Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba – On Thursday, January 30, 2020, Minister Stefanson announced the Manitoba government will end the practice of birth alerts as of April 1, 2020 and will work with expecting mothers in developing meaningful birth plans.
According to the Child and Family Services manual, birth alerts apply to expectant mothers considered by Child and Family Services (CFS) agencies to be high risk in relation to the care they will provide for their newborn infant. Currently, the practice in Manitoba is to issue alerts to track and locate these high-risk expectant mothers.
Grand Chief Arlen Dumas stated, “Apprehending a child after birth is one of the most violent acts committed against a woman. It is a common practise that has been initiated through the health care system and CFS. In 2016, the AMC Executive Council of Chiefs passed a resolution that called on the provincial government to immediately end the practice of apprehending babies from hospitals. We have been a strong advocate when it comes to this issue as it is a human rights violation.”
In September 2019, the British Columbia government announced that it will end the practice of birth alerts that allows hospitals and CFS agencies to flag mothers who deemed to be “at-risk”.
“If a mother is given an additional $80.00 per month on social assistance to help pay for diapers and formula, the outcome would outweigh the negative effects of having a child in the system. But if you apprehend a newborn from their mother and have a newborn in foster care for a year, it will cost $46,000 on average,” stated Cora Morgan, First Nations Family Advocate.
“Today, we call on Minister Stefanson and her government to work with First Nations and the AMC to take their plan to end birth alerts a step further in preventing newborn apprehension. Since the opening of the First Nations Family Advocate Office (FNFAO), we have been providing support to families when a birth alert is issued. We have experts that can help address this urgent issue,” concluded Grand Chief Arlen Dumas.
AMC statement on revised provincial policies that end CFS “birth alerts”
Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, (AMC) Grand Chief, Arlen Dumas today is issuing the following statement on Thursday’s announcement by The Government of Manitoba on its decision to halt its practice of “birth alerts.” Families Minister, Heather Stefanson, announced that the practice will end April 1st
“I welcome the announcement by Minister Stefanson on the government’s policy decision to halt the practice of birth alerts and provide more supports to Moms,” said Grand Chief Dumas. “The AMC agrees that this is a step in the right direction, but much more work needs to be done to reduce the First Nations child-apprehension rates in this province, which have been documented to be the highest in the Western hemisphere. Oppressive child welfare policies developed by federal and provincial governments, including birth alerts, have broken up First Nations family units, separated newborns from their Mothers at their most critical time of bonding and development, and negatively impacted generations of First Nations peoples in this province for too long,” said Grand Chief Dumas. “This announcement, which makes Manitoba the second provincial jurisdiction in the country to end birth alerts, is a result of many years of advocacy work by the First Nations leadership in this region. The AMC has established, through resolution by Chiefs-in-Assembly, the First Nations Family Advocate’s Office of Manitoba, which directly supports First Nations families and implements the technical and First Nations law-making processes that underpin the AMC policy of Bringing our Children Home. I commend the Manitoba Chiefs on their advocacy and their vision to establish the FNFAO and to advocate for made-in-Manitoba First Nations Child Welfare policies and legal frameworks. We will continue the work of Bringing our Children Home and continue to support the FNFAO as they continue their critically important work to exercise and facilitate First Nations jurisdiction over Child Welfare in this province,” concluded Grand Chief Dumas.
