VACFSS has implemented its own policies to change the trajectory for Indigenous children and families, such as the Concrete Needs Support Policy which provides financial support to families facing socio-economic challenges and recognizes the legacy of the residential school system, colonization, and the resulting intergenerational trauma.
In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), covering all aspects of human rights of Indigenous Peoples such as: culture, identity, religion, language, health, education, community. UNDRIP Article 21.2 indicates that ‘[s]tates shall take effective measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of [Indigenous Peoples’] economic and social conditions. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities.’[1]
The B.C. Provincial Government passed the legislation in November 2019 to implement the UN Declaration, which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission confirms as the framework for reconciliation at all levels of government. The National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls also called for implementation of the UN Declaration as part of a rights-based response to the violence faced by First Nations women, girls, and two-spirit individuals.
The United Nations Declaration doesn’t create any new rights. These rights are inherent, and they’re pre-existing. The UN Declaration affirms Indigenous Peoples’ human rights. What we’re talking about now is realizing those rights, implementing those rights, enforcing those rights, and finding a better way to work together so that we don’t have to spend millions of dollars and waste years fighting in courts instead of advancing reconciliation. Closing the socio-economic gap for First Nations and building a stronger economy and a better Canada for us all is what this means
– National Chief Perry Bellegarde Testimony before the House of Commons Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, March 2018
Indigenous Peoples continue to experience serious inequity leading to social exclusion and a wide range of mental illness due to the oppressive, marginalizing, and exploitative structures of colonization, the residential school system, and the Sixties Scoop. They have been stripped of their lands, their traditional livelihoods, and cultures. Indigenous Peoples have been placed on less valuable lands and experience a lack of educational opportunities. It’s also well known that Indigenous Peoples face a unique set of mental health challenges, substance use, addiction, suicide, and violence[2].
Government policies have also prevented the most vulnerable populations from attaining affordable housing. These policies include housing cuts in the 1980s, ceasing the development of new subsidized, affordable housing in 1993, restrictive employment insurance qualifications in the 1990s, and exponential increases in housing rental costs in major cities[3]. The consequence is a nation-wide crisis of homelessness and poverty that has disproportionately effected Indigenous populations[4]. This was evidenced in the 2020 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count reporting that 33% of respondents identified as Indigenous[5], but Indigenous Peoples only constitute 1.5% of the Metro Vancouver population[6].
Furthermore, the disproportionality of Indigenous children in the child welfare system is a reflection of systemic bias and discrimination and is a human rights issue[7]. Indigenous families are struggling due to poverty, and children are coming into care due to poverty. Families who come in contact with VACFSS (the ‘Society’) are often in need of concrete supports to help meet basic needs. VACFSS’ commitment to provide concrete needs support is one of the many ways it practices from a restorative approach, a central tenet of its service delivery philosophy and a strategic priority of the agency. The goal is to help address the socio-economic inequity faced by the Indigenous communities and to alleviate some of the poor outcomes related to health and well being, as a result of poverty. The determinants of health and well being of children and families is directly impacted by poverty and socio-economic factors[8].
There is fragmentation in Indigenous child welfare practice because provincial family laws do not align with Indigenous values. The western perspective and western teachings on child and family support have linear thought. Western values differ from those of Indigenous cultures as it allows government to enter the life of a family and take control, failing to consider the importance of relationship. Indigenous teachings are based on circular thinking, and the child is at the centre of the circle of the family.
There is fragmentation in Indigenous child welfare practice because provincial family laws do not align with Indigenous values. The western perspective and western teachings on child and family support have linear thought. Western values differ from those of Indigenous cultures as it allows government to enter the life of a family and take control, failing to consider the importance of relationship. Indigenous teachings are based on circular thinking, and the child is at the centre of the circle of the family.
Rather than servicing through the mandate of child welfare, VACFSS has implemented its own policies to change the trajectory for Indigenous children and families long before the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families came into effect in 2019, which legislates that children can no longer be removed from their families due to poverty. VACFSS’ Concrete Needs Support Policy was implemented in 2004 to provide financial support to assist families facing socio-economic challenges and recognizes the legacy of the residential school system, colonization, and the resulting intergenerational trauma. The purpose of this policy is to provide short-term aid and for the family to be transitioned to community supports as it is recognized that, historically, child welfare involvement has disproportionately impacted poor families for intrusive interventions.
Substance use is a large portion of VACFSS’ sec. 13 concerns and families may require support to pursue their own healing. The Society’s Concrete Needs Support Policy includes funding for residential treatment for the parent and supporting the children while the parents heal. The parents may need to understand past trauma, learn more effective parenting, manage issues like addiction or violence and engage with their personal, family and community strengths. The child’s security, well-being and belonging can always be strengthened by connecting the family to the right supportive services.
VACFSS workers take a trauma-informed approach in all interactions with the child, parent(s) and family and community members. Some of the trauma-informed approaches include, honoring each person’s story; considering how colonization, in particular residential schools and the resulting intergenerational trauma impact the child, their family and their Indigenous community; being transparent about all relevant information; and, inquiring about, and making all reasonable efforts to follow cultural protocols related to the family. Along with the family and community, VACFSS carries responsibilities to care for and honour the child as a sacred gift from the Creator. Both physically and metaphorically, VACFSS workers join the circle of family, community members, Elders and ancestors in pursuit of the vision of a balanced and harmonious Indigenous community.
____________________________________________
