English - Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies

In Indian country, we should probably
insist, first off, that our ancestors have
never gotten the credit they deserve
from this country for surviving.
Survival wasn’t as easy then as it
seems now, and they never would
have made it if they’d spent centuries
wandering in a daze until they came
across a dead buffalo beside a cold
spring, with a lightning strike for fire
somewhere in the background. To the
contrary, tribes cooperated with and
among each other on everything from
buffalo hunts to the fish catch and crop
harvests, none of which could have
happened if our tribes had not known
all about self-governance.
- Rebecca Adamson
You are going to live through hard times,
difficulties . . . ​. [We] were told never to
give up . . . ​
- Elder from Kangiqsualujjuaq, 2007
Resilient individuals have strengths, attitudes and skills that
enable them to manage in their lives and cope with adversity. All
societies generally agree on certain basic factors that are
necessary for health and strength:
> Forming good relationships
> Not harming others or oneself
> Contributing in positive ways to family, work, community
and friends
> Doing those things that enable mental and physical health
for oneself and others
Resiliency is enhanced when key protective factors are in place.
Protective factors which help a child or individual to overcome
deprivation and deal with adverse life conditions include:
> Caring and supportive relationships
> Positive high expectations
> Opportunities for meaningful participation in the family
and the community
> A strong sense of identity
> Healthy and supportive families and communities
> Strong coping skills
> Knowledge of culture language
> A positive view of the future
Aboriginal families are resilient. Despite consistent adversarial conditions, the
Aboriginal population in Canada is a growing population that is reclaiming family
and community structures and cultural and traditional ways of living.
Resiliency is a key tool child welfare professionals can use when supporting families
to address the family violence in their lives.
I. BUILDING ON THE CURRENT CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM IN ONTARIO
As a child welfare professional, many tools currently exist that will support you as
you transform the ways you do your work with First Nations, Inuit and Métis families.
Some of those tools include:
ASSESSMENT AND CASE PLANNING
36
Eligibility
Spectrum:
This tool is designed to assist child protection staff to make
“consistent and accurate decisions about a child or family’s eligibility
for service at the time of referral” — ​the point at which the child
welfare agency becomes involved with the family (Ontario
Association of Children’s Aid Societies, 2006).