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Kimmio said:
But that (friendship centres, services in band offices, other roles) is separate from CFS (could have overlapping involvement). There are many areas of social services, obviously. CFS is a provincial government ministry. Definitely not all staffed by First Nations people.

Advocacy agencies, on the other hand - roles to navigate (and fight injustices in) the systems providing services to specific populations, often require as per their own policy, to have trained staff who identify as a member of that population.
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Sorry. This looks like it was a response to @KayTheCurler but it was a continuation of my previous thought, while I wasn't aware you were writing your post at the same time, Kay.
 
My niece lives and teaches on a road access reserve in Ont but just 3 hours from Winnipeg. Yes she is a full settler -we have no indigenous relatives as far as we know-confirmed by 2 DNA tests. (we were hoping for some).
She was placed through an agency and had cultural classes both Augs. before she started work. Caring and qualified she co-ordinates Learning Support. Her fellow teachers (they share 2 houses) are also non-native.

But importing qualified non-native teachers is better than sending the kids out.
 
Our closest reserve touches city limits. It has water. It now offers junior K to gr 12. Many students choose high school in the city (very small city-2 high schools) to get a greater variety of courses. They use our city doctors and hospital. I think they may have a social worker.
 
The family who live-streamed an apprehension by Child and Family Services and Winnipeg police on Facebook last week don't know when they may be reunited with their newborn.

By Tuesday afternoon the video had been shared nearly 26,000 times and had 1.1 million views.

"I am doing everything that CFS is asking of me to ensure the return of my baby to my family," the mother said in a statement Tuesday.

The office of the First Nations Family Advocate put out a statement Tuesday, noting the family had attended their first court date and had one visit with the baby and were hoping to hear more about a possible reunion Wednesday.

"My aunt and I had made private arrangements before my baby was born to transfer guardianship to her," the mother said. "We are disappointed these were not followed but we are pursuing our goal to have my newborn baby placed in the care of my auntie as soon as possible."

The baby’s file was transferred to Island Lake CFS from Winnipeg in order to be closer to the family’s home community, an advocate's office spokesperson said.

WPS spokeswoman Const. Tammy Skrabek said officers receive one module of training during their recruitment class dedicated to CFS-related issues and they can ask for additional seminars.

"It’s not uncommon from any other situation we have, it’s just this one was recorded," Skrabek said. "I thought the officers did an outstanding job.

"It’s a very difficult spot to be in because you want to be somewhat empathetic. There’s nothing fun about taking somebody’s child, especially a newborn, away from them. Especially when you have a large group of family and parents, you’re hoping that they have that understanding from the agencies that have called us in that this is a temporary situation, hopefully."

Apprehended newborn's family anxiously awaiting word from CFS on reunion
 
So she didn’t understand that guardianship is not the same as babysitting. The communication with CFS before the birth could not have been that great, because they would have told her that this is a legal issue and which steps need to be taken. Which they are obviously doing now. But, of course, it was upsetting and then you have to blame someone. And thousands of others felt to have the right to blame someone, because they were watching an upsetting scene on the net without background knowledge.

Reminds me of the story that came on the local news here a few days ago. Right now, taking Benzos and the potential harm is a big discussion on CBC, especially regularly prescribed Benzos for seniors. Then one day, they had this daughter on the news who was all upset, because her mother, who had two Benzos prescribed by her doctor, died after drinking a bottle of illegal methadone while she was babysiting at her daughter’s house. She stated on the news” if the doctor hadn’t prescribed these meds, my mother would be still alive”. Ignoring the fact that drinking a bottle of methadone, especially illegal one, would likely kill anybody.
What I found especially embarrassing, was that this made it into the news and nobody had the common sense to see that the daughter needed to blame someone.
 
Can any activity exist without cause and effect? Ignore the effects ... that futurism!

Only for propheteers ... bucking near virtue ...
 
My response was similar to @Mrs.Anteater I suspect she did not work with CFS to make guardianship plans.

Ritafee said:
"My aunt and I had made private arrangements before my baby was born to transfer guardianship to her," the mother said. "We are disappointed these were not followed but we are pursuing our goal to have my newborn baby placed in the care of my auntie as soon as possible."
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CFS is also there to support families with a goal of reunification. I do understand that this can be a difficult and challenging relationship, especially for the families. Not every CFS agency balances the policing and supporting roles well. It is awesome that this family is taking initiative. I hope they're working with good supports in the agency/community now .
 
