Ontario children's aid will collect race data to address overrepresentation

On June 2, 2016, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies announced a plan to collect race statistics. This statement comes on the heels of mounting concerns about the over-representation of Aboriginal and black youth in Ontario’s child care.

The Toronto Star found that 42 per cent of children and youth in the care of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto have at least one parent who is black —despite the fact that only eight per cent of Toronto’s under-18 population is black — while Statistics Canada says nearly half of the 30,000 children in the country’s child welfare system are indigenous. 

The Current hosts a panel discussion on the importance of collecting race statistics as a first step toward building a better system of care.

•     Kiaras Gharabaghi, director of the School of Child and Youth Care at Ryerson University.
•     Sonia Mills-Minster, head of Millan and Associates, a private counseling company that runs a program to prevent African-Canadian children from going into care. 
•     Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, British Columbia’s representative for Children and Youth.

The segment was produced by The Current’s Ines Colabrese, Idella Sturino and Karin Marley