Hi, my name is Brittney and I am here to tell you about First Nations’ children. The work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has helped shine a light on the horrendous and lasting harm done, by tearing Indigenous children from their families, their communities, their languages and their cultures. At stake is the ability of children’s agencies to provide urgently needed prevention programs for at risk First Nations children and to stem the unprecedented numbers of First Nations children being taken from their families and communities and put into state care. The human rights complaint was initiated by a national non-governmental organization, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the Caring Society, recently told Amnesty International, The First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada is the only national organization serving Aboriginal children and families. The Caring Society has one full-time staff, 2 part-time staff member and many volunteers. The Caring Society is an independent organization and receives no federal government funding. This is the only national organization serving Aboriginal children and families. More than 30,000 registered individual and organizational supporters of our various campaigns represent the support of millions of people whom want to see a better future for First Nations children, youth and families. First Nations children are 12 times more likely to be placed in foster care, due to poverty, poor housing and addictions, rooted in the trauma of residential schools. The social worker, George Caldwell, on children attending residential schools in Saskatchewan, noted that 80 percent of the children in the schools were placed there for child welfare reasons and he called on the federal government to invest more in family support services. Canadian governments have known for a long time that First Nations children are not treated the same as their peers in the provinces and territories they live in and don’t get enough money for their services. In 1895, Duncan Campbell Scott requested a warrant from the department of justice to allow for the removal of “Indian” children from their families, for education or because they were not properly cared for. First Nations children are 12 times more likely to be placed in foster care, due to poverty and poor housing. Peter Henderson Bryce was a public health physician whom found that children in the schools were dying at the rate of 24 percent per year, and the death rate rose to a staggering 42 percent over three years. In one school that kept complete records, 76 percent of the children had died. By 1958, evidence was mounting that residential schools had largely become child welfare institutions. A federal survey, cited by the historian John Milloy, in his book “A National Crime”, showed that 4,313 of the 10,112 children attending residential schools, in Canada, were placed there, due to neglect. Calculations suggested that at least $216 million in new investments are needed, immediately, with further investments downstream. The money could be used for child welfare prevention services, aimed at keeping children at home or at returning kids in care to their families.