Manitoba Child Welfare Audit Better Late Than Never
Yesterday it was announced that the Manitoba government is going to be conducting an audit on the child and family services system in the province. The system includes nearly 10,000 children, 90% of whom are Indigenous among 4 Authorities. This number has not significantly moved in the last 10 years. I am happy this audit is happening but it is frustrating that it took so many people, reports and experts, hired by the government for them to listen.
In 2018 I was part of a panel with the Manitoba government that looked at the legislation that oversees child welfare. We produced a report that, while pieces have been completed here and there, has not been acted upon. That was 8 years ago. Maybe it’s politics, since that report was written by a different party, that stops our current government from implementing those recommendations? That report contained 58 recommendations, emphasizing legislative changes that support the wellness of kids and families. 6 of the reports recommendations were related to the financial situation of child and family services. Those recommendations have unfortunately been sitting on a shelf for the last 8 years.
Here are what our recommendations were:
Funding: The current funding structure for child welfare services provides incentives in the wrong places by providing funding based on the number of open cases and children in care.
1. The committee recommends that a complete audit of the existing funding structure be conducted to evaluate the flow of money from the funding source to intended recipients.
2. A new funding structure that is focused on reunification must be equitable (e.g., south versus north, reserve versus urban, Indigenous versus non-Indigenous, newcomer versus non-newcomer, and large versus small organizations). Equity in programming must be a core principle of service delivery.
3. The revised funding structure needs to focus on outcomes and processes that ensures everyone is accountable for results. As part of the process, a system of checks and balances needs to be created within the funding system to enable the tracking of funds, and ensure that the money is reaching the intended service recipients: children, youth, families and communities.
4. As noted in the Phoenix Sinclair Inquiry, the capacity of community-based organizations needs to be enhanced with sustained long-term funding for the delivery of holistic services, and with a particular emphasis on supporting Indigenous-led organizations and programs that promote cultural identity in Indigenous communities.
5. Jordan’s Principle must be properly implemented in Manitoba. To protect and ensure the well-being of children, the Manitoba government must take an active lead in the implementation of Jordan’s Principle. In the field, agencies must be required to provide supports immediately and be concerned about who pays for the supports once the safety of the child is in place.
6. The CFS system should ensure there is a seamless transfer of funds when a child's case is moved from a Designated Intake Agency to another CFS agency that is responsible for providing ongoing services and supports.
If those recommendations sound familiar to you, imagine how familiar they sound to Indigenous leaders and former youth in the system that have now become leaders today. With the recent announcement by Manitoba’s minister of families that an independent external review of the system will take place, I am hopeful that we can adjust the child welfare system so that parents have the supports they need so kids don’t have to be apprehended in the first place and those kids and families can live a good life that is safe, free of poverty and away from these systems of family separation.
Maybe we can also get someone to take a look at this old report to see if there are any outstanding ideas that could be acted upon today? I can dream.
I am hopeful that this external review will provide some positive results. I know that last year, 2 first nations child welfare authorities were ordered to do a review and those results should be forthcoming shortly. I hope we can actually make the significant and necessary changes to the system to improve the health and wellness of families and children in our province. No more reports sitting on shelves, no more ignored recommendations. The families in our province deserve better care and quality service.
