Exploring Theme: "Govt. and Institution Issues"

‘We’re putting these children in a place where I wouldn’t feel safe going,’ longtime foster mom says CBC News: One of the only signs anyone was paying attention to Joshua Nepinak during his teenage years was the black book a group of strangers filled with notes about him as they watched him come and go...

Legislation requires social workers to register with an independent regulatory body. Unless they work for the MCFD. The Tyee: When Misty Kelly tried to file a formal complaint against a Ministry of Children and Family Development child welfare worker in 2018, she went to the British Columbia College of Social Workers.  Kelly was in a...

Two children endured abuse a judge described as ‘torture’ in a Lower Mainland region with abysmally low safety compliance rates. [Editor’s note: This story discusses child abuse and death. It may be triggering to some readers.] The Tyee: A B.C. region where two Indigenous children were horrifically abused in foster care — one of them...

Maggie Kimattuuti Padlayat, surrendered at birth, lived with 18 different foster families by the age of 7  CBC News: Before ending her life at 18, Maggie Kimattuuti Padlayat was moved 78 times by Quebec’s youth protection services. The constant moving — living with 18 different foster families by the age of seven — contributed to...

Too many Manitoba kids aging out of care into homelessness every year, says director CBC News: Every year, hundreds of children in Manitoba age out of the child welfare system, and advocates say too little is being done to offer early transitional support. Now, some want the age cutoff for kids in care scrapped entirely....

ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (June 14, 2022) – On behalf of the Anishinabek Nation, Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe and Children’s Commissioner Ogimaa Duke Peltier have issued a statement in response to the recent report released by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child expressing deep concerns about the welfare of Indigenous children...

NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) calls on the provincial government to work with First Nations before any amendment to the Child and Family Services Act (CFS Act) related to First Nations’ jurisdiction. “The AMC has been clear and direct; government officials must support First Nations led jurisdiction over...

Toronto Star (Windspeaker): After 12 years of successfully supporting at-risk Indigenous families in the Grande Prairie area who have interactions with Alberta’s child welfare system, Mamewpitaw has not received the provincial dollars to keep operating. Worse than that, says Grande Prairie Friendship Centre (GPFC) president Leonard Auger, the money to support Indigenous families has gone to...

Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) – criticized the 2021 provincial budget cuts for foster care and child protection, with the budget dropping below $500 million for the first time in four years. The province claims that efficiencies are the reason for the decreasing budget, but for too long, children in care, 90% of whom are Indigenous, have...

CTV News – The Province of Manitoba has announced it will end the controversial practice of birth alerts on June 30, 2020 and will instead refer vulnerable mothers and their children to social services and programs. Under the new system, Stefanson said Manitoba Child and Family Services (CFS) agencies will now be able to refer...

Manitoba Families Minister Heather Stephanson announced that there will be a delay in ending the controversial Birth Alert practice due to COVID-19. On Jan. 31, 2020, the government had announced that child welfare and public health systems in Manitoba will no longer issue birth alerts for high-risk expectant mothers as of April 1, 2020. In...

72 Indigenous children connected to child welfare died in northern Ontario, where three Indigenous agencies covering most of the territory were underfunded approximately $400 million over a five-year period. The number of deaths jumps to 102 Indigenous children when looking at the entire province between 2013 to 2017. Almost half of the deaths, 48 in...

The Indigenous Leadership Council – President Dave Chartrand of the Manitoba Metis Federation, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) and Grand Chief Garrison Settee of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) – met yesterday with Minister of Families, Heather Stefanson, to discuss the province’s decision to move to block funding for children and...

The government of Manitoba met with the Indigenous Leadership Council (Manitoba Métis Federation, Southern Chiefs’ Organization and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak) for first time in over two years despite a previous commitment to meet every quarter. The heads of the Indigenous Leadership Council met again with Minister of Families Heather Stefanson on Apr. 3, 2019 over...

First Nation leaders in Manitoba say the provincial government’s announced child welfare reform this week ignores efforts by Indigenous communities that are trying to regain jurisdiction over their own children. “The province of Manitoba continues to ignore the longstanding position and resolutions of the AMC Chiefs-in-Assembly – including the “Bringing our Children Home Act” –...