English - Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies

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$Marie Collins \$

The focus group participants gave the following examples of when the family’s cultural norms were not respected: > > Foster parents cutting the children’s hair > > An infant or toddler being carried in the Amauti (Inuit coat) was considered putting the child at risk for suffocation > > Having children share beds > > Allowing children to play with less supervision > > Letting children be childlike for a longer period of time THE EXPERIENCE WITH CHILD WELFARE HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN POSITIVE Aboriginal families’ experiences with child welfare professionals have not always been positive and family members sometimes felt diminished. Many of the behaviours that focus group participants described showed disrespect on the part of the child welfare “Aboriginal people have no trust of CAS. Historically, since contact, we have been on the losing end of everything. CAS needs to give clients more information in order to build trust.” - Focus group participant professional; in the case of Aboriginal child welfare professionals, the negative behaviours were perceived as lateral violence. Focus group members described the behaviours of the child welfare professional that contributed to them feeling judged: Rolling eyes, being distracted, writing everything down that is being said without looking up. These behaviours created fear in family members and affected their ability to engage with child welfare services. If women are too fearful to engage with children’s aid societies, there is a potential that violence may increase. Women noted that they were afraid that CAS would show up at their children’s school after a domestic dispute so it made women not want to call police again. 98 D. PRACTICE: WORK WITH THE ENTIRE FAMILY Three of the 12 core principles described by Turnell and Edwards (1999) articulate the foundation of a helping relationship when working with a family that is experiencing violence: > > Cooperate with the person, not the abuse. Workers can build a relationship with family members without condoning the abuse in any way. Listen and respond to the [ family member’s] story. Give the family choices and opportunities to give you input . . . be up front and honest, particularly in the investigation . . . > > Recognize that cooperation is possible even when coercion is required. Workers will almost always have to use some amount of coercion and often exercise [legislated] power but that does not mean that the relationship you are building cannot be a cooperative partnership. You have power over that
family but that does not have to be the most obvious focus of your relationship. > > Maintain a focus on safety. The focus of child protection work is always to increase safety [ for the children]. You will need to explore different options to increase safety that reflects the Aboriginal concepts of family and that supports the woman. WHEN WORKING WITH THE WOMAN When a woman has called the police and a child welfare professional shows up at her door, she may be distressed and confused. She will have called police to express concern for her safety and to request protection. At that initial contact, child welfare professionals must begin to form a trusting relationship with women and assure them that you are part of the protection plan for her and her children. “You need to know about me, to know how to handle me; to know how to help me. If you don’t, then you’re doing a disservice.” - Focus group participant Specific suggestions from women in the focus groups included: The first meeting: > > Explain the impacts witnessing violence has on children > > Explain why CAS is there when the woman has called the police for family violence > > Let the woman know of the options/resources available to her, especially during the initial crisis > > Assume that the woman is innocent of any form of child maltreatment until you have evidence > > Recognize that you are not seeing a mother at her best > > Focus on her strengths as a mother — the fact that she called the police to protect herself and her children Attend to her needs as a woman experiencing violence: > > Ask her if she would like to have an advocate who will be there to support her and provide her with additional information. Encourage women not to go through the system alone. > > Offer her information about her rights in family violence situations. If you are unfamiliar with them, bring a CAS colleague or a person from a VAW organization with whom you have established a protocol relationship. > > Explain the cycle of violence No explanation was given when the police and CAS showed up at one of the woman’s homes. The woman did not feel supported at all. Basically she was told “you’re not able to protect your kids.” - Focus group participant PRACTICE TIP Create a Safety Plan with the woman for herself and her children. If you need support in creating a family violence safety plan, bring a colleague who can work with the mother to develop a plan. A safety plan prepares a woman to stay safely in the home and to get safely out of the home if necessary. See Appendix B for a sample of a safety plan for the person being abused. 99
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WORKING WITH FIRST NATIONS, INUIT A
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SUPPORTING ABORIGINAL FAMILIES Than
