Indigenous Youth Leaving Care in Canada

Abstract

This chapter critically examines the notion of Canadian Indigenous youth leaving care by arguing that all forms of separation, including adoption, should be analyzed through the lens of ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples. Several immediate and long-term practices are examined, some of which call for greater support for Indigenous ways of caring for children, urgent measures to address poverty in Indigenous communities, cultural planning for Indigenous children who are currently separated from their families and communities, and ways of supporting Indigenous youth in transition to adulthood who are looking to reconnect with their families, communities, and cultures.