Before five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair's body was discovered in March 2006 and the horrors of her abuse and torture spotlighted a child-welfare system in crisis, 145 kids in care had died, according to a provincial report, since devolution began in 2003.

There's been a flurry of fixes to the child-welfare system since Phoenix Sinclair's death. They come under the umbrella of Changes for Children, and they come with a hefty $42-million price tag.

But what's really changed in the child-welfare system since March 2006?

Child safety

GET ready for next year's child-welfare catch phrase: Differential response.

That's social work-speak for programs and specialized staff that gently weasel their way into troubled families and prevent abuse and neglect before it happens. The goal is to keep families together rather than sending kids to foster homes.

It represents a fundamental shift in the way child welfare is done, and it will mean another 50 or 60 new front-line workers will be hired, say provincial officials.

Two agencies are testing differential response, also known as family enhancement or family support. One agency is testing a new made-in-Manitoba risk-assessment tool that has prevention built into it. It works for families whose risk levels might not trigger foster placement but could benefit from counselling, regular visits from social workers and perhaps some fetal-alcohol services.

Aboriginal mothers who have lost custody of their kids say the child-welfare system is often unfair, overly complex, and alienates children from their culture.

Those are the findings of a study released Friday based on interviews with 32 Manitoba mothers who navigated the province's child-welfare system -- the social workers, the lawyers and court processes, the addiction and counselling programs and visitation rules.

Many of the women were middle-aged and may have come into contact with child welfare before cases involving First Nations children were referred to aboriginal agencies and social workers better able to respect First Nations' culture.

But the women told researchers they experienced overt racism from social workers and struggled with foster parents who failed to respect cultural roots. Many said they couldn't get their kids back even though they cleaned up their lives.

Here are a few quick facts for your consideration:

The maximum sentence in the Canadian Criminal Code for corrupting a child is two years.

The maximum sentence for perjury is 14 years.

The maximum sentence for public mischief is five years.

Aboriginal mothers who have lost custody of their kids say the child welfare system is often unfair, overly-complex and alienates them from their kids.

Those are the findings of a study released this morning based on interviews with 32 mothers who navigated the province's troubled child welfare system -- the social workers, the lawyers and court processes, the counseling programs, the visitation rules.

Many of the women were middle-aged and may have come into contact with child welfare before devolution -- the process when child welfare cases were handed over to aboriginal agencies and social workers better able to respect First Nations' culture. But they told researchers they experienced overt racism from social workers and foster homes often broke vital cultural bonds.

The study recommends the creation of support groups, plain-language guides and an advocates office to help aboriginal women trying to win back custody of their kids. The study's authors say more needs to be done to help parents do a better job before their kids are placed in foster homes.

A northern First Nations community is reeling after two deaths of youths in the care of a Manitoba Child and Family Services agency in less than a week.

The chief of the Shamattawa First Nation is demanding child-welfare officials increase their presence in the community.

A funeral for Rephanniah Redhead, 14, will be held today in Shamattawa, about 750 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. The girl took her own life on Sept. 25.

Her father, Ernie Redhead, said Wednesday night he was devastated by the suicide. He said his daughter was in the care of Awasis, an agency with Manitoba CFS, when she committed suicide after being taken to Winnipeg about one year ago for medical care.

Lies, damn lies and prevarications. That's what you can expect when you try to extract the facts of a troubling child welfare case from people sworn to protect children in care.