In this policy, I am asking for stronger supports for Indigenous parents, and that of BIPOC / racialized parents, so that they are able to have more resources provided to them throughout the intake process for children in care. There is a disproportionate number of Indigenous youth in care who are being taken from their homes and their families. And, while Indigenous children aren’t the only ones being removed, currently, they make up a majority of the kids in care. This process has been something that has gone on for many years, and it needs to be addressed in the most-humane way possible.
“How can this be?”you may ask.
Well, the idea is to make sure that when there is a parent asking for help, when that parent is told to reach out to the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), that there is a proper intake process for the family to actually be helped, rather than scrutinized. We need to be able to reach out without fear of having the children taken out of their homes without properly evaluating what kind of help is being asked. Young parents should be able to believe that they are able to reach out and ask for help without being told that they shouldn’t be asking for help. If there was help available to parents before things got bad, it would create a world of possibilities for things to be better. Not only for the children, but for the parents, as well. It seems, most times, that it is forgotten that the parent is also involved, and that the parent’s positive mental state is the most-valuable thing to the children, so that they don’t need to be placed in care.
Watch Roberta’s policy presentation: