“We need to tear this whole system down,' one advocate for families said of Alberta's child welfare system.
Mark Cherrington, a social justice advocate with the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, said he believes since Serenity’s death, First Nations and other Indigenous people have taken significant steps towards setting up their own child welfare systems.
“ has really pushed child welfare over the precipice,” he said. “That was the last nail in the coffin.Click to share quote on Twitter: "I can see that this is the beginning of the end for the child welfare system as we know it." “I personally find the child welfare system very patronizing, I find it colonial, I find it out of tune with community. I find that there’s a lot of staff turnover within the child welfare system… The child welfare system is broken.”‘Breathe life into our own laws’: Visions for the future of Indigenous child welfare in B.C. Cherrington, who said he is currently working with the Dene Nation to help it establish its own child welfare system, said the reason that there are so many Indigenous children in care is not because of Indigenous families. “It’s because of residential schooling, it’s because of colonialism, it’s because of the way we’ve been treating Indigenous, Métis and Inuit children and families for the last 150 years,” he said. “We have to own that and we need to support our First Nations… that are moving towards this.“I think it’s going to be a good day when that transition is complete.” Cherrington said even if First Nations assert their autonomy over the handling of child welfare, government still have a role to play by ensuring those systems receive funding assistance and help with capacity.Children’s Services Minister Mickey Amery issued a statement after Cochard’s report was released, saying Alberta’s government will continue to work to improve the system going forward and will review the judge’s recommendations. He also said “substantial changes have been made to help prevent this tragedy from happening again,” mentioning Serenity’s Law, passed in 2019, which expands reporting options when it comes to child welfare. Choate said with Alberta in an election year, he worries the issues brought up by the report may slip through the cracks, because it calls for “big-think kinds of changes.” “The province has to commit to a very substantial overhaul of the legislation, the commitment to Indigenous children and changes in practice,” he said. “That’s a big move but that’s really what the judge is calling on us to do.Calls for changes to child welfare system after scathing report into Indigenous child’s death Cherrington said he believes those with power in Alberta’s child welfare system “still don’t listen to their front-line staff.”“They catch on to an idea and they hang on to that narrative no matter what,” he said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement with their system and it’s the same things that people have been telling them for the last 30 years. And they’re not listening.” Alberta’s Office of the Child and Youth Advocate told Global News on Thursday that it was difficult to provide comment on the report because “our legislation prohibits our staff from disclosing the name or any identifying information about a child to whom our investigation relates or a parent or guardian of the child.” “We received a copy of the fatality inquiry report and are currently reviewing it,” the OCYA said. “We have four months to respond to the recommendations that pertain to our office.”Marshalsay expressed concern that some of the child welfare workers whose actions appeared to be critcized in Cochard’s report are still working in the system and questions if they have made any changes. She believes more training is needed.“A lot of the problem is the management,” she said, describing some in management roles as “old-school players” who have not all adopted new ways of thinking about how to work in child welfare. Marshalsay said the problems are also tied to the justice system, with government lawyers earning far more than Legal Aid lawyers often representing families, making it more challenging for families to successfully argue their cases in courts. She said for the provincial government to make the changes that are needed, it is important for officials to meet with families affected by the system. She also noted that more public awareness about the issues is needed. “There’s this mentality that if your kids came into care there’s a reason for it, and you must be a horrible person and you must be doing nothing to change yourself — and that is not the case.”
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