First Nations family advocate says office sees spike in calls for help

A First Nations family advocate'soffice has been overwhelmed with requests for help since a video surfaced on social media of a newborn baby being apprehended by a child welfare worker.

The widely viewed Facebook video prompted Cora Morgan,the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs' First Nations family advocate, to hold the news conference with the family Friday morning.

Morgan said she expects more calls for help whenever her office is in the news. But this time, Morgan saidher office has been getting many more requests than they usually do, which shows the video seems to be having a ripple effect.

"I think, you know, what happened to that family is really tragic, but what they did was really powerful and important, because what they did by sharing their story and their experience on social media was that it legitimized the feelings of all these families," she said.

"It triggered some of our families who had been through the same thing. So it was really tough on a lot of people, but I think that is very helpful."

Morgan is set to meet with the mother in the video on Tuesday. She says she's working with the family to ensure the baby is returned, and that the family is supported when that happens.

Watch Cora Morgan and others speak about the impact of the video:

Live stream of newborn's apprehension has struck a nerve with families

6 years ago

Duration 2:06

Manitoba's First Nations Advocate office has been overwhelmed with requests for help since a video surfaced on social media of a newborn baby being apprehended by a child welfare worker.

300 newbornstaken into care

According to data released under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and obtained by the Manitoba Liberal Party, the Department of Families took 337 children under 32 days old into care in the 2017-18 fiscal year. In the last three years, more than 1,000 newborns have been taken into care, the data says.

In 2017-18, 558birth alerts were issued by Manitoba child welfare agencies, a provincial spokesperson said Friday.

"Since that time, they may have remained in care, been returned to their parents, or placed with extended family members," the spokesperson said in an email.

Birth alerts are issued when a CFS agency learns that a woman who is considered to be high riskis expecting, and is used to identify them at the time of delivery.

Morgan's office holds a weekly orientation session for families who have children in care or are concerned their children may be apprehended into care.

"If there is a threat of child apprehension or newborn apprehension, parents are going to be proactive and they're going to ask for our support if they know of our services," she said.

"So we have this orientation session so that parents can come, learn about what rights they have as a parent, learn about what they can come to expect in the process, the things that they need to line up and be prepared for."

The office is also getting flooded with calls from people who want to help, Morgan said.

TheFirst Nations family advocate does collect donations of furniture or household itemsfor mothers fleeing violent or abusive situations.

Donations can be dropped to the off at 286 Smith St.,Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m.to 4:30 p.m.

With files from Radio-Canada and Susan Magas