Protecting Aboriginal Children

Protecting Aboriginal Children
Author: Christopher Walmsley
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 0774811714

Beginning in the 1960s, large numbers of Aboriginal children in Canada were removed from their families by provincial child welfare services. Known as the "Sixties Scoop," the practice resulted in the destruction of individuals and the devastation of communities. Today, Aboriginal children comprise roughly half of the children in state care in Canada, but since the 1980s, bands and tribal councils have developed unique community-based child welfare services to better protect Aboriginal children. Protecting Aboriginal Children explores contemporary approaches to the well-being of Aboriginal children through interviews with practising social workers employed at Aboriginal child welfare organizations and the state child protection service in British Columbia. It places current practice in a socio-historical context, describes emerging practice in decolonizing communities, and identifies the effects of political and media controversy on social workers. While the dangerous, stressful, and political aspects of the work are not minimized, the creative and original practice developing outside the spotlight of media and government scrutiny are highlighted. This engaging book is the first to document emerging practice in Aboriginal communities and to describe child protection practice simultaneously from the point of view of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal social workers. Those working in child welfare or contemplating a career in child protection will find the book an insightful analysis of current practice thinking and experience. Aboriginal peoples with an interest in health and human services, as well as social work students, child welfare workers and administrators, and health, education, and human service professionals will find it particularly useful.

Aboriginal Child Welfare, Self-Government and the Rights of Indigenous Children

Aboriginal Child Welfare, Self-Government and the Rights of Indigenous Children
Author: Sonia Harris-Short
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2016-03-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317186133

This volume addresses the contentious and topical issue of aboriginal self-government over child welfare. Using case studies from Australia and Canada, it discusses aboriginal child welfare in historical and comparative perspectives and critically examines recent legal reforms and changes in the design, management and delivery of child welfare services aimed at securing the 'decolonization' of aboriginal children and families. Within this context, the author identifies the limitations of reconciling the conflicting demands of self-determination and sovereignty and suggests that international law can provide more nuanced and culturally sensitive solutions. Referring to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is argued that the effective decolonization of aboriginal child welfare requires a journey well beyond the single issue of child welfare to the heart of the debate over self-government, self-determination and sovereignty in both national and international law.

Decolonising Indigenous Child Welfare

Decolonising Indigenous Child Welfare
Author: Terri Libesman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2013-12-04
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1134518234

During the past decade, a remarkable transference of responsibility to Indigenous children’s organisation has taken place in many parts of Australia, Canada, the USA and New Zealand. It has been influenced by Indigenous peoples’ human rights advocacy at national and international levels, by claims to self-determination and by the globalisation of Indigenous children’s organisations. Thus far, this reform has taken place with little attention from academic and non-Indigenous communities; now, Decolonising Indigenous Child Welfare: Comparative Perspectives considers these developments and, evaluating law reform with respect to Indigenous child welfare, asks whether the pluralisation of responses to their welfare and well-being, within a cross-cultural post-colonial context, can improve the lives of Indigenous children. The legislative frameworks for the delivery of child welfare services to Indigenous children are assessed in terms of the degree of self-determination which they afford Indigenous communities. The book draws upon interdisciplinary research and the author’s experience collaborating with the peak Australian Indigenous children’s organisation for over a decade to provide a thorough examination of this international issue. Dr Terri Libesman is a Senior Lecturer in the Law Faculty, at the University of Technology Sydney. She has collaborated, researched and published for over a decade with the peak Australian Indigenous children’s organisation.

Child Protection and the Care Continuum

Child Protection and the Care Continuum
Author: Elizabeth Fernandez
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2020-11-25
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1000281418

This important new book critically examines the complex policy and practice issues surrounding child protection, including the impact of theoretical orientations, contemporary debates, policy initiatives and research findings, and maintains an emphasis on the ethics and values underpinning child welfare interventions. The book introduces policies that are central to understanding the position and needs of children and young people, and how policy and practice have been influenced by developments including the children’s rights agenda. It also explores the most significant issues in child welfare. These include: the experience of maltreatment by children, the systems of child protection to safeguard them, the methods and challenges of risk assessment, and the wide range of policy and therapeutic interventions to respond to children’s needs. The book also examines family support to promote children’s wellbeing before considering provision for children and young people who are looked after in out-of-home care. There is also a final section that focuses on best practice in communicating and working with children and young people, drawing on participatory, rights-oriented and resilience-based approaches, and supporting foster and adoptive carers and biological parents. Contributing in a substantive and clear manner to a growing international conversation about the present function and future directions for child welfare in contemporary societies, this textbook will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate social work students and those from allied disciplines, and professionals who are engaged in child welfare services.

Walking This Path Together

Walking This Path Together
Author: Jeannine Carrière
Publisher: Fernwood Publishing
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2020-07-10T00:00:00Z
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1773633988

Walking This Path Together is an edited collection devoted to improving the lives of children and families that come to the attention of child welfare authorities by demonstrating and advocating for socially just child welfare practices. In this new, updated edition, authors provide special consideration to the historical and political context of child welfare in Canada and theoretical ideas and concrete practices that support practitioners, educators and students who are looking for anti-racist, anti-oppressive and anti-colonial perspectives on child welfare practice.

Our Greatest Challenge

Our Greatest Challenge
Author: Hannah McGlade
Publisher: Aboriginal Studies Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2012
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1922059102

Hannah McGlade's book bravely addresses the complex and fraught issue of Aboriginal child abuse. She argues that Aboriginal child sexual assault has been formed within the entrenched societal forces of racism, colonisation and patriarchy, yet cast in the Australian public domain as an Aboriginal 'problem', with controversial government responses critiqued as racist and paternalistic. McGlade highlights that non-Aboriginal society has yet to acknowledge the traumatic impacts of the sexual assault on Aboriginal children which was part and parcel of the European project of 'civilisation'. She provides detailed analysis of the legal systems response. While child sexual assault is a criminal offence, the Aboriginal experience of the law is tainted. Despite reforms to the law, the courtroom experience is based on re-victimisation and trauma which prevents the fundamental principle of equality before the law. McGlade believes that we should be guided by Indigenous human rights concepts and international Indigenous responses in addressing the problem. In doing so she believes that we can help to stem the harm to future generations.

Towards Positive Systems of Child and Family Welfare

Towards Positive Systems of Child and Family Welfare
Author: Gary Cameron
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 080209371X

Child and family welfare systems confront the problems of families throughout the world on a daily basis. Whilst there may be differences between nations and organisations, there are also similarities. This book presents a comparative study of child and family welfare models in the developed nations.

Protecting Aboriginal Children

Protecting Aboriginal Children
Author: Chris Walmsley
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2011-11-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0774841710

Since the 1980s, bands and tribal councils have developed unique community-based child welfare services to better protect Aboriginal children. Protecting Aboriginal Children explores contemporary approaches to the protection of Aboriginal children through interviews with practising social workers employed at Aboriginal child welfare organizations and the child protection service in British Columbia. It places current practice in a sociohistorical context, describes emerging practice in decolonizing communities, and identifies the effects of political and media controversy on social workers. This is the first book to document emerging practice in Aboriginal communities and describe child protection practice simultaneously from the point of view of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal social worker.

Rural Child Welfare Practice

Rural Child Welfare Practice
Author: Joanne Riebschleger
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2018
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190870427

Rural Child Welfare Practice describes real-life case vignettes for educating and training students and professionals to work with diverse rural children and families in the U.S., Australia, and Canada. Each chapter includes discussion questions, learning activities, and resources for building skills in rural child welfare practice.