English - Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies

Have a designate from an Aboriginal organization come with the child welfare
professional when performing a home visit
> > In the case of status First Nations family members, ensure that you contact the
community Band Administrator or whoever is responsible for
children’s services in that First Nations community:
a) In some CASs, protocols have been
developed between the CAS and the
community and should be followed.
b) Follow up on your initial request. Band
Administrators were often responsible for
responding to children being taken into CAS
care. In recent years, the funding for Band
Administrators has been cut and many
communities do not have a dedicated position
at this time.
6. Recognize that Aboriginal families do not always have
a positive historical relationship with child welfare
and require support to be able to work effectively with
you. Support families to have advocates by recognizing,
respecting and establishing relationships with
advocates and mediators.
7. Child welfare professionals understand the systemic
services in the community that could assist with
overcoming the challenges of housing, finances, day care,
etc. to help increase child safety in the home.
PRACTICE TIP
Get to know the people you seek to help.
The following questions will provide you
with a list of people and organizations to
get to know:
a) What are the Aboriginal organizations
in my area
b) Does my CAS have a protocol when
working with Aboriginal peoples
c) Does my CAS have protocols with
specific bands
d) Does my CAS have a specific unit
responsible for working with
Aboriginal families
e) Is there a women’s shelter in the
community
f) Is there an Aboriginal women’s shelter
in the community
C. PRACTICE: ESTABLISHING COMMITTEES AND
PROTOCOLS
In the focus groups, child welfare professionals acknowledged
that there needed to be more forums, protocols and
internal and external processes to connect child welfare
and the family violence sector. Focus group members
acknowledged that there are two systems with two sets of
expectations that need to work together.
Service providers have also noted a need for better collaboration to provide helpful
services to women experiencing violence. “. . . In order to provide more safety to
women and children who experience violence services, there is a need to develop
better assessment, interventions and collaborative strategies” (OACAS, 2010a).
g) Who is working with Aboriginal
families in the area
h) What issues are they focused on
(e.g. child development, healing,
family violence)
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