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Since it's founding in 1997, the CYC-Net discussion group has been asked thousands of questions. These questions often generate many replies from people in all spheres of the Child and Youth Care profession and contain personal experiences, viewpoints, as well as recommended resources.
Below are some of the threads of discussions on varying Child and Youth Care related topics.
Questions and Responses have been reproduced verbatim.
Listen to thisI am a student at Mount Royal University
in the CYCC program, and I was reading the Calgary Herald a little while
back and noticed an article discussing the percentage of Aboriginal
children in care.
I decided to do some research as the numbers I read were quite alarming.
I researched news articles, journals, and other resources to get a
better understanding of the statistics. According to Stats Canada in
2011, out of 30,000 kids in care, nearly 50% of them were of Aboriginal
descent. I knew from class that this was common, but I never really
understood why. Woods and Kirkey stated that the biggest reason
for the statistics, is "neglect, fueled by poverty" (Woods & Kirkey,
2013).
I know that there are specific programs and resources for Aboriginal and
Metis families and children, but what I want to know is if there is
anything more we can do as a profession to raise awareness on this
issue. In Manitoba there are programs and models such as CLOUT
(Community Led Organizations United Together) which are set to help
re-parent parents, in hopes of reuniting them with their Children. It is
a collaboration with CFS Workers, foster parents, and parents to reach
their goals and decrease the statistics of Aboriginals in care (Wiart,
2015). I am Metis, and I want to be able to find ways to make a
difference in Alberta, and to join forces with our Aboriginal leaders
and the community to help reduce the numbers in Alberta, and
particularly in Calgary.
Thanks,
Jenessa
...
I was at a fantastic event a few weeks ago with
former PM Paul Martin and AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde who both
spoke. This event was also where 'Canadians for a New Partnership'
was launched. Part of this was discussing ways to teach a new
generation of youth about treaties, residential schools, culture and
more – all which has not been done to date. I urge everyone
to visit http://www.cfnp.ca/ and sign
the declaration.
The Declaration of Canadians For a New Partnership
We the undersigned declare our resolve to build a new partnership
between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples of this country – a
partnership based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful
co-existence and equality; one that will be built by restoring trust and
respecting Aboriginal and Treaty rights. Today we invite all Canadians
to join us as we set out to write a new chapter in the evolution of our
nation.
For over four centuries we have shared the same land, water and air that
form one of the most bountiful and prosperous countries in the world. In
this way Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are bound together in an
inseparable bond. But not all have shared equally in the same rights,
freedoms and benefits that should flow from inhabiting this magnificent
land.
For too long our relations have been marked by misunderstanding,
betrayal and neglect. While the sins of the past can never be erased, by
acknowledging Aboriginal and Treaty rights and forging a new partnership
we can stop the cycle of negativity that past wrongs have wrought on the
generations that followed. We cannot allow future goodwill to be
smothered by the exhaustion of historic failure. Therefore, by signing
this Declaration, we pledge to build a future that is positive, healthy,
productive and meaningful for the generations to come.
Our purpose is uncomplicated: it is to make things better; to bring a
new energy and reconciliation to the project of building a better
Canada; to solve, through a commitment of good will and widespread
attestation, what has for decades eluded dealmakers, negotiators and
people of earnest intent. We must embrace the notion of partnership
fully and place it at the very heart of our endeavours. Then, and only
then, will we enjoy a foundation of trust sturdy enough to overcome the
shame of historic harm and contemporary injustices and realize future
possibility.
To be equals in truth as well as intent we must reconcile historical
wrongs by acknowledging the Treaty and Aboriginal rights of Canada's
First Peoples. Aboriginal communities also must have the tools to
strengthen their institutions, culture and traditions in accordance with
these rights and their aspirations and needs. This is the wellspring,
which will empower Aboriginal communities to shape and govern the
policies and practices that affect their people, land and resources.
This new partnership will be built on values that hold, as their basis,
the equality and right to dignity for all. Indigenous and non-Indigenous
people will come together in solidarity built on shared responsibility
and co-operation. This we understand is central to Indigenous culture as
much as it lies at the heart of the Canadian federation.
The New Partnership is neither deluded about past challenges nor
deflated about present circumstances. We believe that hope must be
created with the establishment of new trust and enthusiasm. This is the
fundamental ambition of the New Partnership. By joining us – Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal alike – together in this public Declaration we shall
seek to create an atmosphere where paralysis becomes unacceptable and
where a broad, engaged public insists upon progress.
That is why we, a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, are
coming together to hold a national dialogue and to reach out to all
Canadians. We call on legislators, corporate leaders, labour and all
civil society organizations to share in a new approach and our belief in
a better Canada. We ask Canadians to join us in signing this Declaration
and to go forward on a path that will rebuild trust, remedy a broken
relationship and lead to a new partnership.
Andrew Middleton
...
I too thank you for bring this important – many of
us think it’s the most important – issue in Canadian professional Child and Youth Care practice.
In an oped in the Dec. 2nd national news in the Globe & Mail (p. A-17)
well-known child-rights advocate Dr. Cindy Blackstock clearly lays out
the evidence why there are more First Nations, Aboriginal, Metis, and
Inuit kids in care now than at the height of the residential schools
era. Blackstock is without doubt the foremost critic of the professional
service delivery systems here in Canada that continue to discriminate
against minority children and young people from these communities.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/a-mmiw-inquiry-must-examine-the-child-welfare-system/article27549551/
I too have watched the growing participation of young people in the Idle
No More movement with real optimism for this shameful period in Canadian
history to come to an end. There are also close to 400 million
Indigenous peoples globally who have faced similar racist, colonial
periods in past centuries that have left whatever populations remain
facing similar discrimination against children based solely on poverty
and racism. I would highly recommend accessing the Truth and
Reconciliation website to read the sorrows of families being ripped
apart for so many decades and you'll see the foundation of the current
crisis.
Cindy's story has both compelling and tawdry chapters as she's attempted
for years to bring our federal government to account through the Human
Rights Tribunal – all the while facing her own lengthy period of
harassment and discrimination while federal government lawyers have
squandered $5 million fighting her claims on courtroom technicalities.
Another highly regarded Globe & Mail columnist in health, Andre Picard,
dryly observed after she was awarded $20,000 in damages that our
government would be further ahead acknowledging the past and spending
those resources righting these wrongs in the present.
Until that occurs, however, the sad spectacle of caregivers across
Canada being offered thousands per month to look after Indigenous
children in their homes, care facilities or motel rooms will continue.
Perhaps simply offering necessary Child and Youth Care support by splitting those foster
care stipends would be a step in the right direction…?
Kind regards,
Richard
Mitchell & Moore (2015) Planetary Praxis and Pedagogy: Transdisciplinary
Approaches to Environmental Sustainability – http://tinyurl.com/qj8q8o2
Mitchell & Moore (2012) Politics, Participation and Power Relations:
Transdisciplinary Approaches to Critical Citizenship – https://goo.gl/qZCv4w
...
Hi Jenessa,
You may want to read about the Isibindi program model provided in South
Africa. The program has a holistic approach and works in the
communities/homes of individual families. I believe the support of
CYC-P in communities could benefit aboriginal communities in Canada to
address the over representation of Aboriginal peoples in care.
Be well.
Charlene
…
You can read more about the Isibindi projects
here — Eds.
