3 things Ontario's youth advocate says would save Indigenous kids' lives

"Not again. Please not again."

Those are the words that flashed through the mind of Irwin Elman, Ontario's advocate for children and youth, when he heard about the death of 17-year-old Tammy Keeash.

Keeash, from Caribou Lake First Nation, is the fourth Indigenous teen from Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory to die while under the care of the child welfare system since October.

• First Nations teen found dead was living in group home in Thunder Bay, Ont., chief says

The string of deaths should weigh heavy on the province, and should serve as a wake-up call to the government, said Elman.

"Children are dying under our watch," said Elman.

"We need to figure out in the short term why that's happening, and why it's happening right now, and what can we do about it to at least ensure that right now while we're building a better system right now children survive our attempts to protect them."

Elman said he is calling on the premier to "stand up" and ensure that immediate action will be taken.

Here are three things Irwin Elman saysthe provincial government could do right now:

1. Gather basic information

As a first step, Elman said the provincial government needs to collect information on how many Indigenous children from the north are in care in other parts of the province and where they are.

2. Visit the kids

Once they've found out exactly where the children are, someone should be sent to visit them, and to find out first hand whether the children are struggling, and what help they and their group homes need, said Elman.

3. Assemble teams to support the group homes

The province should develop a team of mobile trained workers, who can travel to group homes that need support, said Elman. "Let's do that by the end of next week," said Elman, adding that a team of clinicians could also be dispatched to help with treatment plans for children who are struggling.

In addition to those steps, Elman said he also supports a call from First Nations leaders who would like to see mandatory inquests for children who die in care.

• Ontario First Nations call for mandatory inquests when children die in child welfare system

And he added that there's a fourth step he'd like to see taken immediately, but this one by the federal government:

4. "Hand over the cheque"

The federal government has "been arguing about whether they should meet requirements of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that said First Nations communities are not equitably funded," said Elman.

• Advocates again push federal government to comply with First Nations child welfare ruling

"And you know what? Hand over the cheque, and then let's sit down and talk," about how to reform the system, he said.