Abstract
Indigenous leaders are gravely concerned over disproportionate representation of Indigenous children in Canada’s child welfare systems. Forced separation from children is deeply traumatizing for mothers and detrimental to the wellbeing of Indigenous families, communities and Nations. This study examined relationships between child apprehension and suicide attempt within a cohort of young Indigenous women impacted by substance use. We utilized data collected every 6 months (2008–2016) by the Cedar Project, an Indigenous-governed cohort study involving young Indigenous people who use drugs in British Columbia, Canada. Recent child apprehension was defined as having a child apprehended by the Ministry of Child and Family Development since last visit. Recurrent event Cox proportional hazards models estimated the independent effect of child apprehension on maternal suicide attempt. Among 293 participants, 78 (27%) reported 136 child apprehensions; incidence of first apprehension was 6.64 (95%CI: 5.25–8.29) per 100 person-years. Forty-seven (16%) participants reported 75 suicide attempts with an incidence of 4.00 (95%CI: 2.94–5.33) per 100 person-years. Participants who reported recent child apprehension (HR: 1.88, 95%CI: 1.00–3.55), had a parent attend residential school (HR: 4.12, 95%CI: 1.63–10.46), experienced recent sexual assault (HR: 4.04, 95%CI: 2.04–7.99), violence (HR: 2.54, 95%CI: 1.52–4.27) or overdose (HR: 4.97, 95%CI: 2.96–8.35) were more likely to attempt suicide. Participants who had a traditional language spoken in the home growing up were half as likely to attempt suicide (HR: 0.49, 95%CI: 0.23–1.01). Results suggest that child welfare systems in Canada perpetuate historical and intergenerational trauma among young Indigenous mothers. Indigenous self-determination over child welfare and culturally safe services are urgently needed to end cycles of child apprehension and support the wellbeing of families, communities and Nations.
Highlights
Indigenous knowledge keepers share that foundations of health and wellness of Indigenous peoples extend beyond the individual to include all relations, including family, community and Nation, as well as kinship connections to land, water, and all living things [1,2,3]
This study demonstrates that young Indigenous mothers who use drugs in British Columbia (BC) are having their children apprehended by the Ministry of Child and Family Development at an alarming rate
The rate of child apprehensions among Indigenous mothers who have used drugs in this study is alarming and must be viewed as a continuation of cycles of colonial apprehensions that began with the residential schools and endure into the present
Summary
Indigenous knowledge keepers share that foundations of health and wellness of Indigenous peoples extend beyond the individual to include all relations, including family, community and Nation, as well as kinship connections to land, water, and all living things [1,2,3]. In this perspective of wholistic relationality, children are considered gifts from the Creator and raising them is a sacred responsibility [4,5,6]. The TRC has mandated the federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments to reduce the number of Indigenous children in care [14]
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