Safe houses needed for kids
Surely it is lawful to protest against the huge proportion of Indigenous children taken into foster care by the child welfare division of the Ministry of Social Services of the Saskatchewan government. Their teepees and sacred fire in Regina are on Treaty 4 land, which now is the location of the home of the government itself.
The only familiar landscape of the children is the faces of their parents and relatives. After child welfare workers have justified in child welfare court keeping the children in care, judges order frequent visits to give hope of reunion to all parties. Despite court orders, visits are often missed due to lack of funding or personnel for supervision or overwhelmed foster parents unable to travel or parents have given up because natural questions are silenced as upsetting.
Elders as supervisors would have been more culturally sensitive.
Six years ago, I gathered together seven senior social workers and a law professor. Three of the social workers were Aboriginal, one was Metis. One had supervised 25 years for child welfare, another 25 years as both child welfare and income security worker, one a former child welfare worker, now a lay church minister and the Metis social worker worked with youth in foster care.
The three non-aboriginal social workers had more than 25 years of experience each; one had developed programs for two tribal councils, one had developed resources for parents for the child welfare division and one advocated for the rights of families living in poverty.
The law professor specializes in poverty law and human rights.
Our purpose in meeting three times around the kitchen table was to prepare a submission to child welfare commission hearings called for by Hon. Donna Harpauer, then minister of Social Services, in response to tragic deaths of children in foster care. Commissioners Bob Pringle, Carol Skelton, Howard Cameron and April Durocher heard submissions around the province that mainly called for takeover of child welfare services by Indian and Metis agencies.
Our professional group’s written recommendation to the commission was that safe houses for children, removed because of safety issues, be developed in every region of the province. They would be professionally staffed 24/7 and staff would reflect the cultures of the children. Development and maintenance costs would be shared by all levels of government. Parents would have regular access visits and available counselling including of-age children. Frequent contact encourages compliance with addictions treatment and counselling programs.
Our allotted 10-minute verbal presentation was made by one of our non-aboriginal workers who experienced family violence at home and one Aboriginal worker who experienced all abuses in foster care. They illustrated the effects of generational poverty. They both illustrated successfully overcoming childhood trauma when strong skills and strong supports exist.
Mildred Kerr, Saskatoon