Alberta's government says the safety and well-being of children and youth is its number one priority, as new cases of intervention decreased over the last year..The number of total new cases decreased by about 22% during 2021-2022, compared to the previous year.."Which is why bringing a child or youth into care is always the last resort," Andrea Farmer, a spokeswoman from Children’s Services, said..In September, 70% of children and youth receiving child intervention services in Alberta were indigenous..A child is only brought into care if its survival, security or development is endangered, and all the department’s efforts to assist the parent in creating and maintaining child safety are unsuccessful. Many of these situations are due to emotional abuse and/or neglect, such as a child or youth being exposed to drug or alcohol abuse or family violence.."When a child must come into care, we make every effort to work with the parents, family and community to find a loving kinship caregiver who can care for the child temporarily while the parents work to mitigate the worries that brought their child into care," Farmer said..Nearly a third of the children in care live with kinship caregivers, this means they continue to be supported by someone in their family, community, or otherwise close to them. Work is also ongoing in the ministry to recruit, train and support foster and kinship caregivers who can keep indigenous children connected to their community and culture.."Our continued commitment to kinship care has resulted in nearly as many kinship caregivers as there are foster caregivers," Farmer said..According to provincial government documents, in September there were 9,496 children and youth receiving child intervention services. Of those, 7,853 children and youth received services in care, while 1,643 children and youth received services at home..However, there has been a 3% increase in the proportion of indigenous children and youth receiving intervention services..The publicly posted information on the number of children and youth receiving child intervention services includes all children and youth receiving services at that time, including those who receive ongoing services..Many of the children and youth were receiving services for many months or several years and may be returned to their parents or find permanent homes through adoption and private guardianship..In 2020-2021, there were 2,961 family preservations — i.e., children who remained at home while child services worked with the family — and 1,018 family reunifications (i.e., children brought into care while child services worked with the family and then returned)..Reducing the number of indigenous children in care is a priority of Alberta's government, Farmer said, and it is focused on providing culturally appropriate prevention and early intervention services and supports for children and families.."We work to keep indigenous families together whenever possible. Delegated First Nation Agencies (DFNAs) provide services to 30% of indigenous children receiving intervention services (including children in/out of care)," Farmer said..Work is ongoing to further collaborate with indigenous communities to provide more support and keep children connected with their culture, extended family and community, Farmer added..Children’s Services staff are required to take indigenous and cultural training.."We provide culturally appropriate prevention and early intervention services to reduce the need for greater interventions further down the road. We continue to ensure our staff have the skills and cultural knowledge they need to serve indigenous families well," Farmer said.
