The ongoing legacy of Indigenous family separation: Long-term outcomes of child welfare involvement among American Indian and First Nations youth

BACKGROUND: Despite policies designed to preserve family structures, Indigenous children in the U.S. and Canada remain disproportionately removed from their homes and communities. This systemic removal represents an ongoing form of historical trauma with intergenerational consequences, yet research on its long-term psychosocial effects remains limited. OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of foster care and adoption among a sample of Indigenous youth and their associations with psychosocial outcomes in early adulthood. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Data come from a community-based participatory longitudinal study of Indigenous families from eight reservations and reserves in the U.S. and Canada (N = 708), collected between 2002 and 2020. METHODS: Multivariate regression models assessed associations between any child welfare involvement during childhood/adolescence (i.e., foster care and/or adoption) and young adult family (i.e., family satisfaction and cohesion) and psychosocial (i.e., flourishing, depressive symptoms, and marijuana use) outcomes. RESULTS: Overall, 16.73 % of participants experienced child welfare placement during childhood or adolescence. Compared with Indigenous youth who were never placed in child welfare, those who experienced placement had lower odds of family satisfaction (OR = 0.40; p < .05), reported decreased family cohesion (b = -1.38; p < .05), lower rates of flourishing (b = -1.44; p < .05). Despite showing significant bivariate associations, child welfare placement was not associated with depressive symptoms (b = 0.20; p = .15), and only marginally associated with marijuana use (b = 0.59; p = .06). CONCLUSIONS: Indigenous family involvement in the child welfare system remains disproportionately high and is associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes in adulthood. Findings underscore the need for systemic reforms and culturally responsive, community-driven interventions to support Indigenous families.