Hostname: page-component-669899f699-tpknm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-06T21:02:10.072Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Crisis in Care: Structural Poverty, Colonization and Child Apprehensions in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2024

Lorna Stefanick Open the ORCID record for Lorna Stefanick [Opens in a new window]  and
Myra J. Tait
Lorna Stefanick*
Affiliation:
A settler and professor, Centre for Social Sciences, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada
Myra J. Tait
Affiliation:
A member of Berens River First Nation, Myra J Tait is Anishinaabe and holds a JD and LLM. She identifies as an independent scholar since being put on unpaid leave by Athabasca University in 2023.
*
Corresponding author: Lorna Stefanick; Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Canadian child welfare system has been characterized as being in crisis for over a decade; the number of children in care (and dying in care) has increased dramatically, straining an overburdened system. Physical or sexual abuse is not the reason most children are removed from their homes; rather, the state deems them lacking the necessities of life, usually because their family is impoverished. Because the majority of children in care are Indigenous, the child welfare system is described as the new version of residential schools. Using the lens of historical institutionalism, this study argues that the current child welfare system reflects colonial and neoliberal assumptions that some parents are incapable of sound decision making by virtue of their race or socio-economic situation. Canada's child welfare system is both a product and contributor to the institutions and policies that reinforce intergenerational poverty, a key determinant of removing children from their families.

Résumé

Résumé

Le système canadien de protection de l'enfance a été caractérisé comme étant en crise depuis plus d'une décennie. Le nombre d'enfants pris (et morts) en charge a augmenté de façon spectaculaire, mettant à rude épreuve un système surchargé. La raison principale pour laquelle la majorité des enfants sont retirés de leur foyer est la pauvreté de la famille. La majorité des enfants pris en charge sont autochtones. En tant que tel, le système est décrit comme la nouvelle version des pensionnats indiens. En utilisant le prisme de l'institutionnalisme historique, cette étude soutient que la situation actuelle reflète les hypothèses coloniale et néolibérale selon lesquelles certains parents sont incapables de prendre des décisions judicieuses en vertu de leur race ou leur situation socio-économique. Le système canadien de protection de l'enfant est à la fois un produit des, et contribue aux, institutions et politiques qui augmentent la pauvreté intergénérationnelle, un facteur déterminant du retrait des enfants de leur famille.

Keywords

settler-colonialismstructural povertyIndigenous child welfare policyIndian residential schoolhistorical institutionalismcolonialisme de sentaientla pauvreté structurellepolitique de bien-être des autochtonespensionnats indiensinstitutionnalisme historique
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , March 2024 , pp. 174 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Canadian Political Science Association (l’Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alberta, Ministry of Children's Services. 2022. Deaths of Children, Youth and Young Adults Receiving Child Intervention Services, April 1, 2013 to July 31, 2022. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/7153dfa5-e636-45fa-9916-df079fee76e8/resource/550b134b-724d-496a-a7ab-e587a04aed03/download/cs-deaths-of-children-youth-or-young-adults-receiving-child-intervention-2022-03.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Bahk, Yong-Chun, Jang, Seon-Kyeong, Choi, Kee-Hong, and Lee, Seung-Hwan. 2017. “The Relationship between Childhood Trauma and Suicidal Ideation: Role of Maltreatment and Potential Mediators.” Psychiatry Investigation. 14 (1): 37–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Banting, Keith, and Debra, Thompson. 2021. “The Puzzling Persistence of Racial Inequality in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science. 54 (4): 870–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, Cyndy. 2007. “Indigenous Youth Talk about Structural Determinants as the Causes of their Homelessness.” First Peoples Child & Family Review. 3 (3): 31–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becken, Bob. 2023. Why Some Ontario Children with Complex Special Needs Are Living in Hotels. October 25. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ontario-childrens-aid-society-crisis-hotels-1.7007480. November 9, 2023.Google Scholar
Béland, Daniel. 2007. “Ideas and Institutional Change in Social Security: Conversion, Layering and Policy Drift.” Social Science Quarterly. 9 (1): 20–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackstock, Cindy, Trocmé, Nico, and Bennett, Marlyn. 2004. “Child Maltreatment Investigations Among Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Families in Canada.” Violence Against Women. 10 (8): 912–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brownell, M, N, Nickel, L, Turnbull, W, Au, O, Ekuma, L, MacWilliam, S, McCulloch, J, Valdivia, J, Boram Lee, E, Wall-Wieler, J, Enns. 2020. The Overlap Between the Child Welfare and Youth Criminal Justice Systems: Documenting “Cross-Over Kids” in Manitoba. Winnipeg, MB. Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. http://mchp-appserv.cpe.umanitoba.ca/reference/MCHP_JustCare_Report_web.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Brownlee, Jamie. 2005. Ruling Canada: Corporate Cohesion and Democracy. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Bryce, Peter. 1907. Report on the Indian Schools of Manitoba and the North West Territories. Canada. Department of Indian Affairs. http://educate-yourself.org/cn/Report-on-the-Indian-Schools-1907-Dr-Peter-Bryce-2.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Department of the Interior 1877. Annual Report of the Department of the Interior for the year ended 30th June, 1876. Department of the Interior. Parliament, Sessional Papers, 40 Victoria, No. 11, p. xiv. https://primarydocuments.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SessPapers111876Jun30.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Employment and Social Development. 2023. Blueprint for Transformation. The 2023 Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/esdc-edsc/documents/programs/poverty-reduction/national-advisory-council/reports/2023-annual/NACP_2023-Report-EN%20Final.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Indian Act. RSC 1985, c I–5.Google Scholar
Canada. Indigenous Services. 2019. Bill C-92: An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families receives Royal Assent. News Release. https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-services-canada/news/2019/06/an-act-respecting-first-nations-inuit-and-metis-children-youth-and-families-receives-royal-assent.html (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Indigenous Services. 2023. Reducing the Number of Children in Care. https://sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1541187352297/1541187392851 (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. MMIWG. 2019a. Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the Nation Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Vol. 1a. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1a-1.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. MMIWG. 2019b. Supplementary Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Analysis of Genocide. Vol. 1b. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Supplementary-Report_Genocide.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Office of the Correctional Investigator. 2015. Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator 2014–2015. https://oci-bec.gc.ca/en/content/annual-report-office-correctional-investigator-2014-2015#s10 (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Office of the Correctional Investigator 2022. Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator 2021–2022. https://oci-bec.gc.ca/en/content/office-correctional-investigator-annual-report-2021-2022#s8 (November 9, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Public Health Agency of Canada. 2010. Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect–2008: Major Findings. Ottawa. https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/CIS-2008-rprt-eng.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Statistics Canada. 2016. The Evolution of Income Mobility in Canada: Evidence from the Longitudinal Administrative Databank, 1982 to 2012. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/75f0002m/75f0002m2016001-eng.pdf?st=y0W6X2hi (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada, Statistics Canada. 2016. Living Arrangements of Aboriginal Children 14 years and under. Statistics Canada Insights on Canadian Society, April 13. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-006-x/2016001/article/14547-eng.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Statistics Canada. 2022. Canadian Income Survey 2020. The Daily. March 23 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220323/dq220323a-eng.htm (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Statistics Canada. 2023. What Do We Know About Child Maltreatment in Canada. Economic and Social Reports. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/36-28-0001/2023001/article/00001-eng.pdf?st=9oLzwXj3 (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canada. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada. https://web-trc.ca November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal. 2018a. Alberta Statistics, 2008. http://cwrp.ca/provinces-territories/alberta?quicktabs_1=0#quicktabs-1 November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal. 2018b. Ontario Statistics, 2013. http://cwrp.ca/provinces-territories/ontario (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Carroll, William K. and Little, William. 2001. “Neoliberal Transformation and Antiglobalization Politics in Canada: Transition, Consolidation, Resistance.” International Journal of Political Economy. 31 (3): 33–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CBC News. 2012. Canadian Foster Care in Crisis, Experts Say. February 19. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadian-foster-care-in-crisis-experts-say-1.1250543 (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
