For standing up for ourselves, our beliefs, and folks we love, women are often called a bitch.
When we demand social justice, women are often called a crazy bitch.
Just goes to show you conservative men lack both imagination and decent comeback lines.
Child Welfare has become my nemesis. I am disgusted by the entire “policy” that directs services on reserve and by the Child Welfare Act in general. I think the system is broken for ALL children but we see the worst of it more often in First Nation communities because (for the most part) we are clustered on reserves.
It's my most cynical belief that the current issue has nothing to with the wellness of children but with money. Or in the words of a current Human Rights complaint the absence of “equitable funds” for “equitable services”.
The problem is more complex that adjusting a budget-line but hey when you're the head of an advocacy organization for First Nation Child Welfare Agencies and receive a mandate and a salary to do these things for your Board of Directors then hey any action is an action; right?.................Unfortunately my concern is that more funds will mean more children in the care of a Child Welfare Agency......Aboriginal or not.
I agree with the Chiefs quoted in the Globe and Mail story. I wouldn’t have attended any “signing” event of the transfer of the responsibilities of a policy either. It really doesn’t matter anymore who administers the policy because whomever delivers will inherit the same conditions. In my humble view First Nation families should advocate that ALL authorities be transferred to a Provincial Agency.
Part of the story reads:
"His brother’s grandchildren had been taken and placed with a foster family in a different town. He tried to advocate on behalf of his family, proposing to authorities that they put the children in the home of a relative or at least keep the children in the same town where they could have contact with family members. His suggestions were ignored.
His experience was not unusual, he said. Several other Sto:lo families have told him of similar problems. That was one of the main reasons why he stayed away from the official ceremony last Friday. “To me, nothing has changed,” he said. “Why should we support it if nothing has changed?”
Tribal chief Tyrone McNeil of the Sto:lo Tribal Council said he is looking for more accountability in the new agency. Although the agency operates under authority delegated by the government allowing it to apprehend children, it still operates under the government’s rules, he said.
“It’s fine if an aboriginal person is there, but if all they are doing is following the ministry guidelines, it does not really matter if they are aboriginal or not,” he said." (G&M)
All the Nations as a collective need to create and build a webbed system that can provide an array services to address the many complex issues that come into play when a child needs protection. It’s possible to do but it might mean a huge change in how things are done and nobody likes change.
There are a heck of a lot of people out there that would agree that the current system fails nearly ALL children. And that children from a First Nation family living on some reserves stand a greater chance of being taken into care than non-Aboriginal children.
In fact a truth often quoted by Cindy Blackstock, Director of the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society,(FNCFCS) is that there are more children in institutional care now than at the height of the Residential Schools. And this is evidenced from the numbers in from Aboriginal child welfare agencies themselves. The FNCFCS advocates for those Aboriginal Child Welfare Agencies. The board members are all Directors of various agencies.
Cindy's organization launched a Human Rights complaint that argued the rights of children on reserve are not being protected because of a funding inequity. It’s true there should not be a 22% funding gap and the gap should be closed. But I argue it won’t reduce the number of children in care in fact I’d be prepared to state that the numbers will increase. And frankly 22% is actually nothing in a Federal Budget to fix. One day a government will adjust the budget – and whatever government that does it will want a big signing ceremony to show off at a photo op. The big laugh will be on the children. More money, more access to children, more need to return for “equitable funding” for training, administration blah blah .
It’s also a truth Aboriginal children are more highly represented in Child Welfare services in some clustered areas than others in Canada. So to just blanket a 22% increase across the board might not be the solution AND because some conditions are not the same then to compare a budget from one service to another is inequity at it’s finest. It reminds me of this quote by an American lawyer I don’t recall his name but I never forgot the quote “There is no greater injustice than to treat unequal’s as equals”. The same should be said about funding the delivering or administering a “policy” for children on reserve vs the administration of an Act everywhere else.
Ok so I am being sarcastic but think about this..............Cindy Blackstock Executive Director of the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS)has convinced the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and therein the Chiefs of our communities to allow her and her board of directors to set the direction and pace to address the needs of our children.
Because of this the AFN is now the advocate for First Nation child welfare agencies such as Awasis Child and Family Caring Agency and the Cree Nation Child and Family Caring Agency...and other agencies that have manipulated the system to better themselves.
