First Nations Child Welfare in British Columbia

In 2006, there were 129,580 First Nation people in British Columbia; they represented 18.6% of the total First Nations population in Canada and 3.2 % of the population in British Columbia (Statistics Canada, 2006). First Nations children constituted 6% of the child population in British Columbia; an additional 2% of the child population was non-First Nations Aboriginal (Statistics Canada, 2006 Census). 1 In 2006, Aboriginal children in British Columbia were nine times more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be in care (Foster, 2007). In 2009, Aboriginal children made up 8 % of the child population in British Columbia, yet comprised about 52 % of all children in care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development (British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development, 2009). First Nations communities in British Columbia have long worked to re-gain control over child welfare practices related to their children. The results of their efforts are demonstrated by the existence of thirty-two First Nations child welfare agencies, including the only First Nations child welfare agency in Canada that is not tied to provincial child welfare laws, a second agency operated by a nation which has secured the right to make its own child welfare laws, and a third serving the entire Aboriginal child population of Vancouver (the third most populated city in Canada.) In addition to the growing scope of First Nations agencies, the legislative and child welfare standards governing British Columbia’s provincially run child welfare agencies acknowledge the importance of community, heritage, and cultural ties for Aboriginal children.

Historical Overview of the First Nations Child Welfare System in British Columbia

British Columbia shares a common national history with other provinces in regards to the development of First Nations child welfare. Residential schools served as the primary mechanism of First Nations child welfare in Canada between 1879 and 1946 (Milloy, 1999). During this period, the Canadian government’s policy regarding First Nations child welfare was to assimilate Aboriginal peoples into Anglo-European culture by separating Aboriginal children from their families. In 1920 an amendment to the Indian Act made attendance at designated state sponsored (day, residential, institutional) schools mandatory for all children “between the ages of seven and fifteen years” who were physically able to attend (An Act to amend the Indian Act, 1920, A10). It also allowed truant officers to enforce attendance, giving them the right to, “enter any place where he has reason to believe there are Indian children” of school age and to arrest and convey to school truant children. (An Act to amend the Indian Act, 1920, A10). There were 28 residential schools operating from 1861 to 1984 in British Columbia (Assembly of First Nations, 2010). In 1951, the introduction of Section 88 to the Indian Act made “all laws of general application from time to time in force in any province applicable to and in respect of Indians in the province” (Indian Act, s. 88, c. 9, s. 151, 1985). Section 88 made it possible to enforce provincial child welfare legislation on-reserve. For the first time provincial child welfare authorities began to apprehend Aboriginal children living on-

1 There are three groups of Aboriginal peoples in Canada recognized by the Constitution Act (1982): First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. reserve; this resulted in a sharp increase of First Nations children placed in care (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996). In British Columbia before the introduction of Section 88 less than one percent of children in care were Aboriginal; by the early 1960s approximately 34% of children in care were Aboriginal (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996). The rate of child apprehension was even greater in some communities. Between 1951 and 1979 approximately 67% of the child population of the Spallumcheen First Nation was apprehended by the provincial child welfare authorities (Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, 2002). Starting in the early 1980s First Nations communities in British Columbia began to publicly express dissatisfactions with provincial child welfare services (Scarth and Sullivan, 2007). In 1981, the Spallumcheen Indian Band established the original First Nations child welfare agency in British Columbia; it remains the only First Nation in Canada to achieve a band-by-law model which frees it from the constraints of provincial laws and standards (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996; Union of BC Indian Chiefs, 2002). The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council established the second First Nations child welfare agency in British Columbia in 1985 (Foster and Wharf, 2007). By 1991, due to a rise in the number of First Nations child welfare agencies and a perceived lack of funding for such services, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) implemented a national First Nations child welfare program (Auditor General of Canada, 2008). The program comprised of a funding formula, Directive 20-1, and standards, documented in the First Nations Child and Family Services National Program Manual, which required First Nations child welfare agencies to conduct child welfare services based on provincial standards (Auditor General of Canada, 2008). The program placed greater constraints on First Nations child welfare agencies through standards of practice and funding control of services (Auditor General of Canada, 2008). Between 1991 and 1999, fifteen additional First Nations child welfare agencies were established in British Columbia. Among these was the Nisga’a Lisims Nation which, in 1999, signed a treaty with the British Columbia government allowing the Nisga’a Lisims government to “make laws with respect to children and family service on Nisga’a lands” (Foster, 2007, p.55). The number of First Nations agencies continued to increase in the first decade of the 21st century; the most recently established is the Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Service Society. Signing a delegation agreement in 2001, it is the only Aboriginal child welfare agency to provide a full range of services off reserve (Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Service Society, 2010). It is among a group of three First Nations child welfare agencies in Canada to provide services to Aboriginal people in major urban areas. In 2002, the First Nations Summit, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, United Native Nations, Métis Provincial Council of BC, Bands, Tribal Councils and child welfare service delivery organizations along with the British Columbia government signed the Tsawwassen Accord (Foster and Wharf, 2007). This accord was a formal commitment made by the British Columbia government to shift control of First Nations child welfare from the provincial government to First Nations communities. Recently, the provincial government has proposed to develop separate Aboriginal child welfare authorities within five regions of British Columbia: Vancouver Island, Vancouver coastal, Fraser, the Interior, and the North (BC Ministry of Children and Family Development, 2010) The Current Structure of First Nations Child Welfare

