It’s not because we don’t love our children – we need to look at the real reason Aboriginal children are placed in care | Raylene Harradine for IndigenousX

Removals are set to triple in the next 20 years. Aboriginal organisations have the solutions

There is no doubt about it: the child protection system is in crisis, and it is manifestly failing Aboriginal children and young people. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on removing children and depositing them in a revolving door of unstable placements, homelessness, substance abuse and prison, the rate of Aboriginal children being removed from their families is expected to triple by 2037.

In Victoria, Aboriginal children are 15.8 times more likely to be removed from their homes than their non-Aboriginal peers. Despite making up 1% of the population, Aboriginal children represent 20% of children in out-of-home care.

Related: ‘We’ve never been asked for our views before’: giving families a voice | Lisa Rafferty for IndigenousX

Hope and resilience are not an option for us, they are a necessity

Related: Every day is a day to reconnect since I've been reunited with my own blood family | Paul Dutton for IndigenousX

Continue reading...

from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/33lLbNY