Former Youth in Care: Kinship Care and Its Potential Impact on Black Families & Cultural Identity in the Child Welfare System

In 2016, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) launched a public inquiry to determine whether or not there was a disproportionate number of racialized populations representing the child welfare system. Data collected from the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (2015) showed that while African Canadians make up 8.5% of the Torontonian population, they made up 40.8% of the children and youth in the child welfare system. This alarming information called for changes in the ways Black children and youth have been impacted and what changes could be made with policy. This research study intends to highlight policies that have been implemented in response to over-represented communities in the child welfare system with a particular focus on kinship care and how it is incorporated into policy that seeks to improve the treatment and service for Black families in the Greater Toronto Area.