CBC News. 2013. Unreported Child Deaths Lead to Call for Public Inquiry. November 25. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/unreported-child-deaths-lead-to-call-for-public-inquiry-1.2439461 (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Child Welfare League of Canada. 2022. Moving Beyond Neglect: Recommendations and Future Directions for Child Welfare Policy and Practice. Prepared by Eden Haber. https://www.cwlc.ca/_files/ugd/f54667_834c35b5fb924abfbd4b0d2be05f0f65.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Dudley, Richard G. Jr. 2015. “Childhood Trauma and Its Effects: Implications for Police.” New Perspectives in Policing. July. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/248686.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Evenson, Jeff and Barr, Carolann. 2009. Youth Homelessness in Canada: The Road to Solutions. A report produced by Raising the Roof. https://raisingtheroof.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/RTR_En_RTS_SmmryDoc.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Feldman, Guy. 2019. “Neoliberalism and Poverty: An Unbreakable Relationship.” In Routledge International Handbook of Poverty, ed. Greve, B.. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ferguson, Harry. 2011. Child Protection Practice. London: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaetz, Stephen, O'Grady, Bill, Kidd, Sean and Schwan, Kaitlin. 2016. Without a Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey. Toronto: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press.Google Scholar
Grant, Tavia. 2022. “Records of Canadian Residential Schools in Rome Can Help with Identification of Missing Indigenous Children.” Globe and Mail. August 1, 2022 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-records-of-canadian-residential-schools-in-rome-can-help-with/ (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Green, Joyce. 2001. “Canaries in the Mines of Citizenship: Indian Women in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science. XXXIV (4): 715–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacker, Jacob S. 2002. The Divided Welfare State: The Battle Over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawthorn, Harry. ed. 1966. A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada: A Report on Economic, Political, Educational Needs and Policies. Vol. 1. Ottawa: Indian Affairs Branch.Google Scholar
Hinge, Gail. 1985. Consolidation of Indian Legislation. Volume II: Indian Acts and Amendments 1868–1975. Canada: Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/aanc-inac/R5-158-2-1978-eng.pdfGoogle Scholar
Hinrichs, Karl and Kangas, Olli. 2003. “When Is a Change Big Enough to Be a System Shift?” Social Policy and Administration. 37 (6): 573–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, Alan M. 2015. ““Process Tracing the Effect of Ideas.” In Process tracing in the Social Sciences: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool, eds. Bennett, Andrew and Checkel, Jeffrey T.. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Johnston, Patrick. 1983. Native Children and the Child Welfare System. Toronto: James Lorimer Limited.Google Scholar
Kleiss, Karen and Henton, Darcy. 2013. “Fatal Care: Foster Care Tragedies Cloaked in Secrecy.” Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/alberta/fatal-care-foster-care-tragedies-cloaked-in-secrecy (November 13, 2023)Google Scholar
Laxer, Gordon and Harrison, Trevor. 1995. The Trojan Horse: Alberta and the Future of Canada. Montreal/New York: Black Rose Books.Google Scholar
MacDonald, David. 2019. The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, David and Wilson, Daniel. 2016. Shameful Neglect: Indigenous Child Poverty in Canada. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2016/05/Indigenous_Child%20_Poverty.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Macdonald, Fiona and Levasseur, Karine. 2014. Canadian Public Administration 57 (1): 97–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGuinness, Teena M. and Schneider, Kristina. 2007. “Poverty, Child Maltreatment, and Foster Care.” American Psychiatric Nurses Association. 13 (5): 296–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacPherson, Crawford Brough (C. B). 1953. Democracy in Alberta: The Theory and Practice of a Quasi-Party System. Toronto: University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Madland, David. 2015. Hollowed Out: Why the Economy Doesn't Work without a Strong Middle Class. Oakland: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Fay. 1996. “Tales of Transition: Leaving Public Care.” In Youth in Transition: Perspectives on Research and Policy, eds. Galaway, Burt and Hudson, Joe. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.Google Scholar
Monchalin, Lisa. 2016. The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
NationTalk. 2013. Invasive Surveillance of Human Rights Defender Cindy Blackstock. May 30. https://nationtalk.ca/story/invasive-surveillance-of-human-rights-defender-cindy-blackstock (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Olijnyk, Zena. 2022. “Court of Queen's Bench Rules Manitoba Misused Benefits Meant for Children in Foster Care.” Canadian Lawyer. https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/litigation/court-of-queens-bench-judge-rules-manitoba-misused-benefits-meant-for-children-in-foster-care/366778 (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
O'Sullivan, Dominic. 2022. “The Crisis of Policy Failure or the Moral Crisis of an Idea: Colonial Politics in Contemporary Australia and New Zealand,” Political Science. 74 (1): 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quebec. 2022. Reference to the Court of Appeal of Quebec in relation with the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (Order in Council No. 1288-2019) [Re: Act respecting First Nations].Google Scholar
Race, Lynsey and Stefanick, Lorna. 2020. “Mother-Child Programs in Prison: Disciplining the Unworthy Mother.” In Levasseur, Karine, Paterson, Stephanie, and Turnbull, Lorna A., Mothering and Welfare: Depriving, Surviving, Thriving. Bradford Ont: Demeter Press.Google Scholar
Saskatchewan Prevention Institute. 2016. Child Death Review in Canada: A National Scan. May 2016. https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/2-460_child-death-review-in-canada-a-national-scan.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Scott, Duncan Campbell. 1918. Letter from Duncan Campbell Scott to BC Indian Agent General-Major D. Mackay. UBC Learning Circle presentation by Angela White. 2013. “Colonialism, History & Impacts: Indian Residential Schools.” https://learningcircle.ubc.ca/files/2013/08/IRS-Colonialism-History-Impacts-2013.pdf (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Shewell, Hugh. 2004. “Enough to Keep Them Alive”: Indian Welfare in Canada, 1873–1965. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shrivastava, Meenal and Stefanick, Lorna. 2015. Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Peter (Jay). 2015. “Petro-politics in Alberta and Canada: A New Spatiality of Political Contestation?” In Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada, eds. Shrivastava, Meenal and Stefanick, Lorna. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.Google Scholar
Stevenson, Allyson. 2019. “Child Welfare, Indigenous Children, and Children's Rights in Canada.” Direito e Práxis. 10 (2): 1239–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2012. The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Strong-Boag, Veronica. 2011. Fostering Nation?: Canada Confronts Its History of Childhood Disadvantage. Waterloo, Ont: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supreme Court of Canada. R v. Marshall, 3 S.C.R. 45. 1999. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1739/index.do (November 10, 2023).Google Scholar
Tarasuk, Valerie, Li, Tim, St-Germain, Andrée-Anne Fafard. 2022. Household Food Insecurity in Canada, 2021. Toronto: Research to Identify Policy Options to Reduce Food Insecurity (PROOF). https://proof.utoronto.ca/ (November 13, 2023).Google Scholar
Thelen, Kathleen. 2004. How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tobias, John L. 1991. “Protection, Civilization, Assimilation: An Outline History of Canada's Indian Policy” in Sweet Promises: A Reader on Indian-White Relations in Canada, ed. Miller, J. R.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, Richard and Pickett, Kate. 2009. The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press.Google Scholar