The Ontario government is investing $650,000 for the One Vision, One Voice project that supports the delivery of culturally appropriate services for African-Canadian and Black children and youth in the child welfare system and keeps them connected to their communities.
One Vision, One Voice is part of an announcement in June regarding a plan to modernize the child welfare system to meet the needs of the province's diverse population.
More than 12,000 children and youth are in the care of children’s aid societies in Ontario. This includes children and youth in kinship care, foster care and group care placement.
"We cannot treat each child the same way, especially in a province as diverse as ours," said Jill Dunlop, associate minister of Children and Women's Issues, in a news release.
"Projects like One Vision, One Voice give African-Canadian and Black children and youth in care a strong voice and tools for equitable care and better outcomes. This work is essential as we transform child welfare and work to build a better, more inclusive system."
Research shows African-Canadian and Black families in the children’s aid system are more likely to be investigated by children's aid societies and have their children taken into care.
This separates families, causes trauma as children are removed from their communities and harms youth as they age.
One Vision, One Voice, with the guidance and leadership of the African-Canadian community, has developed a Race Equity Practice Framework.
These guidelines include increasing the diversity of child welfare staff, ensuring staff are trained in culturally appropriate and anti-racist practices, supporting well-trained caregivers, and ensuring children and youth are placed with kin or caregivers from their community as a priority.
$5M for Indigenous customary care
As well, the Ontario government has invested $5 million in 2020 to enhance access to prevention-focused customary care for Indigenous children and youth.
Customary care is the culturally-specific care and supervision of a First Nations, Inuit or Métis child by a person who is not the child’s parent. Customary care allows children and youth to remain closely connected to their culture and community.
The overall modernization strategy focuses on strengthening families and communities through prevention, early intervention and seeking more permanent homes for children and youth in care when they cannot stay in their own homes or communities.
“I'm particularly heartened by the distinct approach to co-develop services with First Nations, Inuit, Metis and urban Indigenous partners to make this vision a reality and reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system,” said Dr. Jeff Schiffer, executive director of the Native Child & Family Services of Toronto, in a statement on the new child welfare strategy.
The strategy was developed with input from youth, families, caregivers, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, lawyers, community organizations, frontline workers and child welfare sector leaders.
