'It's our job to be mom's voice,' but despite that, number of Indigenous kids in care is climbing

This is part 2 of 3 in a series looking at the Indigenous child welfare system in northern Ontario

Erik White · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2023

Nogdawindamin Family and Community Services CEO talks about two of the children in care who he thinks about the most

Indigenous children's aid CEO Kerry Francis has heard the stories of hundreds of kids, but these two stick with him.

The calls coming from the hospital were sadly very familiar to the staff at the Nogdawindamin neonatal hub in Sault Ste. Marie.

They are commonly known as "birth alerts."

"That mom should not be caring for this baby, it's not safe," recalled outreach worker Carli Ochman.

But when she got to the hospital she found an Indigenous mother who was "tirelessly" by the side of her newborn son, being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit.

"And I'm looking at the paper work that's been provided to me and I'm thinking 'Something is wrong here,'" said Ochman.

"It's our job to be mom's voice when her voice might be breaking."

READ: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/nogdawindamin-children-in-care-birth-alerts-1.7035977