People, Politics, and Child Welfare in British Columbia.

Henry G. MacLeod teaches sociology at both Trent University and the
University of

Waterloo.

People, Politics, and Child Welfare in British Columbia is a collection of 13 essays that will be of great interest to child welfare professionals, policy-makers, social workers, teachers, and anyone who works with children at risk. Those in the general public, especially in British Columbia, who want a better understanding of child protection issues will find this a useful reference. The editors, Leslie T. Foster and Brian Wharf, have done a great job in organizing this book.

There is an excellent balance of historic, quantitative, and qualitative studies. Each contribution comes with its own references and there is a shared index at the end of the book. Although much of the book covers familiar ground already available in the literature, the special emphasis given to the experiences of Aboriginal families and children is unique.

The book begins with a historical description of the development of child welfare services in B.C. and an overview of current trends. It documents the ethnic division in child welfare services. In the early days there were children’s aid societies for the urban European families and residential schools and institutional care for Aboriginal children. Today, the numbers of Aboriginal children in care has increased disproportionately to their relative numbers in the population. One chapter is devoted specifically to the struggles of First Nations families and children with the modern Eurocentric child welfare system.

In addition, the essays offer several insights into the way changes in provincial government impact on public servants and child welfare services through the shifting policies and priorities of politicians running for office.

This is a strong contribution to our understanding of the child welfare system as a political process, and the focus on Aboriginal children in care is a particular asset.