journal july 2008 - coverby cynthia vincent, shaye moffat, marie-pierre paquet, dr. robert flynn and...
TRANSCRIPT
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Message from the Executive Director By Jeanette Lewis 1 Developmental Assets and Resilient Outcomes By Cynthia Vincent, Shaye Moffat, Marie-Pierre Paquet, Dr. Robert Flynn and Robyn Marquis
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2008 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect By Kate Schumaker and Carolyn Golden
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PART: Translating Knowledge into Practice By Katharine Dill 7 Involving Children in Family Group Conferences By Jeanette Schmid and Darlene Sykes
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Safety and Family Group Conferencing By Jeanette Schmid and Darlene Sykes 13 Keeping the Environment Stable: What to do when Kids Come into Care By Abby Goldstein and Christine Wekerle
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The Child Welfare Supervisor as Stress Manager By Joe Darocha
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Book Review By Bernie Gallagher 23 Abandoned By Stephen Gill 24
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The Journal is a major source of information for Ontario’s children’s services professionals.
The Journal is published quarterly and distributed to more than 3,000 recipients by the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS).
Requests for subscription information, notice of change of address and undeliverable copies should be sent to:
Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies 75 Front St East, 2nd Floor Toronto, Ontario M5E 1V9
www.oacas.org
OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND NOT THOSE OF OACAS.
National Library of Canada ISSN 0030-283x
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Over the past few months, OACAS has taken strong advocacy positions on several issues including funding for member agencies, providing the Ontario Child Benefit to children in care, making public adoption available at no cost to Ontarians and implementing the Transformation Agenda. OACAS has also engaged Ontarians in advocating for the well being, safety, health and education of Ontario’s children, especially our most vulnerable children and youth. The Speak Up campaign in the spring encouraged Ontarians to speak up and work together to give all children the best opportunities to reach their full potential. On June 27, OACAS applauded the Ontario Government's announcement of new funding of $11.5 million in 2008/09, growing to $16.2 million in 20011/12, for children and youth in care to participate in learning and recreational programs to build the skills and confidence they need to achieve their full potential when they leave care. The Government announced funding equivalent to the maximum Ontario Child Benefit payment for each child and youth in care for learning, tutoring, skills building and recreational programs based on their individual needs. In addition, Children’s Aid Societies will be opening savings accounts to accrue amounts up to $3,300 for youth in care aged 15 to 17 to access when they leave care. This initiative will provide needed enrichment opportunities and investment options for youth in care. At the OACAS/CMHO Joint Conference on June 4, the Youth Policy Advisory and Advocacy Group (YPAAG), representing approximately 160 youth at the conference, gave detailed recommendations on how to better prepare and support youth in care for success in life. YPAAG shared their recommendations for financial and educational supports and raising the age of eligibility while emphasizing the need for emotional support. Youth asked, “Who would you call?” to remind child welfare professionals, researchers and foster parents that youth in care rely on their local agency for emotional support. OACAS has a refreshed logo. With a softer edge and an additional shadow, the logo has evolved to symbolize the child, protected by a parent and supported by the community. All publications, including The Journal, are being revised with the new look and will be available in electronic, web-friendly formats. The e-versions of the Journal will be available this summer on www.oacas.org. The summer edition of The Journal features articles about the research and practice of programs and projects to improve and promote the safety, protection and well being of Ontario’s children, including: translating research into practice, studying the incidence of child abuse in Ontario, exploring best practices in web-based education, maintaining stable environments at school for children in care, supervising stress management and providing opportunities for young people living in group care to develop resilience. These articles showcase the research projects and initiatives in practice that improve the lives of all Ontario’s children. Jeanette Lewis Executive Director
JOURNALJOURNAL Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Message from the Executive Director
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Developmental Assets and Resilient Outcomes: Findings from the Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) Project By Cynthia Vincent, Shaye Moffat, Marie-Pierre Paquet, Dr. Robert Flynn and Robyn Marquis
S ince 1958, the Search Institute has been
investigating the best ways to promote positive
development in young people. Their research has
intended to incorporate the best lessons from the
fields of prevention, risk reduction and resilience
(Scales, 1999). The Search Institute has identified 40
Developmental Assets1, or strengths, that contribute
to positive development and outcomes. There are
20 external assets, divided into four categories
(support, empowerment, boundaries and
expectations and constructive use of time), and 20
internal assets, also divided into four categories
(commitment to learning, positive values, social
competencies and positive identity). External assets,
working together with internal assets, promote
protection and resilience.
Asset development is relevant for all young people,
not only those at risk for negative outcomes. The
developmental assets framework supports
relationships, mobilizes formal and informal
community networks, and engages youth in
opportunities for positive development. It is
strengths-based and focuses on nurturing the
resources within the young person and his or her
environment.
Why is asset-building important for children and
youth in care?
Children and youth who have entered the child
welfare system have often experienced significant
adversity in the form of neglect, extreme poverty,
parental substance abuse, domestic violence,
abandonment or emotional, physical or sexual
abuse. These negative experiences increase the
young people’s risk of maladaptive behaviour,
depression, mental health problems and lower
educational performance, dramatically affecting
development and limiting opportunities for future
success. Masten’s (2006) research suggests that
cumulative protection can counteract the effects of
cumulative risk. Protective factors within the
environment and the individual enable positive
adaptation and functioning in the context of risk.
Such protective factors can be found within the
developmental assets framework.
Since young people living in out-of-home care have
already experienced considerable disadvantage in
terms of healthy development, it is especially
important to provide them with as many
opportunities as possible to develop positive
functioning and resilient characteristics. Such
capabilities can assist them in dealing with the day-
to-day aspects of their lives and help them to
develop into healthy adults.
What does the research say about asset-building
and resilient outcomes?
Considerable research exists linking developmental
assets with positive outcomes in children and youth
(Scales, Benson, Leffert and Blyth, 2000). Young
people with greater numbers of developmental
assets are less likely to engage in risk-taking
activities, such as the use of alcohol, tobacco and
other drugs, or early sexual activity. Scales (1999, p.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
118) states that “the more vulnerable youth are, the
more they seem to benefit from the protective
impact of developmental assets.” Having more
assets increases overall positive outcomes in terms
of academic performance, physical and mental
health, increased self-esteem and self-efficacy,
better problem-solving skills and decision-making,
having a sense of purpose, having more hope and
optimism about the future, having better resistance
skills in coping with negative peer influences and
more prosocial behaviour.
