“[Birth alerts] it really risks being a red herring to the real issue of ensuring that children have an adequate opportunity to grow up with their families,” said Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. “What we really need to get at are issues of systemic racism, poverty and domestic violence.” Birth alerts were used to notify hospitals and child welfare services that a more thorough assessment was needed before a newborn was discharged to a parent considered high risk. The practice had long been criticized by indigenous leaders and other people of color. The final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls said it was “racist and discriminatory and a gross violation of child, mother and community rights”. Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, says more can be done to address systemic issues that sometimes lead to child arrest. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) Some areas stopped using birth notifications long ago, but provinces ended the practice only in recent years. Yukon, British Columbia and Alberta stopped in 2019. Manitoba and Ontario ended the practice the following year. Saskatchewan stopped using birth notifications in early 2021, with New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia to follow later that year. Data obtained by The Canadian Press through freedom of information requests shows that 496 newborns nationally were taken into care in 2021 in areas that had ended birth notifications. It marked a 52 percent drop from 2018, when 1,034 were arrested in those areas. Arrests of babies 12 months and younger declined the least: 36 percent from 2,957 in 2018 to 1,881 in 2021. Much of this decline is due to the effect of declining arrests of newborns. The Canadian Press analysis looked at the territories that ended birth alerts in 2019 and 2020: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Yukon and Ontario. He also looked at Saskatchewan, which ended the practice in early February 2021. Areas that ended birth warnings later than 2021 were not included in the analysis because experts say it would be too early to know the effect. Jeannine Carriere, professor of Métis social work at the University of Victoria, said ending birth notices was a good decision, but she was concerned that governments were using the move as a “diversion from structural and ongoing colonial policies around big issues”. “Poverty is the No. 1 factor for Indigenous children coming into contact with the child welfare system,” she said. Indigenous children make up more than half of all foster children aged 14 and under, but only 7.7 per cent of children that age in the Canadian population, 2016 census data show. Thirty-eight per cent of Indigenous children in Canadians live in poverty, compared to 7 percent for non-Indigenous children. Experts say overrepresentation is linked to centuries of assimilation and segregation policies, such as residential schools. Carriere said pregnant women need culturally relevant and accessible prenatal care, as well as stable housing and other health and addictions care before a child is born. They also need support after birth with schooling, employment and community connections. “Colonialism is not a thing of the past. It’s an ongoing thing,” Carriere said. British Columbia has seen a 51.4 per cent drop in newborns receiving care since birth alerts ended. Manitoba had a 65 per cent reduction in newborns arrested after the practice stopped. But the decline was much less dramatic for babies 12 months and younger — 32 percent. There are about 10,000 children in care in Manitoba and about 90 per cent are aboriginal. First Nations family advocate Cora Morgan wants to see more done to address the disproportionate number of Indigenous children and youth in the child welfare system. (Lenard Monkman/CBC) It’s one thing to say birth notifications will end, but another to significantly reduce the number of children in care, said First Nations family advocate for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. Cora Morgan said the first time she saw a birth alert was shocking. “How can you do something so cruel?” Her office continues to receive calls from pregnant women worried that their babies will be taken. Prevention is needed at the community level, Morgan said. Governments have money to put children in foster care, but not to support families staying together, he said.
“Potentially dangerous”
Ending birth notifications had no effect on the underlying conditions that put families at risk, said Bryn King, a professor of social work at the University of Toronto. Ontario saw a 45 per cent drop in births from the previous year to the year after birth warnings ended. There was a 25 percent reduction for babies aged four days to 12 months. King said there needs to be a debate about the appropriate scope of child welfare intervention. If a child has been injured or is in imminent danger, then social workers should act, King said. But too often, “we arrest because there are circumstances that are potentially dangerous and we haven’t done anything to address those conditions,” he said. Every effort should be made to ensure caregivers have opportunities to address potential risks, King said. This means considering other interventions such as housing and mental health support. Ending birth notifications alone is not the answer, he said. “We spend a lot of money on investigations, but not enough on the services and support that would eliminate the need for an investigation.”
