The following is a copy & pasted series of tweets from CBC reporter, Angela Sterritt, which she posted today about changes the BC Ministry of Children and Family Services is making to how Indigenous communities are involved in the making of decisions bout keeping Indigenous children in our communities.
BREAKING: MCFD says Indigenous communities will have greater involvement in child-welfare decisions to help keep their children out of care, safe in their home communities, and connected to their cultures under proposed legislation changes.
"Keeping Indigenous children connected to their family & communities is a key priority of our government and these legislative changes are a first step towards this goal," said MCFD Minister Katrine Conroy.
Under current legislation, MCFD can only reach out to a child's Indigenous community with parent's consent or to ensure the child's safety and well-being. This makes it challenging for social workers and the Indigenous community to find alternatives to removing children.
"Our government believes that Indigenous children should have every opportunity to live and thrive and grow in their home community, surrounded by their language and culture," said Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.
If approved by the legislature, the proposed changes will allow MCFD to share more information with Indigenous communities right from the start to keep children from coming into care in the first place.
..And will give the ministry more opportunities to work collaboratively on planning and caring for Indigenous children by:
- Promoting routine involvement of Indigenous communities, through a written agreement, in child-welfare matters before a potential removal.
- Enabling greater information-sharing between MCFD and Indigenous communities.
- Enabling MCFD to refer child-protection reports to an Indigenous government that has child protection laws. ...
- Supporting more ways to keep children at home or in their community, by working with their Indigenous community.
- Ensuring Indigenous communities receive ongoing notification of legal proceedings affecting their children.
You can read the official government release here: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018CFD0015-000722. You can see the original tweets on Twitter by following Angela at www.twitter.com/AngelaSterritt