NATIVE CHILD

AND FAMILY SERVICES OF TORONTO

HOME ABOUT US About NCFST Executive Director's Message President's Message Our History Stories Funders Board Members Repatriation Report SUPPORT SERVICES Kiiwednong Child Care  Children's Mental Health and Family Well Being  Prevention Aboriginal Head Start Youth Program Transitional Housing  Outreach Early Years Centre CHILD WELFARE About Abuse and Neglect Duty to Report Residential Care Independence Program ADOPTION NCFST and Adoption The Application and Home Study Process Meet our Kids Placing a Child for Adoption Frequently Asked Questions Resources Adoption Stories  FOSTER PARENTING Foster Parents PROGRAM CALENDARS AND UPCOMING EVENTS Program Calendars Upcoming Events EMPLOYMENT CONTACT US		About Us
		About NCFST Mission Statement Native Child and Family Services of Toronto strive to provide for a life of quality, well being, caring and healing for our children and families in the Toronto Native Community. It does this by creating a services model that is culture based respecting the supreme values of the Native people, the extended family, and the right to self-determination. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Targeted Community Most of NCFST’s clients are self-referred single parents with young children. Many are currently before the Child Welfare courts, some have children in care and wish to work toward their return, most are poor, isolated, and suffer a lack of support in an environment deemed insensitive and inaccessible to Native people. Sexual and physical abuse, addiction problems, and family violence are common themes. By all measures of the human condition, Native people lead in the statistics of suicide, alcoholism and family abuse. These conditions are prevalent within Native communities across Canada. They serve as indicators of the serious stress connected with being a Native person in today's world. Native individuals, families and communities often experience high levels of dysfunction resulting from feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness. Indigenous people, as compared to any other racial or cultural group in Canada, have the lowest life expectancies, highest infant mortality rates, substandard and overcrowded housing, lower education and employment levels, and the highest incarceration rates. It has been estimated that a Native child in Toronto is five times more likely to be apprehended and placed in the care of the C.A.S. than any other child. Many of these children have graduated to living on the "streets" in Toronto. Metro Toronto has a total population of approximately 45,000 status Indians. The number of Métis, non-status, and Inuit are unclear due to flaws in Statistics Canada’s collection methods, but the overall Native population in Toronto can be estimated at 60,000. Of what is known, Stats Canada states that there are close to 11,000 status Indian children under 14 years of age and some 8,000 who are 14-24.

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