Supporting culturally-rooted child and family services: Indigenous children's interests, governance and self-determination

Mireille De La Sablonnière-Griffin and Karine Croteau are working in collaboration with the Tshukuminu Kanani Health and Social Services Centre in the Nutashkuan community on a SSHRC-funded project (Partnership Engage): Development of Culturally Rooted Monitoring and Success Markers for Child and Family Services in the Nutashkuan Community. The phases involved in setting up the ethical and partnership dimensions of the research team are crucial to the first steps and development of relationships of trust and reciprocity between the actors involved. These steps will be presented and put into dialogue with three main notions that will guide this presentation: the legal context, the rights of Indigenous children, and the realities and needs of communities in terms of child and family services.

With regard to the rights of Indigenous children, we will discuss (a) the socio-historical and legal context of the adoption of Bill C-92 in Canada; (b) the definition of the best interests of Indigenous children in various communities; and (c) the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) Charter of Children's Rights. Projected outcomes from the current study will also be discussed. Motivated by values of collaboration, respect and equity, and with the objective to generate direct benefits for the Innu community involved, the research team hopes that this project will enable the co-construction (by, for and with) of the foundations for a brighter future for Innu families and communities.

Our speakers

Francis Ishpatao, Innu from Nutashkuan and Coordinator of child and family services (self-government project), has over 20 years of experience working in the community and in other Indigenous organizations. He holds a bachelor's degree in social sciences and a certificate in self-government.

Lisanne Wapistan, Innu from Nutashkuan and child and family services Development Officer, has a vocational diploma in accounting and a paralegal diploma.

Mireille De La Sablonnière-Griffin is an assistant professor at the INRS Centre Urbanisation Culture Société, and a member of the INRS-UQAT joint research unit in Indigenous Studies. She has been working in research with First Nations partners for fifteen years and is interested in the well-being of Indigenous children and youth, particularly in terms of the social services they receive or do not receive. In particular, her work seeks to document and support Indigenous communities in their work towards self-determination and governance regarding child and family services.
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Karine Croteau is a social worker and associate professor at the School of Social Work (SSW) at the University of Ottawa (UO). She practiced social work for over 12 years, notably in Inuit (Nunavik) and Wolastoqiyik (N.B.) communities and has conducted fieldwork in Innu communities. Her main research interests lie in the field of Indigenous child and family well-being, and her recent publications and conferences focus on youth protection, cultural safety in First Peoples social services and the decolonization of the social work profession. Karine is also responsible for the Kinistòtàdimin Circle, which brings together non-Indigenous and Indigenous allies to implement decolonizing actions at UO's SSW.
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