CONCLUSIONS
  • The staggering numbers of Indigenous children in CFS care indicates a failing FNCFS system whose preference, it appears, is the easy solution of child apprehension, rather than the more difficult and costly solutions needed to prevent child apprehension at all costs.
  • Children born into poverty, children with complex medical needs and children whose parents have had prior involvement with CFS are often apprehended first.
  • In Manitoba, 76 percent of children on reserve live below the poverty line. This indicates poverty is one root cause for the high numbers of Indigenous children in CFS care.
  • Honouring the original treaties, including returning lands, resource sharing and recognition of self-determination and the treaty right to health will remedy the inherent poverty found in First Nations.
  • The high number of children in CFS care may be due to, in part, a system that incentivizes apprehension. Higher numbers of children in care translates into increased funding dollars. This may create a conflict of interest for agencies tasked with both child apprehension and prevention.
  • The high number of Indigenous children in CFS care is symptomatic of years of failed provincial and federal child welfare policies that have denied Indigenous people the right to care for our own children for far too long and that have caused irreparable harm in First Nations and to family units. Western child-welfare policies have not worked and do not work.
  • The state of Indigenous child welfare today is a result of colonization and its policy for Indigenous people. Indigenous children have become commodities that feed several other systems besides the child welfare system, including the EIA, health and justice systems.
  • Practicing our own parenting values, culture and ethics and enacting our own child protection laws provide the basis for reclaiming self-determination in caring for our children. Customary care practices will ensure our children stay with their families and remain connected to their language and culture.
  • Federal funding dollars for First Nations is inadequate. Education quality, health services quality and availability, recreation, cultural and social program quality and availability and community infrastructure suffer as a result. This amounts to discrimination, the outcome of which is higher rates of poverty and increased child apprehension rates.
  • The TRC Calls to Action relating to child welfare, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry Child Welfare Initiative and the Phoenix Sinclair Inquiry recommendations must be implemented at a quicker rate.
  • An adversarial relationship exists between First Nation parents and the child welfare entity. This may be due, in part, to past and present child-welfare policy that never was completely altruistic
https://manitobachiefs.com/wp-conte...S-Reform-Engagement-Report_September-2017.pdf
 
  • Responding to the highest child apprehension rate in Canada, Manitoba Chiefs-in-Assembly supported a resolution to hold a Special Chiefs Assembly and open forums for concerned First Nation citizens on the topic of First Nation families and child welfare.
  • The forum report and its recommendations revealed the current child welfare system in Manitoba is simply an extension of cultural genocide practices found in the residential school system and 60s Scoop.
  • Following review of the report, Manitoba Chiefs-in-Assembly directed the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to develop an action plan to implement report recommendations.
  • Adding to the mounting argument that the First Nations Child and Family Services Program is flawed are the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action relating directly to child welfare reform and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision ordering Canada to reform the discriminatory First Nations Child and Family Services Program.
RECOMMENDATIONS
  • Restore First Nation jurisdiction of children.
  • Deconstruct a child welfare system whose preference is the easy solution of child apprehension,rather than the more difficult solutions needed to prevent child apprehension at all costs.
  • Provide basic human rights to Indigenous children and families living on reserve in terms of adequate housing, medical services, community resources and education and employment opportunities.
  • Establish customary care/kinship care in all communities to ensure Indigenous children in need of CFS protection stay with their families and in their communities.
  • Establish a Grandmothers Council in each community to take an active role in FNCFS reform and in implementing and guiding development of customary/kinship care.
  • Restore traditional culture practices and language in our families and communities
  • Change justice system practices to include restorative justice options.
  • Eliminate poverty on reserves to prevent, in part, the high numbers of Indigenous children in CFS care.
  • Inject infrastructure funding for all First Nation communities —poverty is one root cause for the high number of Indigenous in care.
  • Design a new funding model to support a model of care based on prevention, reunification and strengthening of families.
  • Funnel prevention dollars towards bodies independent of the CFS system to minimize any real or perceived conflict of interest in agencies tasked with both child apprehension and child protection.
  • Direct prevention funding dollars to Manitoba First Nations, rather than to agencies, to allow communities to build their visions for child welfare that focus on models of care based on prevention, reunification and strengthening of families.
  • First Nations must take the lead in designing and implementing a system based on First Nation original systems of child rearing, education and nurturing of spirit in order to break cycles of past failed child-welfare policy and to restore spiritual, physical, mental and emotional health and well-being.
  • Develop a range of First-Nation-led options to reform FNCFS using recommendations contained in this report.
https://manitobachiefs.com/wp-conte...S-Reform-Engagement-Report_September-2017.pdf
 
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It is, and different jurisdictions are farther along. I'd say the Prairie provinces have lagged in their response to first nations issues.

But I'd add a mea culpa that in Ontario, progress in the south has somewhat been countered by some real issues in northern Ontario.
 
Kimmio said:
It’s still a work-in-progress, I guess.
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Cora Morgan, a family advocate for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, said the mother may have been targeted for a “birth alert” – a note to social workers that an expectant mother is high risk – because she had another daughter who was temporarily in care several years ago.

The woman had previously sought help for addictions and with parenting from Child and Family Services, Ms. Morgan said, but was not intoxicated when she arrived at the hospital to give birth.

In Manitoba ...

One of the most discriminatory practice in relation to child welfare polices is intergenerational CFS apprehensions.

Historical CFS involvement should never be used against an individual who grew up in CFS care.

There exists a general prejudice against expectant mothers who have other children in care, who have had other children previously in care or
who were previously in CFS care themselves.

This prejudice reveals itself in the high number of birth alerts with at least one newborn seized by CFS every day.