Ms Blackstock did so well she convinced the Chiefs to launch a HR complaint - even though it had been considered before and tossed aside by those of us that were actually impacted by the policy itself.
With that move INAC stopped talking to AFN - why would they? I'm sure they can save some cash by not funding AFN to advocate for children if they're just going to use it to demand more money rather than help build solutions. And no I do not believe for one nano-second that increasing the funding gap by the 22% will decrease the number of indigenous children entering care. It will hire one or two more people, maybe provide a work-shop or conference...as the increase in funds did in Manitoba.(I've lost the link so please refer to the story I copied below written by Mary Agnes Welch who has done an amazing job covering the story: Rising from the ashes of Phoenix, Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION System overhauled, but the deaths continue By: Mary Agnes Welch 21/12/2008 1:00 AM)
The FNCFCS use their funds to advocate for First Nation child welafre agencies. Various FN child welfare agencies pay a membership fee (and the entire board is made up of directors of those agencies) so that Cindy can lobby for them. The FNCFCS is also funded through a few charitable organizations like this one here the Atkinson Foundation to the tune of 100K a year for the next three years.
Not bad, she manages to cripple the voice for children within the AFN - the voice that might question the policies and how those policies actually impact on the children their families while she secured other funds to continue to lobby for the Agencies. The focus is now on how the Agencies are funded not whether the policy actually helps children or harms them. The argument from the Agencies is simply we are not funded equitably and that’s why “there are as many children in care today as at the peak of the residential schools.” But try to ask point blank – will the increase in funds decrease or stabilize the number of children who enter care and there is silence.
Frankly I think the Chiefs, through the AFN, should actually challenged the Agencies, the Federal Government and the Provinces and withdraw en-mass and give control back over to the feds and the provinces to deliver the program......oh to dream the impossible dream.....They would FREAK! Both the federal government and the provincial governments know they cannot afford to implement the program so they want the communities to have "delegated" authority. The province delegates the authority to the Agencies.
I'd rather our Nations be recognized as the designate authorities similar to the Alberta model. But with this mighty plan hatched by the 'experts' I'll bet that eventually the funds will be increased by the 22% demanded by AFN and the CW agencies because the government knows it's easier and cheaper - but why give in right away? This way the AFN and Cindy will think they won something.
Truth is we will still be the biggest losers - cause we could have gone for the whole gusto and designed a program that actually helps children, mom's, dad's and the whole family. But then somebody or many somebody’s might jeopardise their incomes eh?
Rising from the ashes of Phoenix Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION System overhauled, but the deaths continue By: Mary Agnes Welch 21/12/2008 1:00 AM | Before five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair's body was discovered in March 2006 and the horrors of her abuse and torture spotlighted a child-welfare system in crisis, 145 kids in care had died, according to a provincial report, since devolution began in 2003.
Since Phoenix's death, the province's child-welfare system has been overhauled and pumped with money. But at least 16 kids in care or with open Child and Family Services (CFS) files, still died from homicides, suicides or accidents. Many are still anonymous because the province won't release details of the deaths, citing confidentiality. Here is a snapshot of what we know.
Phoenix Sinclair, 5 Died June 11, 2005, discovered March 2006 Phoenix was in and out of foster care most of her life. In 2005, she was living with her mother, Samantha Kematch, and her mother's then-common-law boyfriend, Karl Wesley McKay, in Fisher River. Despite allegations of child abuse, Winnipeg CFS closed Phoenix's case just a few months before she died from repeated beatings, neglect and confinement in a cold, dark basement. McKay and Kematch were convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month.
Venecia Shanelle Audy, 3 Died Aug. 14, 2006 Venecia and her siblings had been involved with the CFS system most of their lives but were living with their mother in Bowsman when Venecia was murdered. Around suppertime the day she died, Venecia's mother called 911 saying her daughter had fallen down the stairs, but officials later determined she died from a blow to the abdomen. Melissa Audy has been charged with second degree murder and is out on bail awaiting trial. Her next court date is Christmas Eve in Dauphin. Her common law husband, Jason Allen Kines, has also been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference related to the case . Roanna Meagan Fontaine, 14 Died June 24, 2007 while in the care of Peguis CFS Roanna was found dead outside a North End residence in the early morning following a party. According to a source, an incident involving an older man left the 14-year-old so distraught she jumped from a sixth-floor balcony. Fontaine and her 16-year-old sister were on a weekend visit to Winnipeg to attend the Red River Exhibition. Her death prompted many in Peguis to slam their local branch of Child and Family Services, saying that despite repeated warnings the girl was at risk, the agency did nothing.
