“Youth Will Feel Honoured if They Are Reminded They Are Loved”: Supporting Coming of Age for Urban Indigenous Youth in Care (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Law and Social Policy, 2018
Published by Osgoode Digital Commons, 2018 ** The author of this poem gave permission for us to include it in our presentation and article. We keep the author anonymous to protect her status as a child in foster care. 1 The term "in care" refers to children and youth who have been apprehended by child protection agencies and are living in either foster care or group homes. 2 For more information on the services at Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle, see <www.niijki.com> [perma.cc/VSX6-ARAP]. 3 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Calls to Action (Winnipeg: 2015), online: <www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls\_to\_Action\_English2.pdf> [perma.cc/SEZ5-SKF2] [TRC, "Calls"] 4 The term "Indigenous" will be used as a broad label to refer to First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Innu, and other nonstatus Aboriginal people throughout this article. The difficulty with using such labels is that they tend to render distinct cultures as a single homogenous group, which is far from the truth. Where specific individuals or communities are discussed, their specific cultural/national identifiers will be used.
It is well known that Indigenous children and young people are over-represented in the out-of-home care (OOHC) system, but to date there has been little research on their transition from care. This study aimed to expand knowledge regarding the care experiences and post-care trajectories of Indigenous care leavers by capturing the insights, experiences and perspectives of their foster carers. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with five carers (two Indigenous and three non-Indigenous), the study findings draw attention to the young people's experiences of culture, community, family and identity, their leaving care experience, and their post-care outcomes including contact with family and community. Some key implications for policy reform are identified including lifting the leaving care age to 21 years; providing additional assistance to promote connections with family; and facilitating enhanced links with community and culture.
Uncovering Colonial Legacies: Voices of Indigenous Youth on Child Welfare (Dis)Placements
In this thesis I examine how settler colonialism shapes child welfare (dis)placements. I use the term (dis)placement as a point of departure to understand the historical connection between the child welfare and residential school systems. Indigenous youth collaborators, who recently exited the child welfare system, contributed to this research through arts and storytelling. Their verbal and artistic testimonies attest to the degree that child welfare is part of larger historical and political processes including dispossession of land and resources, assimilation of Indigenous peoples, gendered violence, and violent indifference. I argue that youth resistance to dominant systems takes a distinct urban form and is a means of their survival that carries strong potential for change. This thesis highlights the value of a collaborative research praxis and contributes to broader debates on how Indigenous people experience colonialism and continuously create opportunities for transformation. iii Note on terminology Aboriginal is the constitutionally defined term in Canada for First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities (Constitution Act, 1982: section 35[2]). This term has been criticized on the grounds of its colonial origin (Pinto and Smiley, 2013) and as one that implies inferiority and otherness. I use the term Indigenous throughout this thesis as an inclusive and international term that describes communities and individuals who consider themselves to be related to civilizations that predate European colonization in the Americas, Pacific Islands, Australia, Asia, and Africa. Indigenous is a term that underscores the complexity of Indigenous identities beyond what has been officially defined in government data and supports self-determination (Pinto and Smiley, 2013). Individual youth quoted in this thesis also provide other terms for self-identification, such as Native, Aboriginal, and specific Nations and geographies, which I left unchanged. iv Acknowledgements I would like to first acknowledge the contributions from the 20 youth collaborators who shared their stories and produced art that became the foundation for this thesis. Without their presence, courage, hard work and creativity, this project would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the Urban Society for Aboriginal youth in Calgary-particularly Levi First Charger and Lee Anne Ireland for their support in engaging youth and the wider community in this discussion. Furthermore, I am grateful for the contributions of Dr. Rita Henderson, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, who helped establish this collaboration, acquire funding, and supported this project throughout. It was an honour and privilege to do this work with all of the collaborators. I would also like to acknowledge the support of The Alex Youth Health Centre and the Exit Outreach programs in Calgary, including staff Heather Henry, Shannon Jones, Patrick Stuhlsatz, and Danielle Crossman for their enthusiasm about this project and support with youth engagement. I extend my gratitude to Danene Lenstra, Dean Soenen, Madelyn MacDonald, Adam Flegel, and Bjorn Johannson, management staff from the Alex Youth Health Centre and Wood's Homes for facilitating access to potential youth collaborators. I thank Randy Bottle, Casey Eagle Speaker, and Clarence Wolfleg, the Indigenous elders who provided guidance at different points in this process. My appreciation is also extended to countless others who provided feedback, advice, and support during this undertaking, including Jordan Fischer, Deloria Many Grey Horses, Denise Daniels, and Michelle Robinson. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology and Dr. Saulesh Yessenova, my supervisor and mentor for their support, feedback, and ongoing faith in my abilities and potential. This project could not have been completed without generous funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network (UAKN), and the Voices Against Violence research group funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). I would like to thank all of those who collaborated with me in presentations and publications for this project and those who gave us opportunities to share this work (See appendices 4, 5, and 6). While this thesis has been a collaborative endeavour, I bear all responsibility for shortcomings of the written representations and analysis that follow. Dedication v This thesis, albeit a humble accomplishment, is dedicated to all of those who have been dispossessed of their rights to a dignified life by oppressive colonial systems. To those who remain unknowing of their true families, their true names, and their histories, and for those who are on a path to uncovering and resisting the legacy of ongoing pillage of Indigenous communities around the world. To our ancestors and the generations to come who provide us with the strength to keep fighting for a better existence for all. vi
