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Deconstructing Disability: Definitions, Data, and Discussions from First Nations Child Welfare
Agencies in Northern Saskatchewan
Raissa Graumans, PhDSaskatchewan First Nations Family and Community Institute
National Child Welfare Conference, Calgary October 24, 2018
Presentation Overview
1. Project Background & Research Approach
2. Partners & Participants
3. Methods & Results
4. Recommendations & Future Plans
PURPOSE, AND OBJECTIVES
• SFNFCI is a non-profit that conducts research, policy development, trainingand supports to First Nations CFS agencies across the province
• SFNFCI is the primary applicant and coordinates the project in partnershipwith FNCFS agencies
• The Disability Research Partnership is a series of yearlong community-basedresearch projects
•Funded through the Disabilities Initiative of Indigenous and Northern AffairsCanada (INAC)/Department of Indigenous Services Canada (DISC)
•Develop a clearer understanding of the experiencesof children/youth living with disabilities on reserve
•Establish a culturally relevant definition of disability
•Identify service availability, gaps, and needs
•Develop a data collection instrument to gatherrelevant information from FNCFS case files
LITERATURE REVIEW: KEY TOPICS
• The Canadian government discriminates against First Nations children by failing to provide
adequate funding for services
(Benjamin, 2018; First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v. Attorney
General of Canada, 2016; Sinha & Kozlowski, 2013; Blackstock, 2011)
• First Nations children/youth are over-represented in the Child Welfare system (both in
Saskatchewan & Canada)(Sinha, & Orav-Lakaski, 2018; Kirmayer, Sheiner, & Geoffroy, 2016; Fallon et al., 2015; Barker, Alred, & Kerr, 2014; Statistics Canada, 2013)
• Children/youth with disabilities are more likely to experience neglect and abuse
(Perrigo et al., 2018; Helton & Cross, 2011; Stalker & McArthur, 2010; Jaudes & Mackey-Bilaver,
2008; Fuchs et al. 2007; Sullivan & Knutson, 2000)
• Lack of specific, reliable data on prevalence rates, functional impacts, and other key
information related to disabilities among Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan, Canada, and
around the world
(Di Pietro & Illes, 2016; Lightfoot, Hill, & LaLiberte, 2011; AFN, 2007; Wright, Hiebert-Murphy, &
Gosek, 2005; Gething, 1994)
RESEARCH APPROACH
Y1 Y2
ACCFS 0 26
MLTCCFS 0 27
53
PARTNERS & PARTICIPANTS
2016-17 2017-18
Support from the 3 Chiefs and Councils in Athabasca: Chief Rudy Adam (Fond du Lac); Chief Coreen Sayazie (Black Lake); Chief
Bart Tsannie (Hatchet Lake) September 16, 2016
ACCFS Sub-Office, Big River First Nation:
Prevention Worker Interviews.
September 28, 2017
MLTCCFS Sub-Office, Key Informant Interviews. Buffalo Narrows,
SK. October 11, 2017
L-R: Jacqueline Hale, Joyce Roy, Doreen Sayazie, Rose
Mary Campbell October, 2016
METHODS
QUALITATIVE:
ONE-ON-ONE-INTERVIEWS
QUANTITATIVE:
DISABILITY INFORMATION TOOL
Y1 Y2
Biological Parents 11 0
Foster Parents 0 3
CFS Workers 3 13
Service Providers 6 5
Band Leadership 3 0
23 21
41
Y1 Y2
ACCFS 0 26
MLTCCFS 0 27
53
DEFINING DISABILITY
• Information on the ways that ‘disability’ is defined, conceptualized, and
enacted in Indigenous communities is limited (Sabatello & Schultz (Eds.), 2014).
• “The definition and perception of disability within the Aboriginal community is
different from that of mainstream Canada” (Dion, 2017)
• “Many Aboriginal people with disabilities do not recognise or acknowledge
they have a disability (as defined by government legislation)” Gething, 1994)
Unspecified Terms & Usage
Social & Functional
Impacts
Child-focused perspective
QUANTITATIVE: Disability Information Tool (D.I.T.)
