Upholding Truth and Reconciliation: Correlates and causes of ongoing Indigenous cases and gaps in mental health services in child welfare in the Waterloo Region

  • Alexis is a first year master’s student, completing the Developmental and Communication Science - Psychology Program at the University of Waterloo. Alexis has a background in child welfare as a youth care worker, and in the homeless services system as a housing navigator. As a young Red River Métis woman, she is dedicated to help support Indigenous mental health within the child welfare sector and the unhoused community Canada-wide. She is also interested in exploring the risk and promotive factors that influence the trajectories of child welfare involved Indigenous youth and families. She is passionate about integrating Indigenous ways of knowing into psychological research and practice. Alexis will be beginning her master’s in clinical psychology in the near future.

Is the child welfare system and mental health services upholding principles of Truth and Reconciliation to support the mental health of Indigenous children and families in the Waterloo region?

This project will ask this question through a systematic review of 50 ongoing cases (N =50) from 2017-2023 of Indigenous children involved in the child welfare system in the Waterloo region. Using content coding, the extent to which child welfare agencies have followed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s first five calls to action will be assessed. Additionally, Truth and Reconciliation’s principles applied to the ongoing Indigenous cases that support clear advancement of Indigenous rights and mental health will be rated using a standardized coding scheme. Support of mental health from an Indigenous worldview will be emphasized.

The results from this research will identify past and current gaps in the child welfare system and help inform on future child welfare policy and practice to better promote the mental health among of Indigenous children, youth and families.

This project is co-funded in partnership with Mitacs.