Expectant mothers having any prior involvement with CFS are deemed unfit to parent without first assessing actual circumstances and current ability to provide healthy parenting and a safe home for their children.

Many expectant mothers are not even aware of birth alerts for their newborn child. Birth alerts must be transparent; expectant mothers must be informed of the alert prior to giving birth. This gives the mother a chance to seek and access support services prior to giving birth to ensure their child remains with them or other family members and in their home communities.

There must be a shift in policy from automatic apprehension to prevention and family restoration.

https://manitobachiefs.com/wp-conte...S-Reform-Engagement-Report_September-2017.pdf
 
I can think of at least one woman who is a better parent because (or in spite of?) of her prior contact with CFS. She is older and wiser. She's sobered up and has connected with traditional teachings.

If you haven't read it already, I recommend the book by Ernie Crey - Stolen From Their Embrace. It's very enlightening
 
BetteTheRed said:
It is, and different jurisdictions are farther along. I'd say the Prairie provinces have lagged in their response to first nations issues.

But I'd add a mea culpa that in Ontario, progress in the south has somewhat been countered by some real issues in northern Ontario.
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How so? I don't often hear about how things are handled East of Ontario when it comes to First Nations. From what I have seen what's being doing here and elsewhere I don't feel like Alberta is lacking behind anyone else.
 
It seems difficult to believe that anyone in Canada, a large, sparsely populated country home to 60% of the world’s lakes and one-fifth of the world’s fresh water, could be without clean water.

Canada’s bounty has made it an attractive destination for beverage brands such as Aquafina and Dasani, which pump and bottle the abundant freshwater. But the distribution is rarely according to need. Nestlé, the world’s biggest bottler, is extracting up to 3.6m litres of water daily from nearby Six Nations treaty land.

“Six Nations did not approve [of Nestlé pumping],” Martin-Hill said. “They told Nestlé that they wanted them to stop. Of course, they are still pumping as we speak.”

Iokarenhtha Thomas holds her daughter Waehsa Thomas and the water she needs to bring into her home. Twice a week, Thomas and her husband grab jugs, pails and whatever else they have in the house, and drive 8km to a public tap to fill up. The water isn’t drinkable, however, so once a week they also drive 10km to the nearest town, Caledonia, to buy bottled water to drink.

Nestlé pumps springwater from the nearby Erin well, which sits on a tract of land given to the Six Nations under the 1701 Nanfan Treaty and the 1784 Haldimand Tract, said Lonny Bomberry, Six Nations lands and resources director.

The Six Nations – Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora – sided with the British during the American revolution; as a reward they were given an area of approximately 3,845 sq km around the Grand River. Later, Ontario broke the treaty, reducing it to the current 194 sq km.

The land’s legacy may be 300 years old, but for Six Nations residents, it is alive and present. Many are outraged at Nestlé’s practices, including JD Sault, a self-employed mother of two. Like the Thomases, she lacks drinking water in her home. She paid several thousand dollars for her house to be connected to a nearby well – then found the water too polluted to drink. There is probably sewage contamination from her neighbours’ septic beds, she said. She worries about E coli and other bacteria.

“Nestlé are taking out water for free, so why don’t they dispense it to people?” Sault said. “It’s the indigenous resources they are taking. It’s unreal what [Nestlé] are doing. It’s unreal the way they operate.”

No one disputes the existence or legality of the Haldiman or Nanfan treaties. If anything, their legality is finally being taken seriously, thanks to a shift in the national political climate toward greater recognition of indigenous rights, including several wins in the supreme and lower courts.

But the question of who owns Canadian water is as murky as the water on many First Nations lands. In theory, the provinces have owned the water since 1930, when the federal government delegated ownership with the Natural Resources Transfer Act. According to that act, the provinces have the right to sell their water to whomever they want, including companies like Nestlé.

But water is also supposed to be regulated by the federal government, which is responsible for the natural environment and Canada’s waterways. And, according to the Canadian constitution, the federal government has a “duty to accommodate and consult” First Nations and to make sure other parties do the same when extracting any natural resource, including water, from indigenous land.

This legal ambiguity has allowed Nestlé to move in and extract precious water on expired permits for next to nothing. Nestlé pays the province of Ontario $503.71 (US$390.38) per million litres. But they pay the Six Nations nothing.

The Six Nations are not the only First Nations community in Canada with a water crisis. There are currently 50 indigenous communities with long-term boil water advisories, which means an estimated 63,000 people haven’t had drinkable water for at least a year – and some for decades. But this may underestimate the size of the problem, since some indigenous communities, such as Six Nations, have a functional water plant but no workable plumbing. The lack of water has been linked to health issues in indigenous communities including hepatitis A, gastroenteritis, giardia lamblia (“beaver fever”), scabies, ringworm and acne.

“Why do white people live with water and we don’t?” said Dawn Martin-Hill, a Six Nations local and professor of indigenous studies at McMaster University. “They don’t have to live like we live. There’s a lot of environmental racism.”

While Nestlé extracts millions of litres from their land, residents have no drinking water
 
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