Nurturing and providing opportunities for young
people to acquire assets are important in the
development of adolescent mental and physical
heath and overall well being. The neighbourhoods
where children and youth reside should take an
interest in young people, engage them in positive
ways, promote safe ways for them to explore their
talents, interests and values, and provide
opportunities for them to have a positive impact in
their communities.
What was the purpose of this study?
This study explored the relationship between
developmental assets and positive outcomes in at-
risk children and youth involved in the Ontario
Looking After Children (OnLAC) project. We
hypothesized that there would be a positive
relationship between the number of developmental
assets that the young person possessed and his or
her level of prosocial behaviour, academic
performance and mental health.
What is the Ontario Looking After Children
(OnLAC) project?
Utilizing the Second Canadian Adaptation of the
Assessment and Action Record (AAR-C2; Flynn,
Ghazal and Legault, 2006), OnLAC annually reviews
the progress of children and youth in out-of-home
care in seven developmental dimensions: health,
education, identity, family and social relationships,
social presentation, emotional and behavioural
development and self-care skills. The AAR-C2
contains child-focused, age-appropriate interactive
questions, designed to encourage children and
youth to engage in conversations with their
caregivers and child welfare workers. Such
conversations enable child welfare workers and
caregivers to identify individual needs, monitor
development and support positive outcomes.
OnLAC, a component of the Ontario Practice Model,2
is strengths-based, supported by resilience
research, and outcome focused. It seeks to improve
the quality of out-of-home care by incorporating
good parenting and building on children’s
strengths.
Who were our participants?
A sample of 713 participants, aged 10 to 17 years,
was drawn from year five (2005-2006) of the OnLAC
longitudinal project. The participants’ mean age was
14 years. Fifty-six percent were male, 44% female.
Eighty-five percent resided in foster homes
(including kinship care), and 15% lived in group
home care. Eighty-seven percent were Crown Wards
of their local Children’s Aid Societies. Their mean
age when first placed into care was eight years.
What did we do?
Data had been collected on all of the 713
participants using the AAR-C2. All of the measures
utilized were taken from the AAR-C2. These
included: (1) a summary profile of 40 assets
(adapted from the Search Institute’s 40
Developmental Assets), rated by the child welfare
worker; (2) the Prosocial and Total Difficulties
scores from the Strengths and Difficulties
Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997) and (3)
academic performance, all rated by the caregiver;
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
(4) self-esteem, (5) relationship with the female
caregiver and (6) placement satisfaction, all rated by
the young person.
The measure of developmental assets was
calculated as follows. For each of the 40 assets, the
child welfare worker was asked to rate the young
person’s possession of the asset in terms of three
response options: “yes”, “uncertain” or “no”. A total
score was computed for the young person by
summing all the “yes” responses.
What were the study findings? 3
The number of assets possessed by the young
people ranged from 5 to 40. One percent had 5 to
10 assets, 18% had 11 to 20, 42% had 21 to 30, and
38% had 31 to 40. 4 The mean assets for the total
sample (N = 713) was 27. Females had a greater
number of assets, on average (29), than did males
(26).
We found statistically significant positive
correlations between the young person’s number of
assets and his or her prosocial behaviour, self-
esteem, relationship with the female caregiver,
placement satisfaction, and academic performance.
That is, the more developmental assets the young
person possessed, the more positive were his or her
outcomes. We also found a statistically significant
negative correlation between developmental assets
and psychological difficulties, such that young
people with a greater number of developmental
assets had fewer psychological difficulties. Overall,
our results suggest that, as in the general
population, the possession of a larger number of
developmental assets is beneficial for young people
in care.
What can be done to promote resilient outcomes
for children and youth in out-of-home care?
Caregivers and professionals in child welfare can
provide many opportunities to promote resilience in
young people in out-of-home care. Masten’s (2006)
research indicates that a positive relationship with a
caring and competent adult is the strongest
protective factor in promoting resilience and
buffering the negative effects of risk, especially for
young children. This relationship can come, ideally,
from a caregiver, but can also be developed with the
child welfare worker, a biological family member, a
teacher, or any other caring, prosocial member of
the community. Professionals working within the
child welfare system can assist young people in
developing supportive social networks to foster
positive and nurturing relationships with adults and
peers, and encourage positive self-esteem and
identity. They can also make available resources to
support academic performance and opportunities
for young people to participate in extracurricular
activities and to volunteer in the community.
Completing the summary profile of assets for young
people in their care, as part of the AAR-C2, is an
excellent opportunity for professionals to examine
which assets the young people already possess and
which ones could be developed during the next
year. The latter could be included as specific targets
in the plan of care.
Conclusion
Despite the adversity faced by the young people in
care, they still had many assets. The study results
have many implications for practice within the child
welfare system. If service interventions can build on
the strengths of young people while also striving to
reduce risks, and incorporate the acquisition of
specific developmental assets into plans of care,
young people in out-of-home care can attain more
positive outcomes in physical and mental health,
academic performance, and overall well being, all
indicators of greater resilience.
...the more developmental assets the young person possessed, the more positive were his or her outcomes.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
1 Information on the 40 Developmental Assets is available through the Search Institute website. Available online at: http://www.search-institute.org
2 The Ontario Practice Model includes: Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE), Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE), and the Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) project.
3 Additional information on the study results can be obtained by contacting Cynthia Vincent at [email protected].
4 Percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding
Authors’ Note
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the
Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies and
the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services.
Special thanks are also due to the participants in the
OnLAC project: young people, child welfare
workers, foster parents, group home staff, and local
Children’s Aid Societies.
About the Authors
Cynthia Vincent, Shaye Moffat, Marie-Pierre
Paquet, Dr. Robert Flynn and Robyn Marquis are
members of the Ontario Looking After Children
(OnLAC) Research Team at the Centre for Research
on Educational and Community Services, University
of Ottawa.
References
Flynn, R. J., Ghazal, H., Legault, L. (2006). Looking After Children: Good parenting, good outcomes, Assessment and Action Records. (Second Canadian adaptation, AAR-C2). Ottawa, ON, and London, UK: Centre for Research on Community Services, University of Ottawa and Her Majesty’s Stationary Office (HMSO). Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 581-586.
