Pathways to the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in care

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CECW Information Sheet #23E. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work.

Gough, Pamela
Trocmé, Nico
Brown, Ivan
Knoke, Della
Blackstock, Cindy

Information Sheet #23
CECW archives material

Aboriginal children are disproportionately represented in foster care in Canada. Data from provincial and territorial ministries of child and family services for 2000–2002 suggest that 30% to 40% of children and youth placed in out-of-home care during those years were Aboriginal, yet Aboriginal children made up less than 5% of the total child population in Canada. The number of First Nations children from reserves placed in out-of-home care grew rapidly between 1995 and 2001, increasing by 71.5%. In Manitoba, Aboriginal children made up nearly 80% of children living in out-of-home care in 2000.

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