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THE STEERING COMMITTEE Native Child
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8 4 > STRENGTHENING YOUR PRACTICE /
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Child welfare professionals have a
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4. To successfully protect First Na
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A range of violent behaviour can oc
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“The term ‘Aboriginal’ is off
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The Practice Guide is an invitation
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Clan family: This structure is base
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Family violence (witnessing and bei
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could live on the land and in the c
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The historical trauma of Aboriginal
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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Adapted from
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FAMILY VIOLENCE Family violence in
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General characteristics of lateral
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G. ATTACHMENT Culture has commonly
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In Indian country, we should probab
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Customary Care: Customary Care reco
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Canada Mortgage and Housing Corpora
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2 > FIRST NATION, INUIT AND MÉTIS
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First Nations people living outside
Page 47 and 48: First Nations, Métis and Inuit peo
Page 49 and 50: and meeting obligations to medicine
Page 51 and 52: C. THE INUIT In 2006, there were 2,
Page 53 and 54: population relates primarily to the
Page 55 and 56: Individuals or their children were
Page 57 and 58: status as a result of marrying non-
Page 59 and 60: MILLENNIUM SCOOP In her report, Pro
Page 61 and 62: G. ABORIGINAL FAMILIES AND CHILD WE
Page 63 and 64: . . . if we go back to the origi
Page 65 and 66: Effectiveness of Healing Activities
Page 67 and 68: 3 > UNDERSTANDING CHILD WELFARE AND
Page 69 and 70: and linguistic development, is a de
Page 71 and 72: The Medicine Wheel is an ancient sy
Page 73 and 74: Life Cycle Wheel training and teach
Page 75 and 76: 1. Piliriqatigiinngniq — worki
Page 77 and 78: Traditionally, it was the women who
Page 79 and 80: The OACAS Practice Guide, Critical
Page 81 and 82: THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK TO END VIOL
Page 83 and 84: 2. In order for development to occu
Page 85 and 86: Circles and involves the community
Page 87 and 88: A key tool that is often used to he
Page 89: Four Worlds International Institute
Page 92 and 93: A. HOW ABORIGINAL FAMILIES DESCRIBE
Page 94 and 95: Indigenous knowledge, including how
Page 96 and 97: “I felt judged by the workers. I
Page 100 and 101: “When a CAS protection worker cam
Page 102 and 103: Offer as many interventions as poss
Page 104 and 105: The model below shows elements invo
Page 106 and 107: F. PRACTICE: ENGAGE OTHERS TO SUPPO
Page 108 and 109: What are the strengths of this fami
Page 110 and 111: The focus group participants made t
Page 112 and 113: “CAS was called in because the fa
Page 114 and 115: 3. Focus group participants express
Page 116 and 117: Some of the training provided to re
Page 118 and 119: SOURCES Ajunnginiq Centre, National
Page 120 and 121: A. WHAT DOES “ABORIGINAL COMMUNIT
Page 122 and 123: Organizational change within CAS in
Page 124 and 125: ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE OF CHILD WELF
Page 126 and 127: “Our organization has agreements
Page 128 and 129: AHWS Healing Continuum Aboriginal H
Page 130 and 131: SOURCES Aboriginal Healing and Well
Page 132 and 133: A. WHAT DOES ADVOCACY MEAN Child we
Page 134 and 135: community initiatives, conducted re
Page 136 and 137: To download a copy of Children Firs
Page 138 and 139: 3. What interventions are offered t
Page 140 and 141: and ongoing needs with the resource
Page 142 and 143: A. A PROCESS OF RECONCILIATION In 1
Page 144 and 145: S O U R C E S Blackstock, C., Cross
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APPENDIX A GLOSSARY Unless specific
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emaining within Canada. All 10 prem
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APPENDIX B SAFETY PLANNING FOR WOME
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APPENDIX C SAFETY PLANNING FOR THE
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flag situations arise from rigid ex
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REFERENCES 2-Sprited People of the
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Castellano, M.B., Archibald, L., &
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Hudson, P. & McKenzie, B. (2003). E
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Ontario Association of Children’s
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Teillet, J. (2010). Métis law in C
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English - Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies

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