Hand-in-Hand A Review of First Nations Child Welfare in New Brunswick Hand-in-Hand: Ombudsman and Child and Youth Advocate Bernard Richard A Review of First Nations Child Welfare in New Brunswick Lead Investigator and Legal Counsel Christian Whalen Investigators and Researchers Published by : Jennifer Daigle Laurel Lewey Amanda McCordic Office of the Ombudsman and Colleen McKendy Child and Youth Advocate Sonja Perley Province of New Brunswick Dick Quigg P.O. Box 6000 Fredericton, NB Advisory Committee Co-Chairs E3B 5H1 Graydon Nicholas* Canada Andy Scott Advisory Committee Josie Augustine February 2010 D.J. Joseph Miguel LeBlanc Judy Levi Nancy MacDonald ISBN 978-1-55471-269-4 David Perley Pam Sappier Pamela Ward Fred Wien Printed in New Brunswick Provincial Liaison Michele Bedard Federal Liaison Joe Behar Barbara Robinson Cover art: “Mother and Daughter” by Phyllis Grant. Phyllis Grant is a Mi’kmaq artist, * Graydon Nicholas withdrew as Co-Chair filmmaker, musician and writer from in order to accept his appointment as Pabineau First Nation. Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. phyllisgrant.com This report is dedicated to the memory of: Mona Charlotte Hilary They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind. – Tuscarora proverb 2 Zack’s Story My name is Zack, and I am First Nations member and a survivor of the foster care system. I was born with cerebral palsy, and have been in a wheelchair since I was a toddler. The first five months of my life were spent in a hospital. When it came time for me to go home, I was placed in a foster home outside my First Nations community. My mom loved me; she just was not able to look after me. I stayed in that home, outside my community, for 17 years. Although I had never met my biological family, I yearned to know them, to meet my mother and my sister. I wanted to know where I came from, and what my culture was. My foster family was not First Nations, they did not know about my culture, so they could not even begin to explain it to me. Though they cared for me, they could not fill the hole in my heart. As I got older, the longing to know and understand my family and my roots grew. I continually expressed the desire to meet my family, or at the very least to know more about my culture. Each of my requests was met with either silence or refusal. I felt like I had been dumped out of the community as a child and forgotten about. I felt like my pleas to the First Nations child welfare agency were falling on deaf ears. When I was in Grade 11, I was finally allowed to meet my biological family. Shortly after that, my mother suggested that I move back to my community and live with her. It was a very hard transition for me. I was leaving the only family I had ever known, and felt very guilty about it. Also, I was moving into a community that I knew very little about. After wanting to be a part of the community for so long, I was disappointed by a lot of what I found; at first I really did not like it. The guilt and the disappointment grew into depression, and I began to think about suicide. I told my social worker how I was feeling, but I felt like they brushed it off and did not take me seriously. It was my biological family that got me through those tough times. Things are now looking up, and each day I feel more connected to my community and my culture. I am learning to speak my native language from a local teacher and I am on several basketball teams. My recommendation to improve the conditions of First Nations children and youth would be to give teenagers like me more say in their own lives and for those who are there to protect us to really listen to what we are saying. As for myself, I wish I had been heard and supported when I first expressed that I wanted to have contact with my family; I wish that others had listened when I said I was depressed during my transition home and when I told them I needed support. I want to thank the Child and Youth Advocate for coming to my community and listening to me, and for giving me the chance to have my voice heard through this report. I hope everyone in New Brunswick will take time to listen to the voices of First Nations children and youth. 3 Hand-in-Hand: A Review of First Nations Child Welfare in New Brunswick Bernard Richard New Brunswick Ombudsman and Child and Youth Advocate February 2010 4 Table of Contents Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 9 Part I – A New Model for First Nations Child and Family Services Delivery ................................................ 15 The Politics of First Nations Child Welfare .............................................................................................. 16 Three Agencies Supported by One Office ............................................................................................... 26 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 27 A New Brunswick First Nations Child and Family Services Office ........................................................ 29 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 31 Three Child and Family Services Agencies ............................................................................................... 32 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 33 Community Service Centres ................................................................................................................... 33 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 33 Governance Models for the Office and Agencies .................................................................................... 34 RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 34 Accountability for Child Welfare Service Delivery ................................................................................... 36 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 38 Child Welfare Standards, Operational Protocols and Outcomes ............................................................ 40 Operational Protocols ........................................................................................................................ 42 Outcomes ............................................................................................................................................ 42 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 43 Clinical Supervision, Audits and Standards Compliance.......................................................................... 44 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 45 Enhanced Training Systems .................................................................................................................... 46 Post- Secondary Training to Create Professional Capacity .............................................................. 46 On-the-Job Training for Professionals ............................................................................................... 47 First Nations Community Awareness and Training .......................................................................... 48 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 48 Case Management, Information Sharing and Integrated Service Delivery ............................................. 49 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 51 Part II – Improving Lives and Opportunities for First Nations Children ....................................................... 52 Historical Overview ................................................................................................................................. 53 5 A Demographic and Social Portrait of First Nations Children in New Brunswick .................................... 54 Health and Wellness ............................................................................................................................... 56 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 60 Employment and the Economy ........................................................................................................... 62 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 65 Housing and Family Structure ................................................................................................................. 66 RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................................