WINNIPEG—Advocates for children and First Nations say the federal government hasn’t provided funding for or details about extensive child-welfare changes coming next month and they suggest vulnerable children will suffer. “My greatest fear is that kids will fall through the cracks and families will fall through the cracks,” said Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. Direct payments to First Nations child-welfare groups are limited to provincially or territorially delegated agencies, which are not part of the changes. Provincial ministers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta — where there are many Indigenous children in care — have said they are concerned about a lack of details. They have questions about how they will apply to urban Indigenous children or for those with ties to multiple communities.

Source: thestar December 07, 2019 15:00 UTC