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Auditor General Says Aboriginal Child Protection Needs Not Being Met

By 250 News

Tuesday, May 06, 2008 06:33 PM



Victoria, B.C. - In a report released today titled Management of Aboriginal Child Protection Services, Auditor General John Doyle has concluded that many of the child protection needs of Aboriginal children and their families in B.C. remain unmet. He noted the progress government has made in improving collaboration amongst Aboriginal organizations, the federal government and between BC ministries. "But more collaboration and a more strategic approach is needed if Aboriginal child protection goals in BC are to be met," Doyle noted.

In 2006/07 alone, over 4,600 children of the roughly one million children in British Columbia were found to be in need of protection. While Aboriginal children account for only 8% of children in the province, they make up 51% of children in the legal care of the province, a proportion that is higher than the national average of 30-40%.

Doyle reported that the actual cost of implementing government's Aboriginal child protection service approach is still unknown. "The ministry has not identified the needs and resources required for Aboriginal child protection services," he said, "And it does not publicly report on how well these services are being delivered."

The report contains ten recommendations for the Ministry of Children and Family Development to improve child protection service delivery for Aboriginal children in British Columbia.

You can access the ten recommendations by clicking here.


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Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 06:33 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Comment Posted by: Moses on May 6 2008 6:53 PM
'While Aboriginal children account for only 8% of children in the province, they make up 51% of children in the legal care of the province'

Maybe their parents can start doing some of the protecting.

And no - that's not a racist comment.

It's a comment regarding the responsibilities that EVERY parent has toward their own children.
Comment Posted by: whitewater on May 6 2008 8:11 PM
Cuckoo birds don’t look after their babies either. Some people haven’t figured out that it is cheaper for the government to raise their kids yet. Think of the free time and extra money to go to the casino or bar.
Comment Posted by: Andyfreeze on May 6 2008 9:30 PM
No Moses,that is not a racist statement.
The statistics speak for themselves.
If there are that many first nations kids in care,it IS the parents who have the problems!
Those kids don't get there by themselves, do they?
Comment Posted by: metalman on May 7 2008 8:48 AM
It has never been any different from what I have observed. Memo to government: this is not a new crisis. Oh, and there are plenty of lousy parents from other cultures too.
Comment Posted by: RugratsMom on May 7 2008 11:08 AM
Exactly Andy. It's not the children's fault. They didn't ask to be brought into an unstable home complete with drugs,alchohol, and abuse. The parents of these children are parenting, for the most part, the only way they know how which was taught to them by example. Maybe with accountability and a sense of ownership they might clean up their act. Feel like they are worth more than that. Maybe with more support staff instead of brand new trucks in their community they can learn how to raise healthy children. I don't know what the answer is but these children need help.
Comment Posted by: lostfaith on May 7 2008 1:29 PM
The government has the answer.
They will just keep handing out all the freebees and continue with their government race based programs.
After all money is like grease it keeps the squeeky things quiet.
I don't care what color a persons skin is if someone needs help they should get it.
Comment Posted by: northern taxpayer on May 7 2008 5:35 PM
remember they did not ask to leave the hunter-gather way of life to our farmer -herder- parisite way. our system can be very misleading as our great leaders still talk to everyone with their white man inherited forked tongue.this is going to take more time and unfortunatly more souls.
Comment Posted by: getajob on May 7 2008 5:52 PM
Yawn.....
Comment Posted by: caranmacil on May 8 2008 1:32 PM
Oh for gods sake! PArents dont neglect their children because we have leaders with forked tongues or because they are farmers or herders rather than noble hunters. When will peolple stop trying to confuse every issue with the same old cliches? If money were the answer they could have more of mine, with pleasure. This issue is as racially charged as they get. On one hand there are the statistics and on the other there is the racist practices intrinsic to the child welfare system itself (ie placement of chilren into foster homes of their own race whenever possible). In the end, however, it is NOT the government that is at fault, except to the extent that they lack the resources to keep track of foster homes. Honestly, why blame the government when children are neglected or abused by their own family or extended family? Perhaps because we are too obsessed with making excuses for those really responsible, native or otherwise.