Six Key Sections:
1 •Demographics
2 •Child Welfare Information
3 • Health Condition
4 •Assessment, Diagnoses, & Services
5 • Functioning
6 • Contextual Factors
4936%
97%
3324%
4029%
64%
137 instances (diagnoses,
assessment
referrals, suspected
cases)
D.I.T.: CONDITIONS
Placements
• Average number of
placements per child = 7.5
• Children with only 1
placement (never moved)
= 2
• Child who was moved
the most = 23 placements
(in 4 years)
• Number of children who
have moved 10 + times
while in care = 8
(15% of cases reviewed)
D.I.T: PLACEMENTS & ADDICTIONS/SELF-HARM
QUALITATIVE: THEMATIC ANALYSIS
The systems that participants mentioned most often as not meeting their needs are:• Education • Health • Housing & Band Support • Mental Health Services • Social Programs
QUALITATIVE: ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
THE IMPACTS OF INADEQUACY
Y1 Y2
ACCFS 0 26
MLTCCFS 0 27
53
SOCIAL
“None of the families with kids with special
needs really go out – we just stay home.”
“I didn't want him to go down south, I didn't
want him to lose our culture, to miss his family.”
EDUCATIONAL
“She doesn't go to school because there is no
one to help teach her.”
“Almost every day they send him home and
every year he is growing and missing so much
important stuff. So he will be falling behind.”
ECONOMIC
“I can’t get a job because he has so many
appointments and is not in school.”
PHYSICAL
“Travelling is hard on both of us.”
“As she is growing up it is getting worse. It is
really so hard.”
EMOTIONAL
“I just didn't know where to go or what to do.
I just started to get counselling myself because
people started to push me away because of
my kid and I just didn't know what to do.”
ACTIONS
YEAR 1Professional Training for ADCFS Staff
(FASD Network, Disability/Challenging Behavior)
(Stony Rapids, March 2017)
Group Home Disability Training, (Black Lake, May 2017)
Parent Workshops (FASD Network, Disability/Challenging Behavior)
(Fond Du Lac, Hatchet Lake, Black Lake; March, 2017)
Family Conference Presentations: (Fond Du Lac, Hatchet Lake, Black
Lake; Feb/Mar 2017)
YEAR 2
Caregiver Training (Exceptionalities and Therapeutic Interventions)
(MLTCCFS and ACCFS, Feb-Mar 2018)
Reaching in Reaching Out Resiliency Training Staff
(MLTCCFS/ACCFS, March 2018)
Information sessions by Onion Lake FASD Diagnostic Team
(MLTCCFS and ACCFS, Jan/Feb 2018)
Results Sharing Lunch and Learn
(MLTCCFS and ACCFS, March 2018)
RECOMMENDATIONS
Benjamin, C. (2018). Standing with First Nations children until the discrimination finally ends. Discrimination Against First Nations Children in Canada. Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.ca/category/issue/discrimination-against-first-nations-children-canada
Blackstock, C. (2011). The Canadian human rights tribunal on First Nations child welfare: Why if Canada wins,
equality and justice lose. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(1), 187-194.
Dion, J. (2017). Falling Through the Cracks: Canadian Indigenous Children with Disabilities. International Human Rights Internships Program - Working Paper Series, 5, 12. Accessed September 13,
Di Pietro, N., & Illes, J. (2016). Closing gaps: strength-based approaches to research with Aboriginal children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Neuroethics, 9(3), 243-252.
Gething, L. (1994). Aboriginality and disability. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, 18(3), 29.
Perrigo, J. L., Berkovits, L. D., Cederbaum, J. A., Williams, M. E., & Hurlburt, M. S. (2018). Child abuse and neglect re-report rates for young children with developmental delays. Child Abuse & Neglect, 83, 1-9.
Sabatello, M. & Schulze, M. (Eds.)(2014). Human Rights and Disability Advocacy. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Sinha, V., Delaye, A., & Orav-Lakaski, B. (2018). Reimagining Overrepresentation Research: Critical Reflections on Researching the Overrepresentation of First Nations Children in the Child Welfare System. JL & Soc. Pol'y, 28, 10.
Sinha, V., & Kozlowski, A. (2013). The structure of Aboriginal child welfare in Canada. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 4(2), 2.