In British Columbia there are currently 31 First Nations child welfare agencies that serve on-reserve children and families. Six of these agencies provide continued services to children who move off reserve into out of home placements, and one agency (Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Service Society) offers a full range of services to Aboriginal children and families off-reserve (Fast, Kozlowski, & Sinha, 2010). Nine First Nations agencies are delegated to conduct child welfare investigations; they have signed agreements with the provincial government that give them authority to enforce the Child, Family and Community Service Act (Child, Family and Community Service Act, 1996; See agency table below). In 2009, 39% of Aboriginal children in care were served by a delegated Aboriginal child welfare agency, the remainder being served by provincially run agency (British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development, 2009). First Nations child welfare agencies are supported by The Caring for First Nation’s Children Society (CFNCS), which works with the BC First Nations Directors Forum; a representative body of all on-reserve delegated child and family service agencies in British Columbia (CFNCS, 2010). British Columbia child welfare legislation and standards include the statement that “aboriginal people should be involved in the planning and delivery of services to aboriginal families and their children”; and that “child welfare decisions should preserve a child’s cultural identity if the child is an Aboriginal child and that kinship ties and attachment to extended family should be preserved when possible” (Child, Family and Community Service Act, 1996). As part of adherence to such principles, the British Columbian government has adopted Aboriginal Operational and Practice Standards which prioritize child placement within Aboriginal communities, involving family and community in intervention plans, promoting a child’s access to information on their heritage, and ensuring a child has access to cultural ceremonies (British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development, 2005). First Nations child welfare agencies in British Columbia receive funding under the term of INAC’s national formula, Directive 20-1 (INAC, 2007), which provides operations funding based on the child population size and covers maintenance costs for children placed in out of home care (MacDonald & Ladd, 2000). Directive 20-1 has been criticized for under-funding administrative and child maintenance services for First Nations children, failing to fund preventative or support services for families of children who are not in-care, and contributing to jurisdictional disputes which compromise the quality and efficiency of services for First Nations children (Blackstock, Prakash, Loxley, & Wien, 2005; INAC, 2007; MacDonald & Ladd, 2000). A tripartite agreement has been developed between the British Columbia government and INAC to shift child welfare funding from Directive 20-1 to “Enhance Prevention Focused” funding, a shift that has not been realized due to lack of funds (Johnston, 2009, S.177). Table 1: Delegated First Nations Child Welfare Agencies in British Columbia:

Agency First Nations Served

Fraser Valley Aboriginal Children and Family Aitchelitz, Chawathil, Cheam, Kwantlen, Services Society . Kwaw Kwaw Apilt ,Lakahahmen, Matsqui, Peters, Popkum, Scowlitz, Seabird Island, Shxw’ow’hamel, Skawahlook, Skwah, Skway, Soowahlie, Squiala, Sumas, Tzeachten, Union Bar, Yakweakwioose, Yale

s Knucwentwecw Society Williams Lake, Soda Creek, Canoe Creek, n o

i Canim Lake t a g Ktunaxa-Kinbasket Family & Child Services Columbia Lake, Lower Kootenay, Shuswap, i t s St. Mary's, Tobacco Plains e v n

i Lalum'utul'smun'een child and Family Services Cowichan Tribes e r a f l e

w Nlha'7kapmx Child & Family Services Cook's Ferry,Kanaka Bar, Lytton, Nicomen, d l Siska, Skuppah i h c

Scw'exmx Child and Family Services Society Coldwater, Lower Nicola, Nooaitch, Shackan, t c Upper Nicola u d Secwepemc Child and Family Services Adams Lake, Bonaparte, Kamloops, n o

c Neskonlith, North Thompson, Skeetchestn, o t Whispering Pines d

e Usma Nuu Chah Nulth Community & Human Ahousat, Ditidaht, Ehattesaht, Hesquiaht, Huu- t a Services ay-aht, Ka:’yu:k’t’h’/Che:K:tles7et’h, g e l Mowachat/Muchalaht, Hupacasath, e d Nuchatlaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, Toquaht, Tseshaht, s e i Uchucklesaht, Ucluelet c n

e Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Vancouver Urban (Vancouver/Richmond) g Society A References:

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