Legislation... What does it Say?... Following the Money Trail...
What does Legislation Say?
Section 1-(2) of the Child Youth and Family Enhancement Act (2013) states, a child is in need of intervention if there are reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the survival, security or development of the child is endangered because of any of the following:
· the child has been abandoned or lost; the guardian of the child is dead and the child has no other guardian; the child is neglected by the guardian; the child has been or there is substantial risk that the child will be physically injured or sexually abused by the guardian of the child; the guardian of the child is unable or unwilling to protect the child from physical injury or sexual abuse; the child has been emotionally injured by the guardian of the child; the guardian of the child is unable or unwilling to protect the child from emotional injury; the guardian of the child has subjected the child to or is unable or unwilling to protect the child from cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
Indian Child CYFEA:
Section 107(1-7) called Indian Child. The Indian Child section only covers after an Indigenous child has been apprehended and states that they are in required to have a band designate to consult in the planning of an Indigenous Childs future. The Band Designates job is to educate, and maintain cultural and spiritual practices within the lives of these children but their association with the child may be waived if the parents don’t want Band designate involvement.
Section 1-(2) of the Child Youth and Family Enhancement Act (2013) states, a child is in need of intervention if there are reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the survival, security or development of the child is endangered because of any of the following:
· the child has been abandoned or lost; the guardian of the child is dead and the child has no other guardian; the child is neglected by the guardian; the child has been or there is substantial risk that the child will be physically injured or sexually abused by the guardian of the child; the guardian of the child is unable or unwilling to protect the child from physical injury or sexual abuse; the child has been emotionally injured by the guardian of the child; the guardian of the child is unable or unwilling to protect the child from emotional injury; the guardian of the child has subjected the child to or is unable or unwilling to protect the child from cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
Indian Child CYFEA:
Section 107(1-7) called Indian Child. The Indian Child section only covers after an Indigenous child has been apprehended and states that they are in required to have a band designate to consult in the planning of an Indigenous Childs future. The Band Designates job is to educate, and maintain cultural and spiritual practices within the lives of these children but their association with the child may be waived if the parents don’t want Band designate involvement.
(GOA Office of Statistics and Information, 2011)
Matters To Be Considered:
Important Cultural issues are also addressed in Matters to be considered in Section 2 (a-p). The first matter to be considered is “The family is the basic unit of society and its well being should be supported and preserved.” The statistics clearly support that Indigenous families are currently not being supported and preserved, that being said we don’t know the specific circumstances surrounding the apprehension of any child but we do know it must be consistent with Section 1 (2 a-h). Section 2 (i-III) States “any decision concerning the placement of a child outside the child’s family should take into account; the benefits to the child of a placement that respects the child’s familial, cultural, social and religious heritage; furthermore (p) States if the child is an aboriginal child, the uniqueness of aboriginal culture, heritage, spirituality and traditions should be respected and consideration should be given to the importance of preserving the child’s cultural identity. Many of these policies within the Child Youth and Family Enhancement Act address post intervention considerations and do nothing for prevention of child abuse or neglect within indigenous communities.
Cumulative Time in Care:
Due to the importance of permanency planning the Province of Alberta have introduced legislation withing the CYFEA called cumulative time in Care. This means any child under the age of 6 can only have cumulatively 9 months in care; furthermore any child over the age of 6 can have 12 months in care. When this cumulative time runs out the Caseworker or parent can apply for an extension of care for 6 more months giving a total of 16 months in care for a child under 6 and 18 months in care for a child over 6 years of age.
Due to the nature of children being apprehended for substantiated abuse or neglect there are often complex issues within the family that have resulted in the apprehension, and for this reason putting a time limit on family healing may be the biggest barrier for reunification of families.
For example (What if the Family is making some gains but it takes them longer than the allocated time for reunification ?) In my understanding this family is somewhat hooped if they take longer than the Cumulative time in care allows.
The lasting effects of Colonization and Cultural Genocide are to this day being perpetuated through intergenerational trauma. Furthermore due to the loss of Culture, family, family values, and parenting skills many aboriginal families are in distress. Some of these families are entrenched with problems of Alcoholism, addictions, violence, poverty, lack of education, and suicide. However I would like to point out that the root cause of many of these issues is the loss of culture and strong family values due to the active process of colonization and Cultureal genocide.
How Does this impact the issue of Over-Representation?
- Many of the Aboriginal Families that are involved in the Child welfare System have the issues mentioned above (addictions, violence, poverty, loss of culture) and they are often the issues addressed during investigations of child abuse and neglect but it is also important to remember that there are generations of children who had abusive boarding schools as parents. Some of the Practices in these schools were heartless and somewhat sadistic and as a result there are generations of people who lack proper parenting skills due to the abuse and neglect of the Governments of Canada and Alberta. If one were a conspiracy theorist you would almost think that the CYFEA was originally set up to catch Aboriginal children so that the government could further assimilate and colonize this population. However the CYFEA has had many improvements and revisions over the years which include cultural competency and the involvement of a band designate; but it is still to this day failing to serve aboriginal populations across the province and can be proven by the disproportionate representation of children in care.
