recommendations for change
Recommendation 14: make specialized substance use consultants available to support families to develop timely safety planning including engaging and enabling the support of family members.-
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Improving financial supports for Indigenous families
A UNIVERSAL BENEFIT FOR ALL CHILDREN LIVING IN EXTENDED FAMILY-BASED CARE
Recommendation 15: Allow for community-based organizations that work closely with the family in the provision of family support to provide a recommendation letter or report setting out the family’s needs.-
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A pathway forward
JURISDICTIONAL SHORTFALLS: THE LIMITS OF MODERN TREATIES AND BILL C-92
Recommendation 18: BC government and MCFD to ensure that children are provided with services while the family navigates the process and develop a consistent mechanism for repaying costs for services provided in the interim-
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A pathway forward
THE SHORTFALLS WITH FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL FUNDING OF CHILD WELFARE SERVICES FOR INDIGENOUS FAMILIES
Recommendation 19: MCFD must continue to work with communities to ensure that they are being adequately funded to provide child welfare services.-
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Recommendations for improving prevention-based efforts
Recommendation 19: The BC government and MCFD should increase preventative program funding to Indigenous communities for existing or new promising practices. Funding must be equitable, sustained and long-term, and cover the delivery of holistic services as identified by communities. Funding should cover services such as:- Human resource needs of community-based groups including issues with retention, burn out, inequity in pay scales etc.
- In-home support
- Pregnancy support and baby welcoming programs
- Transition support programming for families after children have been removed or upon being returned home
- Supports for parents whose children are in care
- Provide in-home support immediately as a tool to prevent removal
- Funding for cultural programming that is consistent and frequent
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- Accessibility ,
- Accessible services and technology ,
- Classism ,
- Culture and language ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Disability and parenting ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Economic inequality ,
- Education and employment ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Income insecurity and benefits ,
- Indigenous children and youth in care ,
- Poverty ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public services ,
- Racism ,
- Sexism ,
- Workers’ rights
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Recommendations for improving prevention-based efforts
Recommendation 22: MCFD should work with community-based groups to develop safety and risk assessment tools that are adapted in order to recognize the unique cultures and ways of life of Indigenous communities across BC.-
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