Aboriginal woman wins battle to keep baby after six court appearances

An Aboriginal woman has been allowed to return home with her baby after child protection services in Victoria made six attempts to overturn a court ruling that she was able to properly care for her child.

Advocates for the 28-year-old woman, who has foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FasD), said child protection workers for the Department of Health and Human Services did not appropriately consider her disability in its initial assessment declaring her an unfit parent, and have suggested the decision to remove the child was informed by prejudice.

More >> Aboriginal woman wins battle to keep baby after six court appearances

Trauma of Australia’s Indigenous ‘Stolen Generations’ is still affecting children today

Indigenous children in Australia who live in families that experienced forced separations in much of the twentieth century are more likely than other Indigenous children to have poor health and negative school experiences, according to a landmark government report released this month.

As many as one in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were taken from their families and communities between 1910 and the 1970s, under racist government policies that tried to force Aboriginal people to assimilate with white Australians. The children were brought up in institutions or foster homes, or were adopted by white families. The Australian government formally apologized to members of these ‘Stolen Generations’ in 2008.

More >> Trauma of Australia’s Indigenous ‘Stolen Generations’ is still affecting children today

'I felt robbed': Indigenous mother says baby's apprehension was wrong

The parents want this story told. However, for legal reasons and at the request of the parents, the CBC is not identifying the family by name.

E. felt elated and exhausted. A day earlier, she'd given birth to a baby girl.

Her pregnancy and childbirth had been difficult, even turbulent. But as the 26-year-old Gitxsan woman recovered in her room at the B.C. Women's Hospital last July, she felt relief.

More >> 'I felt robbed': Indigenous mother says baby's apprehension was wrong

Protesters march to NSW parliament against adoption laws

February 13, 2019. Protesters march from Sydney's Hyde Park to state parliament in a rally on the 11th anniversary of the National Apology to stolen generations. Kinchela Boys Home survivor Michael Welsh tears up as he speaks to the protest saying he was removed from his family when he was young and he is speaking out against new forced adoption laws to stop another generation going through the same pain. NSW Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services Tania Mihailuk says if the Labor government wins at the state election they will repeal the laws. Under the new laws, birth parents will have two years to be reinstated as primary carers before an alternative permanent home is found, in a bid to prevent children bouncing between families for years on end.

More >> Protesters march to NSW parliament against adoption laws

‘Political suicide’ if Liberals don’t give First Nations full jurisdiction over child welfare, say leaders

First Nation leaders in B.C. and Saskatchewan say resistance from several provinces and the Trudeau government’s recent cabinet shuffle are jeopardizing the federal Liberals’ planned child welfare legislation.

Leaders within the First Nations Summit in B.C., and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) in Saskatchewan tell APTN News they believe resistance from Saskatchewan, Ontario, and likely others, coupled with the removal of Jane Philpott as Indigenous Services minister and Jody Wilson-Raybould as Justice minister and Attorney General, are key factors in what could be the imminent demise of one of the government’s key promises to Indigenous peoples.

More >> ‘Political suicide’ if Liberals don’t give First Nations full jurisdiction over child welfare, say leaders

‘I promised I would never leave her side’: Saskatchewan parent fights for child to be returned from social services

Indigenous parents dealing with the child welfare system say the system is not helping them keep their families together.

Approximately 70 per cent of the children in Saskatchewan’s child welfare system are Indigenous.

More >> ‘I promised I would never leave her side’: Saskatchewan parent fights for child to be returned from social services

Indigenous mother speaks out after newborn seized by CFS

An Indigenous mother from Winnipeg is speaking out about the apprehension of her newborn baby by Child and Family Services.

The woman, 38, and her family members held a media conference Friday morning with First Nations leaders and advocates to address the situation.

More >> Indigenous mother speaks out after newborn seized by CFS

One Woman’s Campaign to End Indigenous Child Apprehensions

For a decade, Patricia Delisle has been helping Indigenous women in British Columbia’s Cowichan Valley at risk of having their children apprehended by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

The Tyee Is Hiring for Two Roles: Editorial Assistant and Business Operations AssistantThe Tyee Is Hiring For Two Roles: Editorial Assistant And Business Operations Assistant
We need new teammates at the feisty fish. Apply by Dec. 10.

Now she wants to go farther and turn the valley into a “no-apprehension zone.”


More >> One Woman’s Campaign to End Indigenous Child Apprehensions

Protest expected over NSW adoption changes

Hundreds of people are expected to protest outside NSW parliament over planned changes to the state's adoption laws.

The Berejiklian government is proposing to streamline the process of granting the guardianship of children or adopting them out.

More >> Protest expected over NSW adoption changes

‘Troubling and regressive’: Indigenous peak bodies condemn changes to NSW Adoption Act

In a deeply troubling and regressive move, the NSW government will this week consider legislation that would allow for the forced adoption of Aboriginal children.

The proposed amendment to the Adoption Act 2000 would remove the requirement for consent of a child’s parent/s to adoption where applications are made by the child’s guardian.


More >> ‘Troubling and regressive’: Indigenous peak bodies condemn changes to NSW Adoption Act

NSW Groups Fear Second Stolen Generation Over Adoption Reforms

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal and community groups fear a bill reforming child protection and adoption laws in New South Wales will sever Indigenous children's connection to culture, and result in a second stolen generation.

More >> NSW Groups Fear Second Stolen Generation Over Adoption Reforms

Another stolen generation: Aboriginal groups slam adoption proposal

Adoption laws proposed by the Berejiklian government risk creating another stolen generation, Aboriginal organisations and legal advocates warn.

The government is putting forward changes designed to streamline the granting of guardianship of children and help fast-track permanent adoption.

More >> Another stolen generation: Aboriginal groups slam adoption proposal

'Reduce costs at all costs:' Child welfare agencies worried about block funding

Some child-welfare agencies in Manitoba are worried they will be pushed into a new provincial funding model they say will put vulnerable Indigenous children at risk.

"The block funding model is detrimental towards the agency, it's detrimental to service delivery altogether," said Clemene Hornbrook, executive director at Peguis Child and Family Services.

More >> 'Reduce costs at all costs:' Child welfare agencies worried about block funding

National conference builds momentum for change in Canada's child welfare system

The numbers basically speak for themselves. Indigenous children, under the age of 14 make up over half  — 52.2 per cent — of foster children in Canada. Considering that Indigenous children make up just seven per cent of Canadian children, the numbers can rightly be called staggering, even alarming.

Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, characterized the situation by saying, “It’s truly looking more and more like a second generation of residential school.” Last November, Jane Philpott Canada’s minister responsible for Indigenous Services referred to Indigenous children in care as a “humanitarian crisis.”

More >> National conference builds momentum for change in Canada's child welfare system

Alleged sexual abuse case raises red flags about lack of Indigenous foster homes

A child protection case involving a family of seven children from Eel Ground First Nation is raising alarm bells about the challenge of finding foster homes in Indigenous communities.

Seven children were placed in the temporary custody of their mother after a nine-year-old girl accused her father, known only as "PW," of repeatedly sexually abusing her.

More >> Alleged sexual abuse case raises red flags about lack of Indigenous foster homes

Indigenous children are still not being treated equally by provinces, advocate tells inquiry

A First Nations children’s advocate says Indigenous kids are still not being treated equally because provinces and territories are shirking their responsibilities.

Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, told the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women that provinces are still denying Indigenous kids access to services that are available to non-Indigenous kids.

More >> Indigenous children are still not being treated equally by provinces, advocate tells inquiry

First Nations child advocate says child welfare system 'eats up' Indigenous kids

A Manitoba First Nations children's advocate says the child welfare system "eats up" Indigenous children and is designed to keep their families at a disadvantage.

Cora Morgan, with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, told the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women that the system is set up to apprehend children, not to support families.

More >> First Nations child advocate says child welfare system 'eats up' Indigenous kids

Warrior cry: the crisis of neglect of Indigenous children in foster care

For 50 days this summer, Queen’s Park was ground zero for protest over the continued denial of services to Indigenous children and youth in Canada’s health and child welfare systems

More >> Warrior cry: the crisis of neglect of Indigenous children in foster care

Protest campers contemplate next steps as some teepees come down

Stacked-up chairs and disassembled teepee poles lay scattered around the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp Monday, as a disheartening mood settled over many supporters.

Some pitched in to help roll up tarps used to shelter common areas. There was no immediate word on how the protesters will react to a recent court decision ordering them to vacate the patch of land in Wascana Centre they first occupied 195 days ago. But hope seemed to be fading for some.


More >> Protest campers contemplate next steps as some teepees come down

“FORGET YOUR SON”: BRAZIL IS FORCIBLY TAKING INDIGENOUS CHILDREN AND PUTTING THEM UP FOR ADOPTION

"You can give up." That's what they told Élida Oliveira, a Kaiowá mother who had her eight-day-old son taken away from her by local government officials. In the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, 50 indigenous children have recently been put up for adoption and federal authorities want to know why.