Gage Guimond, 2 Died July 22, 2007 while in the care of Sagkeeng CFS Gage and his sister were taken from their mother and sent to live with an experienced foster family shortly after Gage's first birthday. In the winter of 2007, he was moved from that foster home to live with his grandmother, who warned CFS workers she wasn't able to care for him, and where he was neglected. He was eventually placed with his great aunt, Shirley Guimond, where he died six weeks later from severe head trauma. Shirley Guimond has been charged with manslaughter and a host of assault charges. She is to be in court for a preliminary hearing next fall.
Fonessa Lynn Louise Bruyere, 17 August 30, 2007 while in the care of Sagkeeng CFS At the time of her murder, Fonessa had been in and out of foster care during her short life. The system returned Fonessa to a family member's home less than three months before she died, despite allegations such a move would expose her to both drugs and prostitution. Fonessa herself struggled with drugs and the sex trade before her body was found in a field on the outskirts of Winnipeg. No one has been charged in her death, but police are still investigating.
Samuel Luke Maytwaywashing, 5 months Died March 26, 2008 while in the care of Anishinaabe CFS Samuel died in his Lake Manitoba reserve home of what his mother said was pneumonia. But sources said the infant was dehydrated, had a high fever and was possibly malnourished at the time of his death. His four siblings were seized just before Samuel was born when his mother said she was living in a shelter for abused women, but Samuel was left in her care when he was born.
Will Trout Jr., 16 Died May 26, 2008 Trout hanged himself in a Winnipeg foster home. Child welfare sources claim an accusation was made to authorities that another child in the foster home was being abused. Trout was not removed during the investigation, and it's unclear what prompted him to commit suicide.
Keayne Franklin, 14 Body recovered Aug. 16, 2008 After leaving his home at the Poplar River First Nation, Keayne was in foster care in Riverton when he drowned while swimming.
Farron Miles, 5 Died late September, 2008, while in the care of Awasis CFS Farron drowned about two kilometres from his foster home on the Cross Lake First Nation. He was a ward of Awasis, after he went to live with foster parents soon after his birth.
Rephanniah Redhead, 14 Died Sept. 25, 2008, while in the care of Awasis CFS Rephanniah took her own life after being taken to Winnipeg for medical care from Shamattawa in late 2007. The Manitoba Children's Advocate is investigating.
Gerrod Head, 7 Died while in the care of Cree Nation CFS Head was one of two boys killed in an abandoned shed fire on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. He was taken by Cree Nation from his mother's care earlier this year and placed in foster care with his grandparents. The Children's Advocate is investigating.
Cameron Ouskan, 13 months Died Nov. 13, 2008 while in the care of Awasis CFS Cameron was living in a foster home in Gillam, when he died. RCMP officials said they believe Ouskan's death was a homicide, and the Children's Advocate automatically launched an investigation. Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, the province's chief medical examiner, said the child had multiple fractures at the time of his death. "It looks like everyone dropped the case," said Balachandra. "The child had fractures, and no one followed it up."
- Mary Agnes Welch
Tragic figures Deaths of children in care since Phoenix Sinclair was found in March 2006: 16 total 5 accidental 6 suicides 2 homicides 2 undetermined 1 co-sleeping Kids in care 2006 -- 6,629 children 2007 -- 7,241 children 2008 -- 7,837 children 70 per cent: number of kids in care who are from First Nations (as of March 31, 2008) 9 per cent -- Métis 6 per cent -- First Nations (non-status) 14 per cent -- Not aboriginal
Social workers Number of front-line workers hired since Phoenix's remains found -- 99 Total: 697 front-line social workers
Funding $242,893,800: Provincial budget for child welfare in 2007-08. $89,851,600: Provincial budget for child welfare in 1997-98. 170 per cent: Increase in provincial child-welfare budget in last decade. $48 million: Increase since Phoenix's death. ($42 million in funding to agencies plus $6 million for foster families)
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