Grant: Team Grant: Healthy Youth - Indigenous

Historical and ongoing colonial policies and practices perpetuate intergenerational trauma to Inuit people and expose families to harm within social and health systems. During health services interactions, particularly during the perinatal period, in southern Canada and Nunavut, Inuit face risks associated Child Protections Systems (CPS) referrals and involvement frequently related to the lack of understanding of Inuit culture, and racism, discrimination by social and health care service providers alongside multiple structural and socio-economic challenges they face. Because Nunavut has the youngest age of individuals who birth in Canada, youth specifically are impacted by these socio-health interactions. As a branch of the Keeping the Children Home (KtCH) project, six youth (under 25 years old) from Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet) and Arviat, Nunavut have been actively involved in discussions concerning the apprehension/threat of apprehension of children from their families within Winnipeg hospitals while seeking medical care/giving birth. From these discussions, the youth (referred to as the Youth Arctic Coalition (YAC) have identified they possess a collective desire to learn more Inuit youth experiences within child welfare. By way of a range of data collection methods, the YAC will be supported to explore the experiences of other youth from the Kivalliq Region involved in CPS in relation to their health and wellbeing; gain better understanding of CPS impacting Inuit in Nunavut, consider sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) in light of this information, and determine their perinatal health research priorities. They will gain insights, skills and knowledge through interdisciplinary meetings and engagement with knowledge users, policy makers and other decision makers that will serve to impact existing policies and practices, including cross-jurisdictional issues in both Nunavut and Manitoba.