Indigenous Self-Determination
Indigenous Self-Determination
Culture is Connection
Indigenous young people continue to be disproportionately represented in BC’s child and youth serving systems. In BC we are at a historical time in history where some First Nations are resuming responsibility for the care of their young people. Our office fully supports this move away from government care and continues to explore how our role can be most useful to Indigenous communities across the province as they work to keep their young people connected to their families and culture.
We have long known that culture is a protective factor for children and youth and that all children must feel a sense of belonging, including cultural belonging, to thrive.
– Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth,
Representative for Children and Youth
What RCY is Hearing
RCY is in dialogue with Indigenous Child and Family Services Directors through Our Children Our Way Society (OCOW) and the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) to understand how RCY can support Nations moving toward greater jurisdiction over child and family services.
Nations are working within a complex and uneven system. In BC, 24 Indigenous Child and Family Service Agencies currently deliver services to 117 First Nations under provincial delegation agreements. These agencies hold different levels of authority, from voluntary supports to full child protection, but remain bound by provincial law and oversight.
What RCY is hearing is that this patchwork creates real challenges as Nations move toward true jurisdiction. The transition is not just about service delivery. It is about who holds authority, how decisions are made, and how children’s rights and safety are protected during change.
RCY’s engagement is focused on understanding these governance realities so it can support Nations, where requested, through this shift.
“If we can raise a generation of non-Indigenous kids who don’t normalize discrimination, and have the tools to peacefully and respectfully advocate for the end of this kind of apartheid system, then we’ll be in a position where First Nations children never have to recover from their childhoods again. And non-Indigenous children never have to say they’re sorry.”
– Dr. Cindy Blackstock (Maclean’s, 2021)
The child welfare system… function(s) from the inherent fundamental belief that we as parents in our own communities do not have the right to birth, raise, educate, discipline and protect our children from Canada’s inherent racism.
– Senator Murray Sinclair
What We're Doing
RCY is currently building its internal capacity to support Nations where/if help is requested and is sharing information with Nations about our office and the kinds of support and services we can offer. This assistance could take many forms from providing individual advocacy to young people to delivering training and support on the rights of young people to developing review or investigative processes at the nation level.
Since RCY’s inception in 2018, we have focused on a wide range of issues impacting Indigenous young people including discrimination and racism in service delivery including fiscal inequities, a lack of connection to culture, the interconnected and cascading impacts of colonial trauma on families and significant issues with the quality of government care that young Indigenous people can expereince.
By the Numbers
of in-mandate critical injuries were experienced by Indigenous children and youth in government care.
– RCY Report, “Annual Report 2024/25”
of children in formal care from 2023 to 2024 were Indigenous.
– RCY Report, “Annual Report 2024/25”
Only
of social workers said that they have the necessary knowledge, skills, and support to effectively work with Indigenous children, youth, and families as First Nations / Métis jurisdictions are being reasserted.
– RCY Report, “No Time to Wait: Part 2”
Reports and Resources
Don't Look Away, 2024
A call to stop patching a broken system and instead make bold, collective changes so children and families are safe, connected and able to thrive.
Jurisdiction Tool-Kit 2.0 - Transition Planning, 2024
Pathways and considerations to legal transferring of authority and upholding Inherent Rights in Indigenous Child & Family Services
At a Crossroads, 2022
At a Crossroads (2022), calls for an end to discriminatory child-welfare funding and a shift to equity for Indigenous children and families.
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