The Legislative AssemblySA国际影视传媒檚 Standing Committee on Social Development is calling on the GNWT to declare the over-representation of Indigenous children and youth in the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 social services system a SA国际影视传媒渃risis.SA国际影视传媒�

During a sitting of the Assembly on March 29, committee chair Caitlin Cleveland presented highlights from the committeeSA国际影视传媒檚 report on the state of child and family services. This report is part of the committeeSA国际影视传媒檚 mandate to review the Child and Family Services Act every five years.

The report found that 98 per cent of children and youth in the social services system are Indigenous, compared to just 57 per cent of children and youth in the territory. SA国际影视传媒淭he extent of destruction and trauma on Indigenous peoples, families and communities due to colonization, residential school and the Sixties Scoop, and the resulting over-representation of Indigenous children and youth in care in the child welfare system is a territorial crisis that requires an all of territory response,SA国际影视传媒� the report reads.

In general, the report recommends shifting the responsibility for children in unsafe family environments to extended families and communities: SA国际影视传媒淐ommittee heard the voices of children and youth and children and youth want to be with their families,SA国际影视传媒� the report reads. SA国际影视传媒淐ommittee recognizes that to raise healthy and well children and youth, supports and resources must be made available throughout their entire lives through parents, caregivers, family and even the broader community. The intention is to support the family and community so children and youth can remain with their families and within their communities.SA国际影视传媒�

Included in the report are 19 recommendations for improving the family and social services system in the territory: These include establishing a family mentorship program that would pair vulnerable parents with grandparent or Elder mentors; A recruitment strategy for Indigenous foster families that would allow Indigenous children in the foster system to be raised within their own culture; and various measures to improve addiction and homelessness services across the territory.

The report was informed by testimonies from more than 50 participants between April 2021 and January 2022, including representatives of local and territorial governments and NGOs.

SA国际影视传媒淎ll stakeholders described the harmful impacts of these legacies and the ongoing trauma of those familial and community experiences, including the death of family members, addictions, abuse, family breakdowns, loss of cultural knowledge, poverty and displacement within their communities,SA国际影视传媒� the report reads.

The report also includes a recommendation that the GNWT respond to the report within 120 days.

SA国际影视传媒楾here are still children being apprehended because their parents live in povertySA国际影视传媒�

Also at TuesdaySA国际影视传媒檚 sitting, Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson called on the GNWT to adopt a policy to not remove children from their families solely because of socioeconomic circumstance.

SA国际影视传媒淚 am well aware that many cases, by the time child and family services intervene, are due to severe neglect or abuse, and the time for intervention was long before child and family services got involved,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淗owever, it is clear that there are still children being apprehended because their parents live in poverty.SA国际影视传媒�

He said that in a case where a child was at risk of being apprehended by child welfare services, the GNWT should endeavor to provide every other possible resource to address the familySA国际影视传媒檚 financial circumstances first, and that plan-of-care agreements should provide basic necessities to children.