BC working on big changes for Indigenous child welfare – National Observer

February 06, 2018

B.C. First Nations are preparing to start taking back care of their own children, using their own culture and laws, as the number of Indigenous kids in foster care across Canada has reached crisis proportions.

Less than eight per cent of all Canadian children under 14 are Indigenous but they comprise 52 per cent of all children in foster care in Canada — and nearly 65 per cent in British Columbia. The Census 2016 national numbers were cited by Jane Philpott, minister of Indigenous services, at a two-day emergency meeting late last month.

“We’re losing our children. Children are dying in care, which is totally unacceptable. Children are being separated from their communities and separated from their language and culture…” #bcpoli

It’s clear the Indigenous child welfare system is broken and needs substantive changes, says Cheryl Casimer, political executive for the B.C. First Nations Summit, a forum for First Nations and tribal councils in the province, who was at the emergency meeting on Indigenous child and family services.