The role of colonization continues to negatively impact Indigenous Peoples today. Legislation and policies such as the Indian Act, residential schooling, harmful child welfare practices, and the ongoing marginalization of Indigenous Peoples has left a lasting legacy and resulted in historical trauma. Today there are three times as many Indigenous children in the child welfare system than there were in residential schools at their peak in the 1940s. The child welfare system has been criticized for placing more emphasis on the removal of Indigenous children from their families than on addressing the root causes that impact Indigenous Peoples’ challenges in parenting, such as poverty.
Gaetz, S., O’Grady, B., Buccieri, K., Karabanow, J., & Marsolais, A. (Eds.), Youth Homelessness in Canada: Implications for Policy and Practice. Toronto: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press.