ALL MY RELATIONS: MAINTAINING CULTURAL CONNECTION FOR ABORIGINAL CHILDREN IN CARE
As a response to the persistent overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care, efforts are being made across Canada to develop models of child welfare practice that are consistent with Aboriginal cultural beliefs and practices, and which provide opportunities for ongoing cultural connection for children who have been separated from their families and/or communities. Although cultural continuity is associated with improved health and social outcomes, a majority of Aboriginal youth who are in the permanent care of government live in non-Aboriginal homes. Many of these young people live in in urban areas far away from their traditional territory, often with limited opportunity for connection to family or ancestral community. Efforts to provide culturally appropriate services, and to preserve and/or promote the cultural identity of Aboriginal children in care, can be a complex task in urban areas serving a diverse Aboriginal diaspora. This qualitative study examines how social workers at an urban, delegated, Aboriginal child welfare agency think about, negotiate, and implement agency policies and legislative mandates requiring that workers establish and preserve cultural connections for Aboriginal children and youth. Data was collected on the demographic and health characteristics of children and youth served by the Guardianship office at the agency, and in-depth interviews were conducted with fourteen Guardianship social workers. The analysis of the interviews illustrates social worker strategies for fostering cultural continuity, impediments to these efforts, and concrete programming suggestions. Although the ways in which workers understood and defined culture varied, a consistent theme was the complexity of efforts to balance children's inherent right to cultural connection with other developmental needs. Workers identified a lack of supportive family resources in general, and in Aboriginal communities in particular, as impediments to maintaining meaningful connections between children in out-of-home care and their families and communities. Recommendations from this study include: 1) Improvements in the recruitment, training and support of culturally competent caregivers; 2) Cultural programming developed for very young children; 3) Culturally appropriate services and programming that meets the needs of children and youth with Foetal Alcohol Effects and related disorders.
Ceremonies of Relationship: Engaging Urban Indigenous Youth in Community-Based Research
International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2017
Indigenous communities from around the world, and particularly marginalized youth from within these communities, have not always been adequately included and valued as potential collaborators in various research processes. Instead, research has relegated Indigenous youth to subjects where adults, operating primarily from Western knowledge positions and assumptions, remain the experts. Given the role of research in informing programs and policies, the ways research meaningfully engages and includes Indigenous youth are of key concern. This article presents experiences gained throughout the duration of a study that sought to identify the knowledge, resources, and capabilities required to support the health, resilience, and well-being of Indigenous youth within an urban Canadian context. In particular, this article focuses on methods and approaches of integrating Indigenous knowledge systems throughout the research process and how this can in turn foster meaningful and transformative engagements with Indigenous youth. We argue for the importance and value of traditional cultural practices and knowledge systems and what we call ceremonies of relationships, existent within Indigenous communities around the world, and how their integration in research processes can support constructive and meaningful engagements with Indigenous youth research collaborators.
2012
Dr. Jeannine Carriere (School of Social Work) Supervisor Dr. Cathy Richardson, (School of Social Work) Department Member This study explores the stories of Executive Directors of Delegated Aboriginal Child Welfare Agencies in regards to cultural planning for Aboriginal children being adopted into nonAboriginal homes in British Columbia. This qualitative study used an Indigenous methodology to describe and interpret the elements of cultural planning for adopted Aboriginal children by interviewing Executive Directors of Aboriginal child welfare agencies in the province of British Columbia. The purpose is to provide knowledge about cultural planning and safety agreements in conjunction with Aboriginal agencies and to also gain an understanding of how Aboriginal agencies are able to meet their commitment to retain their adopted children’s’ Aboriginal identity and maintain their connections to culture, community and or family. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Executive ...
Child & Family Social Work, 2020
How do foster parents support the relational and cultural connections of Indigenous children in care? The answer matters; the well-being of Indigenous children depends on these connections. At one of Canada's largest Indigenous child welfare agencies, we implemented inclusive foster care, an approach requiring foster parents to engage with the family, community, and cultural life of the child for whom they care. Fifteen years later, we present findings from a thematic analysis of interviews with 13 foster parents who participated in a mixed methods study exploring inclusive foster care. We discuss foster parent strategies to support the child's family relationships: setting clear boundaries, rolling with inconsistency, and understanding the family's (hi)stories. Strategies to strengthen cultural connectedness include visiting traditional territory, using personal initiative and Indigenous knowledge, and engaging in school-based and "multi-purpose" cultural opportunities. Drawing on foster parent stories of success, we propose ways for social workers, foster parents, and policymakers to address the cultural and relational disruption that characterizes the experience of Indigenous children in care in colonial settler societies. This context is common across settler colonial societies (Tilbury & Thoburn, 2011). Indigenous children are over-represented in care and subject to government efforts to reconnect them to culture
Leaving Care and the Transition to Adulthood, 2019
This chapter reports on exploratory research in Victoria, Australia, involving focus groups and interviews with service providers and Indigenous care leavers to examine the impact of existing support services. Indigenous children and young people are highly overrepresented in the Australian out-of-home care system. To date, neither specific research focusing on this group’s experiences as they transition from care nor an assessment of the Indigenous-specific and non-Indigenous supports and services available to them have been undertaken. Findings suggest that Aboriginal Community Controlled Organizations (ACCOs) play a positive role in working with non-Indigenous agencies to assist Indigenous care leavers. Participants identified a few key strategies to improve outcomes, such as facilitating stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous services and improving ACCO resourcing.