B.C. commits to indigenous control of child welfare after release of report
VANCOUVER — British Columbia is committed to First Nations taking over child-welfare decisions in their communities, the province’s Children’s Minister said Monday after receiving a report about how the current system has failed aboriginal children.
The report by a special adviser to the ministry issued 85 recommendations to reduce the staggering number of aboriginal kids in care of the B.C. government. A major focus is the need to return control to indigenous communities.
Premier Christy Clark accepted the report and said the province had already begun work on 40 recommendations and would implement all those that apply to B.C. Other recommendations are directed at the federal government.
“Separating a child from his or her family must always be a last resort for government. We must ask ourselves why it is that First Nations children are so much more likely to be separated from their home than others,” Clark said.