Inclusive foster care: How foster parents support cultural and relational connections for Indigenous children

Indigenous children in care depend on staying connected to their families, communities and cultures. One of Canada’s largest Indigenous child welfare agencies introduced inclusive foster care, which requires foster parents to engage with the child’s family, community and cultural life. Fifteen years later, interviews with foster parents described how they supported family relationships by setting clear boundaries, rolling with inconsistency and understanding the family’s history. They strengthened cultural ties through visits to traditional territory, Indigenous knowledge, their own initiative, and school-based and other cultural activities. The authors draw on these successes to suggest how social workers, foster parents and policymakers can address the cultural and relational disruption Indigenous children experience in care.