Utoo News & Various News Sources - Mar 6 2024 - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says Ontario's child-welfare system shouldn't place First Nations children with for-profit organizations.
After Global News televised and published online a year-long, multi-part investigation into group homes' targeting and mistreatment of Indigenous youngsters, she gave an exclusive interview.
Chief Woodhouse Nepinak told Global News, “That's appalling to hear.” “We always knew our kids were targets.
“I don't think our children should be for-profit,” she remarked.
It's time to return our children to those who have raised them for millennia.”
“Unfortunately, residential schools, day schools, the '60s Scoop, and now the child welfare system have taken our kids,” she said.
According to more than 50 former group home workers, children's aid employees, and child-welfare experts interviewed by Global News, some for-profit group home companies target Indigenous youth from remote communities in Northern Ontario and Nunavut because they can charge more or because the kids provide a steady source of revenue.
Worker, child-welfare specialist, and youngster described the effects as horrible, like residential school abuse.
Indigenous child-welfare agencies in northern Ontario help children with complicated needs or family issues.
These agencies support resource-poor communities from the Manitoba border to Attawapiskat on James Bay, which often lack housing, water, and mental health care.
Given limited options, Indigenous children's agencies are typically transported to group homes thousands of kilometers away in southern Ontario cities, removing them from family, friends, and culture.
A review of Ontario children's aid societies (CAS) budget data found that northern Indigenous organizations pay greater daily fees for such care than non-Indigenous agencies.
Northern Indigenous children's assistance organizations paid 26% extra per day for a kid to reside in a non-CAS group home between 2012/2013 and 2021/2022.
Indigenous children's agencies in northern Ontario spent approximately $28 million more over 10 years than if they'd been charged the province's average rate.
Chief Woodhouse Nepinak termed it "disgusting."
"It hurts communities, families, and the next generation."
Global News also interviewed many former group home workers in Ontario who claimed that some companies called Indigenous youngsters “cash cows,” “money-makers,” or “paycheques.”
“It's disgusting. Can you classify kids that way? Chief Woodhouse Nepinak remarked. We're their parents. First Nations kids. Treating them poorly is horrifying.”
She claimed First Nations should handle child welfare, citing a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that affirmed the federal government's Indigenous child welfare law.
Bill C-92, An Act Respecting First communities, Métis and Inuit Children Youth and Families, becomes law in 2019 and gives Indigenous communities control over child and family services. National minimum care criteria are also included.
“It's time that we bring our children home,” Chief Woodhouse Nepinak said, adding that communities must be “well-resourced” to care for their children.
‘These are lives. They're not commodities: For-profit companies allegedly target indigenous kids in care."
In a statement, Federal Minister of Indigenous Affairs Patty Hajdu stated seven Bill C-92 agreements had been completed and over 20 Indigenous governing bodies are in talks to reclaim child and family services.
The Ontario government manages child welfare, while Ottawa supports First Nation communities financially, governance, and infrastructure through two agencies.
“If the province pursues an investigation, the Federal Government will assist,” Minister Hadju stated.
Michael Parsa, Ontario Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services, has not responded to an interview request.
In interviews with group home workers, youths, and children's aid employees, Global found that some Indigenous youth receive little to no cultural services and that the homes are like a “prison” where staff use physical force to restrain children.
Just over 300 group homes are in Ontario, with 135 maintained by for-profit corporations that negotiate daily rates with the province. Non-profits like children's aid groups, Indigenous children's agencies, and independent or religious organizations administer the remaining houses.
Global News contacted group home businesses, who denied targeting Indigenous youngsters from northern areas for profit or profiteering.
Companies stated Indigenous adolescents are put in group homes and institutions by children's assistance workers from their home communities and are supported similarly to other youth.
The Chief stated, "You always want to make sure your kids are safe, and we're not," choking back tears. “We're not protecting them here.”
