Indigenous child welfare

First Nations, Métis and Inuit children are vastly overrepresented in Canada’s child welfare system. The First Nations/Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2019 found that First Nations children were 3.6 times more likely to be investigated by child welfare authorities and 17.2 times more likely to be placed in out of home care. According to the 2021 Canadian Census Indigenous children accounted for 7.7% of all children under age 15 in the general population, but 53.8% of children in foster care.

Because of this dramatic overrepresentation, most Canadian child welfare studies include large numbers of First Nations, Métis and Inuit children. However, in many of these studies, data about First Nations, Métis and Inuit children are not separately analysed and are therefore catalogued in the general Canadian Research section of the CWRP website. In contrast, the Indigenous child welfare research section of CWRP focuses on research where data about First Nations, Métis or Inuit children are analysed and presented.

Research about First Nations, Métis or Inuit children involved with child welfare should follow the principles of ownership, control, access and possession (OCAP^®). Many, but not all, of the studies included in this section were conducted by or with Indigenous scholars or in collaboration with Indigenous organizations.

Title	Authors	Year Sort ascending
Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta	Office of the Child and Youth Advocate Alberta	2016
Child maltreatment and intimate partner violence among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians	Brownridge, Douglas A. Taillieu, Tamara Afifi, Tracie Chan, Ko Ling Emery, Clifton Lavoie, Josee Elgar, Frank	2016
Report of the Auditor General of Alberta: Human Services - Systems to Deliver Child and Family Services to Indigenous Children in Alberta	Auditor General of Alberta	2016
A culturally relevant measure of client satisfaction in child welfare services	Mundy, Crystal Neufeld, Amanda N. Wells, Susan J	2016
A Tragedy in Waiting: How B.C.’s Mental Health System Failed One First Nations Youth	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2016
Ten Years of Advocacy: Annual Report 2015/16 and Service Plan 2016/17–2017/18	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2016
Expressions of culture in American Indian/Alaska Native tribal child welfare work: A qualitative meta-synthesis	Lucero, Nancy M. Leake, Robin	2016
Too Many Victims Sexualized Violence in the Lives of Children and Youth in Care: An Aggregate Review	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2016
Ministerial Mandate Letters: Relevance to Indigenous Child Welfare and Well-Being	Churchill, Molly Sinha, Vandna	2016
Indigenous Resilience, Connectedness and Reunification - From Root Causes to Root Solutions: A Report on Indigenous Child Welfare in British Columbia	Grand Chief Ed John	2016