Arctic childhoods - Establishing an evidence base for Northern Canada

Objective: Child protection agencies are increasingly interested in developing their administrative data to better understand the scope of reported child maltreatment and to monitor progress. This interest overlaps... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: Child protection agencies are increasingly interested in developing their administrative data to better understand the scope of reported child maltreatment and to monitor progress. This interest overlaps productively with federal public health surveillance objectives. The three Canadian northern territories and the Public Health Agency of Canada are collaboratively developing pan northern administrative data to be used by researchers and policy makers. The objectives of this presentation are to describe the process, discuss some general issues in developing the data system, and to highlight a northern perspective.

Methods: A series of ongoing consultations, a review of child protection systems in Canada, action plans from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report and an evaluation of national child protection indicators in Australia and the United States were conducted to inform the development of the system. This development required the identification of indicators that were relevant to a Northern context as well as the resolution of technological, process-related, and other challenges.

Results: The presentation will identify indicators that were found to be relevant to northern communities, with a large indigenous population. It will describe how remoteness (very low population density) and technological challenges must be considered in the set-up and maintenance of this data system. It will focus on lessons learned regarding process, and on future steps. The north is a special environment but some considerations in data system development are the same as in the south. 

Conclusion: Despite the special issues at play in data system development in remote regions of Canada, the federal government, in collaboration with university based researchers, can partner productively with northern territories to meet diverse needs for improved understanding of reported child maltreatment and the systems response.