Indigenous Child Welfare - Statistics
Child Maltreatment Investigations, First Nations (status and non-status) and Non-Indigenous Children^*
| First Nations Children | Non-Indigenous Children | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of child maltreatment investigations | 45,918 | 241,137 |
| Incidence of child maltreatment investigations per 1,000 children | 151 | 42.11 |
Type of Child Maltreatment Investigations in 2019 for First Nations (status and non-status) and Non-Indigenous Children^*
| First Nations Number | First Nations Rate per 1,000 Children | First Nations Percent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maltreatment incident Investigation | 32,328 | 106.31 | 70% |
| Risk Investigation | 13,590 | 44.69 | 30% |
| Non-Indigenous Number | Non-Indigenous Rate per 1,000 Children | Non-Indigenous Percent | |
| Maltreatment incident Investigation | 168,570 | 29.44 | 70% |
| Risk Investigation | 72,567 | 12.67 | 30% |
Level of Substantiation in Child Maltreatment Investigations in 2019 for First Nations (status and non-status) and Non-Indigenous Children^*
| First Nations Number | First Nations Rate per 1,000 Children | First Nations Percent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substantiated | 19,143 | 62.95 | 59% |
| Suspected | 2,190 | 7.20 | 7% |
| Unfounded | 10,950 | 36.01 | 34% |
| Non-Indigenous Number | Non-Indigenous Rate per 1,000 Children | Non-Indigenous Percent | |
| Substantiated | 76,899 | 13.43 | 46% |
| Suspected | 9,995 | 1.75 | 6% |
| Unfounded | 81,676 | 14.26 | 48% |
Primary Categories of Substantiated Child Maltreatment Investigations in 2019 for First Nations (status and non-status) and Non-Indigenous Children^*
| First Nations Children | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category of Maltreatment | Number | Rate per 1,000 First Nation children | Percent |
| Physical Abuse | 1,570 | 5.16 | 8% |
| Sexual Abuse | 587 | 1.93 | 3% |
| Neglect | 8,400 | 27.62 | 44% |
| Emotional Maltreatment | 1,780 | 5.85 | 9% |
| Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence | 6,806 | 22.38 | 36% |
| Non-Indigenous Children | |||
| Category of Maltreatment | Number | Rate per 1,000 Non-Indigenous children | Percent |
| Physical Abuse | 14,459 | 2.53 | 19% |
| Sexual Abuse | 2,108 | 0.37 | 3% |
| Neglect | 18,600 | 3.25 | 24% |
| Emotional Maltreatment | 10,941 | 1.91 | 14% |
| Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence | 30,791 | 5.38 | 40% |
Placement in Child Maltreatment Investigations in 2019 for First Nations and Non-Indigenous Children^*
| First Nations Number | First Nations Rate | Non-Indigenous Number | Non-Indigenous Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Informal Placement (Kinship Out of Care and Customary Care) |
2,365 | 7.78 | 4,798 | 0.84 |
| Kinship in Care | 1,589 | 5.23 | 545 | 0.10 |
| Foster Care (Non-kinship) | 1,775 | 5.84 | 2,677 | 0.47 |
| Group Home/Residential or Secure Treatment | 207 | 0.68 | 757 | 0.13 |
| Other Placement (e.g., places of safety) | 205 | 0.67 | 153 | 0.03 |
| Subtotal: Placement Made | 6,141 | 20.20 | 8,930 | 1.56 |
| No Placement Made | 39,776 | 130.81 | 232,207 | 40.55 |
| Total Investigations | 45,917 | 151.00 | 241,137 | 42.11 |
* Source: Fallon, B., Lefebvre, R., Trocmé, N., Richard, K., Hélie, S., Montgomery, M., Bennett, M., Joh-Carnella, N., Saint-Girons, M., Filippelli, J., MacLaurin, B., Black, T., Esposito, T., King, B., Collin-Vézina, D., Dallaire, R., Gray, R., Levi, J., Orr, M., Petti, T., Thomas Prokop, S., & Soop, S. (2021) Denouncing the Continued Overrepresentation of First Nations Children in Canadian Child Welfare: Findings from the First Nations/Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2019. Ontario: Assembly of First Nations.
^ Note: The estimates presented here are from the fourth national study that collected investigation data from a large number of First Nations and urban Indigenous agencies. All results must be interpreted with the caution.
Data presented here are weighted estimates; for information regarding the FNCIS weighting procedure, see the executive summary and appendices of Denouncing The Continued Overrepresentation Of First Nations Children In Canadian Child Welfare: Findings From The First Nations/Canadian Incidence Study Of Reported Child Abuse And Neglect-2019 (Fallon et al., 2021)
Interpretations must take into account the context and structure of First Nations child welfare, see Fallon et al., 2021 for a contextualized summary of the findings.