The Assembly of First Nations used its time in front of the House of Commons Finance Committee yesterday to ask for help for aboriginal children in Canada. The finance committee is taking pre-budget submissions. Why do they need help? Here’s some of the bullet points provided by AFN researchers.
- Better than one of every ten First Nations children living on reserve in Canada is living in foster care on welfare. By comparison, only about one of every 100 non-native, off-reserver children is in such care.
- On a per-child basis, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada provides about 33 per cent less funding, the AFN says, compared to the average amount provincial governments set aside for care of non-native, off-reserve children.
- 22,000 First Nation children are in the care of child welfare agencies across Canada. The key factor for taking children into care is physical neglect due to poverty. 38 per cent of cases have been exposed to family violence as the substantiated form of maltreatment leading to placement.