Child welfare group seeks to heal families

OHSWEKEN — O Gwadeni:deo is committed to help the community re-establish its role of protecting their own children.

“We want to find alternative ways within our own culture to help us heal families,” said Kelly Jonathan, cultural advisor for O Gwadeni:deo.

The group held meetings last week to tell the community that they have just finished stage B in developing a system that will give them the authority to be the child welfare program for all indigenous people in Brant County.

“We’re waiting for approval from the ministry to move on to the next stage,” said Crystal Doolittle, director of O Gwadeni:deo. “We’ve finished and submitted everything for stage B.”

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services of Ontario has asked O Gwadeni:deo to complete five stages of development and meet the criteria of each before moving forward.

The stages are: stage A – addressing readiness, stage B – capacity development, stage C – transition planning and implementation, stage D – designation and stage E – sustaining capacity and building standards.

The group wants to be seen as more than just another child welfare program that removes children from unsafe homes.

“Our teachings say that if someone is hurt, the whole community comes to their aid,” said Jonathan. “O Gwadeni:deo is going to do the same and work alongside families in need. We don’t want to just come in and remove a child from a home, we want to make sure that the father gets what he might need, that the mother gets what she needs and that the children are getting what they need.”

Jonathan said that O Gwadeni:deo is seeking to help rebuild broken families that are dealing with hurt and suffering from the past.

“We want to talk about reducing trauma from residential schools, reduce trauma of having children taken away — we want to be able to heal the whole family,” he said.

Once stage B has been approved, O Gwadeni:deo has six months to address any issues that the ministry has and then will focus its attention on stage C. Next, a formal transition plan needs to be submitted to and approved by the ministry showing how they will function at full capacity.

“Our community already has the foundation – we just need to follow the guidelines and rules from the ministry that will make this a recognized organization,” said Jonathan. “We are asking the community to help and guide us within our principles and are looking to get our own families involved in how we take care of our community and children — as a team.”

At the meetings, O Gwadeni:deo was very open to suggestions from members of the community and asked for open discussion regarding how they could work together with the community in the future.

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