Where Does the Funding Come from for Child and Family Services for Aboriginal families in Alberta?
-Tripartite Agreement
-a Tripartite agreement is any legally binding agreement between three parties. -The Blood Tribe for Example has a Tripartite Agreement between the Following Called(Blood Tribe Governance and Child Welfare Agreement-in-Principle)
-On Reserve their is a Funding agreement between 'Delegated First Nations CFSA" the "Government of Alberta" and the "Government of Canada".
-This agreement Called "Blood Tribe Governance and Child Welfare Agreement-in-Principle" can be found Here. Particular attention to Part 14 of this agreement Called "Financial Arrangements" discusses who, what, where, when, and why of the funding agreement.
-According to Government of Alberta(2012) Delegated First Nations Agencies are funded by Aboriginal and Northern Development Canada (Formerly Indian and Northern Affairs Canada). The previous Funding agreement talked about is what supplies AANDC with the funds that are then delivered to FNCFS.
1) AANDC
a) AANDC provides funding to 105 First Nation agencies in the 10 provinces to deliver child and family services to children ordinarily resident on reserve.
i) $109,877,000 for Alberta in 2011/2012
c) First Nation Child and Family Services Programs are further funded for services providers who deliver culturally appropriate child and family services to First Nation children and families on reserve.
ii) 20,700,000 for Alberta in 2011/2012
Total Funding (AANDC & FNCFS)
$130,577,000 of Funding that comes through AANDC and First Nation Child and Family Services Program to fund culturally specific child and Family Services
The Problem does not seem to be the Funds allocated to culturally specific Child and family services as the funding is their but perhaps more of a problem of Legislation. In order to apprehend a child within the CYFEA there must be reasonable and probable grounds of abuse and/or neglect that is affecting the development of a child. The reasonable and probably ground are even well defined but as was discussed previously this population is rife with social issues.
What is being done to mitigate the issue of aboriginal parenting techniques that do not coincide with the CYFEA?
-As of 2007 First Nations Child and Family services implemented funding for Enhanced prevention. This is outlined below in the Powerpoint.
-Southwest Child and family services provides family violence prevention, and Family enhancement services; they also fund FCSS programs which are intended to be prevention focused as opposed to intervention based.
-Native Friendship centres are focused on building a future of wellness, equality and understanding for an urban Aboriginal population of more than 199,000.
-As well as other organization within Lethbridge that are focused on prevention through skill building and supports.
-Tripartite Agreement
-a Tripartite agreement is any legally binding agreement between three parties. -The Blood Tribe for Example has a Tripartite Agreement between the Following Called(Blood Tribe Governance and Child Welfare Agreement-in-Principle)
-On Reserve their is a Funding agreement between 'Delegated First Nations CFSA" the "Government of Alberta" and the "Government of Canada".
-This agreement Called "Blood Tribe Governance and Child Welfare Agreement-in-Principle" can be found Here. Particular attention to Part 14 of this agreement Called "Financial Arrangements" discusses who, what, where, when, and why of the funding agreement.
-According to Government of Alberta(2012) Delegated First Nations Agencies are funded by Aboriginal and Northern Development Canada (Formerly Indian and Northern Affairs Canada). The previous Funding agreement talked about is what supplies AANDC with the funds that are then delivered to FNCFS.
1) AANDC
a) AANDC provides funding to 105 First Nation agencies in the 10 provinces to deliver child and family services to children ordinarily resident on reserve.
i) $109,877,000 for Alberta in 2011/2012
c) First Nation Child and Family Services Programs are further funded for services providers who deliver culturally appropriate child and family services to First Nation children and families on reserve.
ii) 20,700,000 for Alberta in 2011/2012
Total Funding (AANDC & FNCFS)
$130,577,000 of Funding that comes through AANDC and First Nation Child and Family Services Program to fund culturally specific child and Family Services
The Problem does not seem to be the Funds allocated to culturally specific Child and family services as the funding is their but perhaps more of a problem of Legislation. In order to apprehend a child within the CYFEA there must be reasonable and probable grounds of abuse and/or neglect that is affecting the development of a child. The reasonable and probably ground are even well defined but as was discussed previously this population is rife with social issues.
What is being done to mitigate the issue of aboriginal parenting techniques that do not coincide with the CYFEA?
-As of 2007 First Nations Child and Family services implemented funding for Enhanced prevention. This is outlined below in the Powerpoint.
-Southwest Child and family services provides family violence prevention, and Family enhancement services; they also fund FCSS programs which are intended to be prevention focused as opposed to intervention based.
-Native Friendship centres are focused on building a future of wellness, equality and understanding for an urban Aboriginal population of more than 199,000.
-As well as other organization within Lethbridge that are focused on prevention through skill building and supports.
Reference Links/Refernces:
Map of Historical Blackfoot areas compared
to current reservation sizes
Government of Alberta. (2012, November 27). First Nation Agencies. In Alberta Human Services. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://humanservices.alberta.ca/family-community/14875.html
to current reservation sizes
Government of Alberta. (2012, November 27). First Nation Agencies. In Alberta Human Services. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://humanservices.alberta.ca/family-community/14875.html