The sorry state of Quebec’s Inuit children
Province’s child welfare agency called in to investigate abuse involving 30 per cent of kids
La Presse’s Agnès Gruda writes a very sobering piece about Quebec’s Inuit population, chock full of ghastly statistics: la Direction de la protection de la jeunesse (DPJ), the province’s child welfare agency, has investigated allegations of abuse in 30 per cent of Inuit children—half of which are under the age of five. The majority of the complaints are for gross negligence, and 16 percent are for sexual abuse. The problem is exacerbated, Gruda writes, by the lack of DPJ staff in the area and the reticence of Inuit leaders to place the children in foster care.
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