Voices from Aboriginal child and family agencies in British Columbia: supporting Aboriginal adopted children with cultural planning.
This study explores the stories of Executive Directors of Delegated Aboriginal Child Welfare Agencies in regards to cultural planning for Aboriginal children being adopted into non-Aboriginal homes in British Columbia. This qualitative study used an Indigenous methodology to describe and interpret t...
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| Language: | English en |
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2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/4393 |
| Summary: | This study explores the stories of Executive Directors of Delegated Aboriginal Child Welfare Agencies in regards to cultural planning for Aboriginal children being adopted into non-Aboriginal homes in British Columbia. This qualitative study used an Indigenous methodology to describe and interpret the elements of cultural planning for adopted Aboriginal children by interviewing Executive Directors of Aboriginal child welfare agencies in the province of British Columbia. The purpose is to provide knowledge about cultural planning and safety agreements in conjunction with Aboriginal agencies and to also gain an understanding of how Aboriginal agencies are able to meet their commitment to retain their adopted children’s’ Aboriginal identity and maintain their connections to culture, community and or family. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Executive Directors who volunteered for this study. Their stories were audio taped and analysed utilizing a thematic analysis. Two main themes emerged from the analysis were 1). Funding and 2), Legalizing Cultural Agreements. Ceremony was stressed throughout the interviews and is an integral part of Indigenous people and adequate funding needs to be re-addressed to support Aboriginal children in their best interests. Training continues to be a factor for adoptive parents to learn about the history of Aboriginal people and learning ways to best support the children they are adopting by learning about the rich cultures they belong to and how they will be able to make those connections. Funding of operational dollars for Aboriginal agencies appears to be at the fore front in every aspect of the cultural planning process. === Graduate |
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