The program aimed at keeping Manitoba children out of CFS care
A report on an Indigenous-led program aimed at reunifying families has been unveiled.
It’s called Family Group Conferencing, and it’s based on a model practiced by Indigenous people in New Zealand with a goal of keeping kids with their families.
Marina, 32, a member of Sagkeeng First Nation who lives in Winnipeg, turned to the program, run by the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, for help.
She voluntarily agreed through Child and Family Services (CFS) to place her son in the care of family while she sought treatment for a methamphetamine addiction.
“Family Group Conferencing likes to keep the family together and keep the child in the family,” Marina said in an interview.
She was paired with a mentor and took part in culturally-based programming. With minimal interaction with CFS, she got to visit her son two times a week at the centre with her Family Group Conferencing mentor by her side.
“They played a huge role,” Marina said. “They were my main support. They pulled me out of my shell, I would say, because I was a turtle when I first came.”
A year and a half after starting the program, Marina was reunited with her son.
“I'm 32. I got him back on my 30th birthday,” she said. “My 30th birthday, they signed him over and closed my file.”
Family Group Conferencing is an Indigenous-led model practiced by the Māori people in New Zealand.
The program was first introduced to the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre more than 20 years ago and has grown over time.
“In 2017 we had an opportunity to receive Winnipeg Foundation, the Province of Manitoba and federal money to triple the size of the Family Group Conference model,” said Diane Redsky, executive director of the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre.
The release of an evaluation of the program, delayed by the pandemic, shows between April 2017 and March 2020, 233 families and 655 children were supported by the Family Group Conference model, which empowers families to make decisions and take actions to care for children.
During that time, 263 children were reunified with family and 141 were prevented from ending up in care in the first place.
“It creates an opportunity to have an ally in your corner if you are a parent who’s concerned about child welfare involvement,” Redsky said. “It also creates that mentor, that helper, that friend that knows the system."
At the end of March 2022, 9,196 children were in CFS care in Manitoba, down 654 from 2021. Ninety-one per cent are Indigenous.
The centre would like to see Family Group Conferencing become a standardized way of approaching child welfare in the province.
It’s a program that helped Marina to heal and restore the sacred bond between parent and child.
“I kept doing it because I wanted my son under my roof,” she said.
Redsky said the Family Group Conference program also saves taxpayers around $9 million annually by keeping kids with their families.
The report notes the program should be supported with ongoing sustainable funding and resources to meet the demands of the community.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Person on fire outside Trump's hush money trial rushed away on a stretcher
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Tropical fish stolen from Beachburg, Ont. restaurant found and returned
Ontario Provincial Police have landed a suspect following a fishy theft in Beachburg, Ont.
U.S. FAA launches investigation into unauthorized personnel in cockpit of Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a video that appears to show unauthorized personnel in the cockpit of a charted Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto.