Placing Indigenous foster children with Indigenous families leads to better outcomes: StatsCan data

Author Abigail Turner
A new Statistics Canada report shows Indigenous adults are more likely to have better mental health outcomes when placed in Indigenous foster homes as children.

Why It Matters

Designing services that are culturally informed has a direct impact on long-term outcomes for Indigenous people. This data shows the importance of addressing inequities to improve outcomes and support Indigenous children and families.

Spirit Bear, the mascot for First Nations Children’s Family Caring Society. New data from Statistics Canada shows that placing Indigenous foster children with Indigenous families leads to better mental health outcomes for those children. (Supplied photo)

Indigenous children in foster care do significantly better later in life when placed with Indigenous families, new Statistics Canada data shows.

Nearly 54 per cent of children in foster placements in Canada are Indigenous, an overrepresentation that often sees children placed in non-Indigenous foster homes that separate kids from their culture. 

But when placed with Indigenous foster families, 73 per cent say they feel connected to their identity later in life, compared to 54 per cent reported by those who were placed in non-Indigenous homes.

The data is similar for feelings of community belonging and for having stronger family ties later in life. 

The strong cultural connections in foster care are also tied to improved mental health and wellbeing later in life for Indigenous adults, according to the data.

The findings are something advocates have been urging for years. 

“I’m happy to read that the data supports what we have always known,” said Sherry Gott, the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth.

Manitoba has the highest rate of Indigenous children in foster care. 

“Indigenous young people have a right to be looked after by their own people who respect their culture. They also have a right to speak their own language under the United Nations Convention Rights of the Child,” Gott said. 

Not an Indigenous framing: Advocate

While the information is important for advocating for policy changes, Stephanie Wellman said it’s not as robust as she would have liked to see.

“They took a bit of a narrow focus,” said Wellman, the director of external affairs, programs and operations with the First Nations Children’s Family Caring Society.

“I think it would have been quite different if they were able to consider people on reserve, ” she said.

Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada poses with the group’s mascot, Spirit Bear. While the society said they’re pleased to have data on the mental health outcomes of Indigenous children placed in foster care, they hoped the data in the future would measure wellbeing through an Indigenous lens. (Supplied photo)

Social determinants of mental health, such as poverty, poor housing or substance misuse, affect the wellbeing of people living on reserves, said Wellman.

Measuring mental health was also not looked at through an Indigenous lens, she added. 

Health Canada released its inaugural First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework in 2015.

“At the centre of it, is how to think about wellness for First Nations,[which] is hope, meaning, belonging, and purpose,” said Wellman. 

“If there’s a balance of these things, usually there’s positive wellness for First Nations.”

The new StatsCan data may have been known about for years through lived experiences, but Wellman said the concrete numbers are helpful for advocating for change. 

“Research like this is really promising and really compelling when it comes to showing that there needs to be good policy for First Nations children.”

Tell us this made you smarter | Contact us | Report error

  • Abigail Turner is an award-nominated journalist who began her career in broadcast journalism. She worked primarily as a video journalist in Winnipeg before moving to Vancouver. Turner has taken on various roles in her career, including anchor and producer, while working in major outlets, including Global News and CTV News. She recently became the Special Projects Reporter at Future of Good.

    View all posts