Masten, A. S. (2006). Promoting resilience in development: A general framework for systems of care. In R. J. Flynn, P. M. Dudding and J. G. Barber (Eds.), Promoting resilience in child welfare (pp. 3-17). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. Scales, P. C. (1999). Reducing risks and building developmental assets: Essential actions for promoting adolescent health. Journal of School Health. 69, 113-119. Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Leffert, N., and Blyth, D. A. (2000). Contribution of developmental assets to the prediction of thriving among adolescents. Applied Developmental Science. 4, (1), 27-46. Search Institute website. Available online at: http://www.search-institute.org
The National Chapter of Canada IODE GRANT
IODE, a Canadian women’s charitable organization, initiated the IODE 100th Anniversary Grant Program to alleviate child abuse and neglect. A $25,000 Grant is available to professional individuals and groups working in the field of child protection within Canada.
CONTACT: THE NATIONAL CHAPTER OF CANADA IODE
40 ORCHARD VIEW BLVD., STE. 254 TORONTO, ON M4R 1B9 TEL: 416-487-4416 FAX: 416-487-4417 E-MAIL: [email protected]
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31 OCTOBER 2008
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Research Update: The 2008 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect By Kate Schumaker and Carolyn Golden
P reparation for the 2008 Ontario Incidence Study
of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS-2008)
is currently underway and data collection for the
study will begin this fall. Data for this current cycle
of the study will be gathered from 23 child welfare
agencies/offices across Ontario—19 “mainstream”,
and four designated Aboriginal agencies— and will
employ a similar methodology to the previous cycles
of the study, the OIS-1993, OIS-1998 and OIS-2003,
in order to allow for comparisons to be made.
The initial OIS was conducted in 1993, led by Dr.
Nico Trocmé, and represented the first provincial
study of the incidence of child abuse and neglect
reported to, and investigated by, child welfare
authorities; prior to this, there were no reliable
provincial data on the reported incidence of child
abuse and neglect in Ontario. The OIS was repeated
in 1998 and in 2003 as part of the larger national
study, the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported
Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS), with the primary
purpose of providing reliable estimates of the scope
and characteristics of investigated child abuse and
neglect in Ontario. Data from the OIS-1993 study
comprise the baseline against which all future cycles
of the OIS are compared. The OIS-2008 marks the
fourth cycle of provincial data collection regarding
reported child maltreatment for Ontario.
The OIS-2008 uses a multi-stage sampling design to
select a representative sample of child welfare
service areas across Canada and then sample cases
within these child welfare service areas for a three-
month period (October 1, 2008 to December 31,
2008). The main data collection instrument used for
the OIS-2008 is a three-page standardized form,
called the Maltreatment Assessment Form, which is
completed by the primary investigating child welfare
worker at the end of each child welfare
investigation. Data collected by this form include
information routinely collected by workers during
the course of an investigation.
While the core funding for the larger, national study
(the CIS) is provided by the Public Health Agency of
Canada’s Injury and Child Maltreatment Division,
critical additional funding for the OIS is provided by
the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services,
allowing for an enriched sample in Ontario, and
permitting the research team to generate provincial
estimates of reported child abuse and neglect
specific to Ontario.
In addition to documenting overall changes in rates
of reported and investigated physical abuse, sexual
abuse, neglect, and emotional maltreatment, the OIS
monitors short-term investigation outcomes,
including: substantiated maltreatment rates,
placement of children in care, use of child welfare
court and criminal prosecution. A comparison of the
OIS-1998 and OIS-2003 data showed that the rate of
maltreatment investigations had almost doubled in
Ontario, largely driven by a 149% increase in
substantiated maltreatment. The comparison also
revealed important trends in the type of
maltreatment reported including a 319% increase in
substantiated exposure to domestic violence, and a
359% increase in substantiated emotional
maltreatment. Data from the OIS has been used to
guide research, child welfare service provision and
policy. The recent introduction of a differential
response model for Ontario was partly based on the
findings from the OIS-2003, specifically the
documented increases in exposure to domestic
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
violence and emotional maltreatment rather than
physical and sexual abuse, and the low rates of
physical harm.
While the national study (CIS-2008) is directed by a
team of researchers from the McGill University,
University of Toronto and the University of Calgary,
primary responsibility for the OIS portion of the
study rests with the University of Toronto team, led
by Dr. Barbara Fallon, and co-managed by Tara
Black, Kate Schumaker and Caroline Felstiner. The
study design, including enlistment strategies,
instruments and report formats, was developed in
consultation with a National Steering Committee,
provincial and territorial Directors of Child Welfare,
and the Public Health Agency of Canada staff.
The results of OIS-2008 are expected to be available
in the fall of 2010 and the report will be widely
disseminated, as well as made available on the
Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare’s website.
About the Authors
Kate Schumaker is the Co-Manager of the Canadian
Incidence Study (CIS), and a PhD student at the
Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto.
Carolyn Golden is completing her MSW practicum
with the CIS; she is a family services worker at the
Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto.
PART: Practice and Research Together Translating Knowledge into Practice By Katharine Dill
Those who are enamoured with practice without
science are like a captain who goes into a ship without
a rudder or compass and never has any certainty
where he (or she) is going. -Leonardo da Vinci 1
Introduction
C hild welfare practitioners’ conceptualization
and development of research and practice in
their field have evolved over time. The da Vinci
quote points to the need for child welfare
practitioners to engage in evidence-informed
practice in ways that will give rise to the following
outcomes: (a) better situations for children and
families (b) improved accountability mechanisms in
work with children and families, (c) increased
competence for child welfare practitioners, (d)
future research and policy directions for the field.
A team of executive directors from the Eastern Zone
developed a vision with respect to the future
direction of child welfare practice in Ontario. The
directors foresaw the need to infuse evidence
informed practice into their agency’s daily work of
protecting children and strengthening families. The
team highlighted the need to integrate research into
practice in the following strategic areas:
• Accountability to the mandate protecting
children and youth
• Practitioners’ knowledge
• Integration into the current training agenda
• Policy development
• Organizational change initiatives
After setting these priorities, the team began to
collaborate with the Research in Practice (RiP) team
in England. Analysis of the consultation that was
1 M.Chaffin, B. Friedrich, Evidence-based treatments in child abuse and neglect, Children and Youth Services Review, 26 (2004) 1097-1113.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
done with the RiP team made it clear that there were
significant opportunities in the Ontario child welfare
field for use and integration of key elements of the
UK model.
This process set in motion for the development of
the provincial project entitled Practice and Research
Together (PART). The project received full
endorsement from all provincial executive directors
at the September 24, 2007 conference. It is
supported in part by the OACAS.
What is Practice and Research Together (PART)?
The goal of PART is to integrate research knowledge
and translate this information into user-friendly
materials, training opportunities, organizational
change projects and networking with colleagues and
researchers from across the country and around the
world. Through PART, the concept of evidence-
informed practice comes alive.
What PART is not…
The intent of the project is not to conduct research
but rather to provide member agencies with
information and knowledge translation that will
assist them in using evidence-informed practice to
improve clients’ outcomes. PART creates
organizational and systemic change by bridging the
gap that currently exists between child welfare
practitioners and researchers. The project is not
simply a website, but rather a structure that
provides member agencies with hands-on support
and tools that assist with the integration and
utilization of evidence-informed practice.
What is Evidence-Informed Practice?
Evidence-Informed Practice utilizes a combination of
the best research evidence and clinical knowledge
that has been developed to date. A practitioner
whose work is grounded in evidence uses research
to guide his or her daily decisions, documentation,
and engagement with clients. The distillation of key
research findings to practitioners will support the
evolution of evidence-informed practice in Ontario.
Why is Evidence-Informed Practice important?
Evidence-informed practice provides practitioners
with a decision-making framework that may be
useful in dealing with problems and issues that
affect individual children and families. These issues
could include the following: choices about when or
how to apprehend children, supervision of clients
with addiction issues, and management of adoption
breakdowns. The framework may also help
practitioners to resolve macro level issues such as
organizational change and the development of tools
for supervision in the context of the Differential
Response Model of practice. The overall intent of
the project is to provide ready access to the most
up-to-date empirical knowledge. In turn, this
knowledge base has the potential to: 1) inform
practitioners on how to effectively formulate case
decisions and 2) generate policy that is informed by
research.
PART Member Agencies to date include:
1. Algoma Children’s Aid Society
2. Brant Children’s Aid Society
3. Chatham-Kent Children’s Services
4. Durham Children’s Aid Society
The goal of PART is to integrate research knowledge and translate this information into user-friendly materials, training opportunities, organizational change projects and networking with colleagues and researchers from across the country and around the world.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
5. City of Kingston and County of Frontenac
Children’s Aid Society
6. Children’s Aid Society of Owen Sound and the
County of Grey
7. Haldimand and Norfolk Children’s Aid Society
8. Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton
9. Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton
10. Hastings Children’s Aid Society
11. Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Aid Society
12. Children’s Aid Society of County of Lanark and
the Town of Smith Falls
13. Family and Children’s Services of Leeds and
Grenville
14. London-Middlesex Children’s Aid Society | La
Société d’aide à l’enfance de London et du
Middlesex
15. Niagara Family and Children’s Services
16. Northumberland Children’s Aid Society
17. The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa | La Société
d’aide à l’enfance d’Ottawa
18. Peel Children’s Aid Society
19. Services aux enfants et adultes de Prescott-
Russell Services to Children and Adults
20. Renfrew Family and Children’s Services
21. Stormont Dundas and Glengarry Children’s Aid
Society | La Société d’aide à l’enfance des
comptés unis de Stormont Dundas et Glengarry
22. Sudbury-Manitoulin Children’s Aid Society | La
Société d’aide à l’enfance des district de
Sudbury et du Manitoulin
23. Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto | La
Société catholique de l’aide à l’enfance ville de
Toronto
24. Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and
Wellington County
25. Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society | La
Société d’aide à l’enfance de Windsor-Essex
26. York Region Children’s Aid Society
PART Elements
1. Learning Events:
These are regularly scheduled evidence-informed
conferences that support the integration of research
into practice. This first learning event on Kinship
Practice was held April 29 and 30, 2008. Presenters
included:
• Dr. Mark Testa, School of Social Work, University
of Illinois
• Rob Geen, Child Trends, Washington
• Dr. Esme Fuller-Thomson, Factor-Inwentash
School of Social Work, University of Toronto
• Professor Joan Hunt, University of Oxford,
England
• Betty Cornelius, Director of Cangrands
• Regina Whelan, Manager, Children’s Aid Society
of London and Middlesex
• Ruth Tansony, Supervisor of Kinship Program,
Toronto Catholic Children’s Aid Society
• Laurel Choate, Art Therapist
What people had to say about this first Learning
Event:
“Great opportunity to network and to listen to
struggles and similarities”
“Great work….left conference with more ideas and
food for thought”
”Thank you for recognizing the great need and
helping to make this event happen…wow!”
“I very much appreciated the wealth and range of
knowledge...”
The topic for the next learning event is Sibling
Connections in Care (kinship and foster placements)
scheduled to take place on November 11 and 12 in
Ottawa, Ontario. Other learning event topics
include:
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
• Adoption related research
• Aboriginal perspectives in child welfare
• Outcomes for children in care
• Research related to supervised access programs
• Research related to substance misusing clients
2. Link PARTners
Link PARTners are integral to making PART a
successful program. One person per member
agency is assigned as the agency’s link to the PART
project. This person is the conduit between the
agency and the PART team. On May 27 and 28,
2008, PART hosted a Link PARTners retreat to assist
child welfare member agencies consider how to
integrate research into practice. The goal of PART is
to build on the inherent strengths of Link PARTners
and member agencies to make research an
absolutely vital part of everyday work for all child
welfare professionals.
3. Evidence Informed Practice (EIP) Toolkits:
EIP Toolkits involve the development of helpful
materials that integrate wisdom that emerges from
research, policy and practice. These projects are
collaborative endeavours between child welfare
practitioners and PART staff members. Examples
of possible EIP Toolkits include:
• Leading Evidence Informed Practice in the
Context of Clinical Supervision
• Integrating Research in Child Welfare Court
4. Website Development
The evolving PART website will be more than one
more place to ‘click’. Rather, the website will be the
portal to all of the knowledge translation,
documentation and e-learning platforms available
through PART. The site will be a user-friendly
resource that is easily accessible by busy child
welfare practitioners and organizations.
While the PART website is under construction, we
have managed to purchase access to the Research
in Practice website from the UK. Through 11 years
of experience, the RiP team has assembled an
excellent array of evidence informed practice
materials related to children and families. All
member agencies benefit from access to the
Research in Practice website.
5. PARTicles:
PARTicles are three page literature reviews on
various topics. We are currently working
on the development of six PARTicles topics on the
following subjects:
• What is strengths-based practice?
• Sibling connections in care (kinship and foster
care)
• Utilizing stakeholder feedback to inform service
delivery
• Differential Response
• Substance misusing parents and effective child
welfare interventions
• Outcomes related to long-term foster care
versus adoption
If you are interested in joining PART please contact
Katharine Dill at [email protected] or by phone
at 905-433-1551 ext. 2473.
About the Author
Katharine Dill is the director of PART and a PhD
Candidate, Faculty of Social Work, University of
Toronto.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
C hild welfare workers often become anxious
about children being invited into the Family
Group Conferencing process, fearing that the
children will become re-victimized. Research by
Holland and O’Neill (2006) suggests that while there
is the possibility that children may become
vulnerable, they can participate safely and
comfortably with proper preparation.
There are a number of reasons why children should
have a voice in the FGC process:
• The conference is about the child, and the child
thus should be able to have input into the
decision making
• The child needs to witness the circle of adults
developing a plan and committing to ensuring
the child’s safety and well being
• The adults are more able to put conflicts aside
when the child is there, as the child’s presence
helps them focus on the issues that have
brought them to the conference
• Many family members may not have had the
opportunity to meet the child (in the case of an
infant apprehended at birth) or to reconnect
with the child.
The coordinators, in preparing all participants for
the conference, are cognizant of and open to
hearing from service providers and family members
about any concerns they may have about the child’s
safety in the meeting. The coordinator will alert
family members to any concerns service providers
have raised, allowing the family circle to decide on
an appropriate safety plan.
For any verbal child, preparing the child face-to-face
is a critical part of the coordinator’s role. This is
done in an age/stage-appropriate manner using
various aids such as drawings or dollhouse chairs to
engage the child. The coordinator will:
• Make a clinical judgment as to whether to meet
the child alone, or with another service provider
(such as the Children’s Lawyer, the children’s
worker or foster parent), relative or siblings
• Share information regarding the purpose of the
meeting, how the conferencing process works,
and who is likely to attend. This means that the
child needs to have heard the reasons for child
welfare involvement explicitly from the child
welfare team ahead of meeting with the
coordinator. Any ‘secrets’ need to come out
into the open. For example, the child welfare
team needs to be clear that the father who was
thought to be ‘picking oranges in Florida’ is
actually in prison or that time is running out and
the family will be talking about permanency
planning or adoption
• Explain that the child can inform the adults of
what they should consider when developing the
plan. Typically, the Children’s Lawyer will help
the child write up a statement so that the child’s
voice is heard at the meeting
• Invite the child to identify a support person
within his/her family group. This individual in
turn will be coached by the coordinator to
ensure that s/he is able to support the child
through the conference and where appropriate
represent the child. The child may request that
this person read his/her statement to the family
group
• Identify any anxieties or safety concerns with the
child so an appropriate safety plan can be
developed for the day or leading up to the
meeting day
Involving Children in Family Group Conferences By Jeanette Schmid and Darlene Sykes
Family Group Conferencing: Practice Notes
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
• Inform the child of the safety plan that his/her
family group has developed for the conference.
The coordinator will never pressure a child to
attend a conference! • Ask the child whether s/he would like the
beginning of the conference celebrated in any
particular way. Children have written poems,
prepared a poster, danced, picked a symbolic
song or sang a song to welcome relatives and
friends to the conference. Some children have
also drawn up invitations for the conference.
The coordinator further relies on others involved
with the child to support him/her through the
process. Foster parents and caregivers are
requested to be particularly sensitive to the
emotions evoked both before and after a
conference. They can help the child anticipate the
day. Counsellors and children’s service workers
often discuss the child’s fears and expectations with
them. Trusted family members, particularly the
support person, may have conversations with the
child ahead of the conference to ensure that what is
important to the child is heard at the conference.
While involvement in the conference is strongly
encouraged, the child does not have to be at the
conference or in the conference room. The child
may choose someone from the family network to
speak on his/her behalf if it does not seem that the
environment will be emotionally and physically safe.
Children may also choose to remain in the playroom
for much of the conference, entering the meeting at
points that feel comfortable to them. Service
providers need to allow the family members to take
care of the child throughout the conference day.
Childcare staff are also on hand to provide practical
supervision and activities when children are in the
play room.
Children are key in the preparation process as they,
like their adult counterparts, carry information
about the family. For example, one child was able to
facilitate the coordinator’s access to the
grandmother, who was the family matriarch and
who in turn ensured that a wide circle attended the
conference.
Children enjoy attending conferences. They are
excited about having cousins and young friends
present and reconnecting with the adults in their
lives. They typically want to be involved in the
planning and have their voice heard in decision
making and to share the outcomes with others.
Adults need to take care to incorporate the
children’s views in their decision-making and to
share the outcome with the children before the
conference is finally concluded.
Below are some quotes from children and youth who
have attended conferences:
“No matter how far away my mom and dad are,
they are always on my mind and in my heart”.
“The people here are all the people that love me -
and this is not even half of them!”
“This plan is about me, and so I will tell you (child
welfare team) what we have decided.”
“If feel very sad about things right now but I am
happy we are together today.”
“We got to sit together as a family and talk about
things without CAS being there.”
“The family meeting today allowed me to think
about my future.”
Reference
Holland, S., and O’Neill, S. (2006). “We had to be there to make sure it was what we wanted- Enabling children’s participation in family decision-making through the family group conference”, Childhood, 13(1), pp. 91-111.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Safety and Family Group Conferencing
By Jeanette Schmid and Darlene Sykes
A concern regarding safety is often what comes
to mind if a child protection worker is told that
one plans to bring together the child’s immediate
family with relatives and family friends. This anxiety
is deepened if there has been any history of violence
within the family. Yet, Family Group Conferencing is
built on the notion of inclusion and on the idea of
widening the circle to ensure that as many voices
within the family network as possible are
represented and heard. A primary task of the
coordinator is therefore to ensure that the
conferencing process is physically and emotionally
safe for all participants.
Developing safety plans
becomes one of the foci of
the preparation phase. The
coordinator elicits from all
prospective participants —
both family members and
service providers —whether or not they will feel safe
enough to be involved in the process. It is the child
protection worker’s responsibility to articulate any
concerns s/he may have for his/her own or others’
safety during the initial briefing session or during
the preparatory phase; the coordinator must also be
vigilant about safety issues.
Ultimately it is the family group that will craft the
safety plan. This is crucial for two reasons: firstly,
service providers are not present during the
conference’s family private time, and thus the family
members need to be able to maintain a sufficiently
predictable and secure environment during that part
of the conference; and secondly, the family network
will need to be able to function safely post-
conference without the ongoing intervention of
service providers.
The coordinator utilizes a range of strategies to
address safety. The coordinator asks service
providers to identify whether they see any threats to
family safety or their own safety and checks with the
family group to see how safe they believe the
process will be for various family members. The
coordinator communicates safety concerns raised by
any service providers or other family members to
the family. Relatives may not assess the risk to be
as serious as the service providers. This does not
necessarily mean that threats are being minimized,
but points to family members knowing each other
and the potential for disruption or violence that
each brings. For
example, the family
group may have a
different tolerance for
loudness or profanity
than the child welfare
team and often talk
about other family gatherings where they have dealt
with the same issues successfully. Child protection
workers need to trust the coordinator’s and family’s
assessment of risk.
Participants may feel safer if a large number of
people attend the conference; if a particular person
they can rely on to manage emotions is present; or
if they are able to bring a support person to enable
them to control their feelings and have a say in the
process. Some invitees ask for the coordinator to
coach them regarding the manner in which sensitive
issues can be raised, while others will caucus ahead
of the conference with like-minded family members.
In certain situations, it may be appropriate to have
certain parties in a close, but separate venue.
Sometimes it is necessary to prevent particular
individuals from attending the conference, while
nevertheless ensuring that they have input into the
A primary task of the coordinator is therefore to ensure that the conferencing process is physically and emotionally safe for all participants.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Keeping the Environment Stable: What to do when Kids come into Care
By Abby Goldstein and Christine Wekerle
Problems Associated with School Mobility
T he issue of whether to change a child’s school
when he moves residentially requires an
analysis of an individual child’s “attachment” to
school as a familiar place, as well as peers and
adults who are positively connected and prepared to
be involved with the child. On a case-by-case basis,
a change in residence may be an opportunity for a
child with an unsupportive school environment,
bullying problems, few extra-curricular options, and
low learning resources to have a “fresh start” at
another school, where preparatory work with school
officials, the teacher, and the parent’s group
(potentially) may set the stage for an individual
child’s success. It is also a matter of degree; three
or more school changes may be over-challenging to
a child with issues regarding friendship
maintenance, positive peer selection, and skills in
developing close relationships. Important
opportunities for teacher and coach mentors may be
diminished with many school changes.
From a systems perspective, transporting children
to their old school following a change of placement,
is not only a cost issue, but also an access issue in
terms of closeness to friends and the quality of the
bus ride experience, which is often a site for
bullying behaviours.
There is limited research on this issue from the
child outcomes or system services perspectives.
Research with randomly selected teens from the
decision-making (e.g., by letter or teleconference).
At the conference, the safety plan is explicitly
reviewed during the early part of the meeting as a
means of setting common ground rules. The various
support people are identified and their role in the
conference is stated. In this way, all the participants
know what to expect from each other.
Where violence is part of the concerns identified by
service providers as impacting the child’s safety and
well being, the family group is required to build a
future safety plan into their recommendations.
Family Group Conferencing takes a long- rather than
a short-term view of safety in the family.
Because of the thorough preparation involved,
conferencing processes are typically safe for all
participants and have been used successfully in
domestic violence or other conflictual scenarios
(e.g., custody situations). FGC
About the Authors
Jeanette Schmid was the program coordinator at
the Toronto Family Group Conferencing Project for
six years and is a consultant and a member of the
provincial training team.
Darlene Sykes worked as a private contractor for
Brant CAS as their FGCM project coordinator for
three years, has been the FGCM coordinator for
Simcoe CAS for three years. She is also an agency
and provincial trainer and mentor.
Both authors were involved from the early stages of
the respective projects.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP)
project suggests that this type of maltreatment may
be important: male teens who had reported
childhood neglect and high system turbulence
(number of moves, number of workers) reported
poorer mental health outcomes. The school
environment is mandated to be a safe environment
and maltreated children would seem to benefit from
a secure relationship to the key adults and places
they spend much of their daily living time.
Several lines of evidence point to the negative
impact of school mobility. Among the most
documented effects of school mobility is its
negative impact on academic performance, greater
absenteeism, and increased rates of dropout. School
mobility is particularly likely among low-income
families, who are often relocating due to difficulties
finding affordable housing.
There are certain points in schooling where
consistent quality instruction is perhaps more
salient. For example, while some children can
achieve reading fluency as they exit kindergarten,
children who are not fluent readers by Grade 3
would be referred for assessment; however, most
children will achieve reading by end of Grade one. In
a similar way, Grades 7 and 8 are important
preparatory years for high school across all subject
areas, and especially in science and mathematics.
Poor absorption of content in Grade 8 can
substantially limit a youth’s ability to succeed in
high school academic courses required for
admission into university. A premature placement
into to an applied-level course can alter a youth’s
trajectory in high school and post secondary
education. Although researchers in the United States
have identified school mobility as an area of
concern, there has been little research on school
mobility in Canada (Wasserman, 2004).
One of the primary concerns around school mobility
is the lack of continuity in schooling that these
students face. Zeitlin, Weinberg and Luderer (2004)
discuss the problem of school mobility for youth in
the foster care system. They note that frequent
mobility results in foster care youth falling behind
academically, losing credits, and having incomplete
academic records. Youth who are forced to start
school without their school records often find
themselves repeating classes and losing credits. In
addition, the lack of school records can delay the
implementation of an individualized evaluation
program (IEP), resulting in students falling further
behind due to inadequate classroom supports and
resources. Finally, highly mobile students might be
unlikely to get an IEP because they have not been in
the school district long enough to have an
educational assessment, due to waiting lists. Even
when school records are accessible, they often
contain partial information. Stronge, Popp, and
Grant (2007) have several recommendations for
teachers on how to best manage highly mobile
students including creating a supportive
environment for new students, taking the time to
get to know new students and providing early
assessments of academic ability to ensure students
are accurately placed (for a full review see http://
www.serve.org/nche).
School Mobility: Does Age Matter?
School Mobility and Adolescents: The Impact of
Peer Networks
One group of researchers has proposed that school
mobility has its greatest impact via its effects on
peer relationships and that this is most problematic
for adolescents, who have difficulty becoming fully
integrated into new peer networks. Haynie,
Poor absorption of content in Grade 8 can substantially limit a youth’s ability to succeed in high school academic courses required for admission into university.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
South and Bose (2006) have examined the impact of
mobility on the development of friendship networks
among youth. According to their model, there are
important differences between mobile and non-
mobile students in their peer role models for
academic outcomes. Due to frequent school leaving
and re-entering, highly mobile youth are less likely
to integrate with prosocial peer groups and more
likely to socialize with peers who place little value
on educational achievement. They suggest that
mobility is particularly difficult for youth given the
increased emphasis on peer influences in
adolescence. In addition, they proposed that
integration into peer networks would be most
difficult for older adolescents, where more time in
school is associated with firmer connections among
peers within peer networks.
South, Haynie and Bose (2007) examined the peer
networks of mobile students and found that they
had smaller networks of friends and occupied less
central positions within their peer groups. In
addition, their peer groups had lower grade point
averages and were involved in fewer extra-curricular
activities, indicating less school engagement among
peers of mobile students. Although they found no
evidence for age-related differences in peer group
affiliation and mobility, their sample primarily
consisted of young to middle adolescents (ages 14-
20, mean age 15.56, SD = 1.27). In an earlier study,
they found similar results. Students who were more
mobile had greater difficulty affiliating with high
achieving and prosocial peers and were more likely
to join underperforming and more deviant peer
groups. Again, they found no difference in these
peer affiliation patterns among older and younger
mobile adolescents and found that the impact of
mobility on friendship networks persisted for
several years, likely reflecting continuity in peer
networks. That is, when entering a new school,
more mobile students initially attach to friendship
networks consisting of low performing peers and
tend to stay involved with these friendships.
Peer Mobility and Children (K-7): The Impact of
Early Transitions
Although early studies found evidence for school
mobility negatively affecting academic achievement,
as Mantzicopoulos and Knutson (2000) point out,
the relationship between school mobility and
achievement is a complex one. In particular, many
of the factors that impact school mobility (e.g., low
SES, academic performance, social relationships) are
likely to impact academic skills as well. Whereas
Haynie, South and Bose suggest that mobility is
more detrimental for youth, Mantzicopoulos and
Knuston propose that school mobility is most
crucial in young children. This is specifically
because the early transition to school is a critical
point in a child’s development, it has an important
impact on later academic successes and failures. In
their study of mobility and achievement,
Mantzicopoulos and Knuston (2000) examined
children from Kindergarten to Grade 2 and found
that greater mobility was associated with lower
scores on reading and mathematics achievement
tests and lower ratings of academic competence
from teachers. Even when very early achievement
was included in the model, the relationship between
increased mobility and poorer academic
achievement persisted. Thus, even for very young
children, greater mobility is linked with poorer
academic outcomes. In addition, the authors found
negative effects of mobility on achievement, even
for students who remained in schools within the
same district. They suggest that students should be
allowed to remain in their school and that school
transportation systems should be organized to
facilitate school stability.
Temple and Reynolds (1999) conducted a
longitudinal study examining school mobility effects
for inner city minority children. They first assessed
children in kindergarten and then re-assessed them
in Grade 7. They found that many children changed
schools at least once, but one-fifth changed schools
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
three or more times. They also found that an
increased number of school moves between
kindergarten and Grade 7 was associated with lower
levels of achievement in math and reading.
Although effects of a single move were small, there
was a significant effect on achievement for those
who moved two or more times.
Buckner et al (2001) found that among school-age
children school mobility was significantly associated
with academic achievement over and above
residential moves and housing status (i.e., homeless
versus housed families). They also suggested that
the elementary school years were most important
because this is the time that basic skills in reading
and mathematics are in their early development.
Since regularity and stability of the school
environment is important for promoting positive
development, the consequences of mobility should
be greatest during these formative years.
School Engagement: A Proxy for School Mobility
Compared to school mobility, more research
attention has been paid to school connectedness
and school engagement. Both of these may serve as
proxies for school mobility; children and youth who
frequently move from school to school will be less
likely to feel connected to any one school. In
addition, school engagement is likely to be
disrupted by frequent changes in peer relationships
and the availability of extracurricular programs.
Thus, we can borrow from the research on school
connectedness to examine the impact of school
mobility on outcomes.
Several definitions of school connectedness have
been offered, but most include a behavioural and an
affective component. For example, Whitlock (2006)
defines school engagement as consisting of a sense
of belonging at school, liking school, supportive
relationships with teachers, presence of a peer
network, and involvement in extra curricular
activities. Goodenow (1993) defined school
connectedness or engagement as “the extent to
which students feel personally accepted, respected,
included, and supported by others in the school
social environment” (p.80). Goodenow developed an
assessment of school connectedness, the
Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale
(PSSM), which assesses three aspects of school
engagement: sense of belonging at school (“I feel
like a real part of [name of school]”), encouragement
(“people here know I can do good work”) and
acceptance and inclusion (“I am included in lots of
activities at [name of school]”). Based on these
definitions, it seems likely that high rates of
mobility would make it difficult to achieve a sense
of connectedness or engagement to school.
Much of the work on school engagement is based
on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework for
understanding the impact of various contexts on
development (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Urie_Bronfenbrenner). Bronfenbrenner characterized
the child’s environment as consisting of multiple
interrelated systems. One of these systems, the
mesosystem, represents the connections between
the most proximal systems (i.e., microsystems) in
the child’s life: school, family, friends and work.
When the child’s mesosystem provides support and
connects learning at school to other systems in the
child’s life, school engagement should be high.
Again, school mobility is likely to have a significant
impact on the connections between the child’s
school and other aspects of his/her life. When
children change schools repeatedly, it will become
increasingly difficult to establish these connections,
resulting in an unsupportive mesosystem.
School Engagement and Age
Overall, there is increasing evidence that school
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
engagement is an important determination of
school success (www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/cs/sp/hrsd/
prc/publications/research/2001-000175/SP-483-01-
02E.pdf). In terms of age-related differences in
school engagement, there appears to be a decrease
in school engagement as grade level increases
(Marks, 2000; Woolley and Bowen, 2007). For
example, classroom support appears to be greatest
among elementary school students and lower
among middle and high school students. Across all
students, however, more successful students are
more engaged whereas more alienated students are
less engaged (Marks, 2000). In addition, Finn (1993)
notes that engagement in school may be fostered
during the earliest years of school and perpetuated
throughout schooling. When students are
disengaged early on, this leads to increased risk up
to adolescence. Finn’s model suggests a reciprocal
relationship between early school engagement,
school success, and later academic achievement.
Accordingly, disengagement in the early years leads
to lack of success at school, which leads to
increased withdrawal and decreased identification
with school, which leads to even poorer academic
outcomes.
Other authors (Fredricks, Blumenfeld and Paris,
2004) point out that school engagement may take
different forms across developmental stages. For
example, true investment in school may not take
place until students have the capacity for self-
regulation and intentional learning, which does not
occur until further along developmentally.
Unfortunately, there has been little research on the
longitudinal effects of school engagement across
developmental stages. Overall, however, the weight
of the evidence supports consistency in school
environment, especially for younger children in
elementary school who are changing placement.
Lack of consistency in school emerge as a risk
factor for learning and social outcomes. Children in
foster care need an individualized assessment of the
quality of the school environment in supporting the
child, as well as the other factors involved (e.g.,
food programs, sports and childcare programs, level
of parental involvement in school, transportation
experience). Considered as a group, researchers
support consistency in school and the nurturance of
positive peer and adult relationships, in order to
achieve good outcomes for children in care.
Website: http://www2.oacas.org/modules/article/
view.article.php?c8/53/p0
About the Authors
Dr. Abby L. Goldstein, PhD., is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at York University where she has been involved with the Collegiate Health Study, an examination of the impact of child maltreatment on health outcomes for first year college students. Christine Werkerle, PhD., is a senior scientist in the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario. References
Finn, J. D. (1993). School Engagement and Students at Risk. National Center for Education Statistics research and Development Reports. Washington, DC. http://nces.ed.gov/Pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=93470 Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., and Paris, A. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59-109. Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30, 79-90. Haynie, D. L., South, S. J., and Bose, S. (2006). The company you keep: Adolescent mobility and peer behavior. Sociological Inquiry, 76, 397-426. Mantzicopoulos, P., Knuston, D. J. (2000). Head Start children: School mobility and achivement in the early grades. The Journal of Educational Research, 93, 305-311.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Mehana, M., and Reynolds, A. J. (2004). School mobility and achievement: A meta-analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 26, 93-119. Popp, P. A. (2004). Tips for Supporting Mobile Students. Project Hope Virginia Information Brief No. 4. Virginia Department of Education. Shochet, I. M., Dadds, M. R., Ham, D., and Montague, R. (2006). School connectedness is an underemphasized parameter in adolescent mental health: Results of a community prediction study. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 170-179. South, S. J., Haynie, D. L., and Bose, S. (2007). Student mobility and school dropout. Social Science Research, 36, 68-94.
Wasserman, D. (2001, April). Moving Targets: Student Mobility and School and Student Achievement. Presented at American Educational Research Association 2001 Annual Conference. Seattle, WA. Whitlock, J. L. (2006). Youth perceptions of life at school: Contextual correlates of school connectedness in adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 10, 13-29. Zeitlin, A.,, Weinberg, L., and Wade Luderer, J. (2004). Problems and solutions to improving education services for children in foster care. Prevention School Failure, 48, 31-36.
The Child Welfare Supervisor as Stress Manager By Joe Darocha
Introduction
W ith an increasing interest in stress
management within child welfare and with the
advent of the OACAS New Hires Training Module
“Wellness and Self-Care,” there is a need to
emphasize and train CAS supervisors as to their role
in managing and reducing worker stress.
The question of “do we need stress management in
child welfare?” is no longer valid. It has been
answered through research1, agency statistics on
“stress” leaves, stress related worker retention
issues and known cases of worker burn out.
It is also commonly accepted that there is a direct
link between individual health and work
performance. Simply put, the exhausted worker is a
poor performer.
To its credit the field has been moving forward
toward a more necessary and realistic view of stress
management. There is a greater awareness and
interest in making the stress of child protection
work more manageable and providing staff with
opportunities (organizational and individual) to
validate and decrease their own work related stress.
As part of the new hires curriculum, the OACAS has
included a training module (OCPTP New Hires –
Module 9: Wellness and Self-Care) which allows new
hires to gain early exposure to the issue of stress in
their child welfare careers. As commendable as this
training, it will not be successful if the messages
and values behind the content of the module are not
endorsed, promoted and incorporated into practice
by the child welfare supervisor.
The child welfare supervisor’s role in managing the
stress of a protection team is highly underrated.
The supervisor is in a key and central position to
not only educate, guide and mentor workers but
also to emphasize the importance and benefit of
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
effective stress management; moving the team
towards a model of stress management based
practice.
Stress management based practice is the philosophy
and belief that the optimum service to families and
children can only be provided by the “best” workers.
In essence, those workers who have achieved a work
life balance, maintained self-care, engage in
professional development, exercise insight/self
awareness and are well supported by their leaders
will be able to provide the most efficient service and
produce the most effective work.
To achieve stress management based practice the
Supervisor must undertake three key roles:
1. Stress Management Role Model
2. Stress Management Advocate
3. Stress Management Facilitator
Stress Management Role Model
One recognized method of achieving behavioural
change is to model the desired outcome in one’s
own behaviour. In this regard, the supervisor must
consistently demonstrate to the team what effective
stress management is. One method of doing so is to
be professionally non reactive. Some professionals
may react based on an inability to consider the full
scope of the current circumstance for example
focussing on “what if’s” and not the facts of the
situation. Their “reaction” causes panic and a lack of
focus. In these situations there is little room for
calm, reflective assessment and critical thinking. An
experienced child welfare professional knows that
even in the most critical situation there is still a
measure of time for reflective assessment.
Therefore, to be professionally non reactive is to
demonstrate the importance of reflective
assessment and to model to others a professional
response to a “crisis”.
The supervisor as a stress management role model
exhibits:
Work - Life Balance
The supervisor ensures the proper self-management
of overtime and vacation. She demonstrates
boundaries and harmony between the life of “work”
and life outside work.
Self-care
The Supervisor sets clear professional boundaries,
promotes health and professional growth
Professional Development
The supervisor promotes training, skill
enhancement, skill development and learning.
Exercises insight/self awareness
The supervisor is comfortable with and encourages
constructive criticism, is open to being challenged,
recognizes deficits and values solutions over ego.
Well Supported
The supervisor seeks support, establishes
collaborative relationships, has or seeks the
required resources and tools to enhance team and
Worker functioning.
Therefore, the supervisor as a stress management
role model, exhibits the behaviour she wants her
team to emulate, putting forward extra effort when
required and slowing the pace when not. If
successful, the supervisor achieves two vital goals.
The first is the promotion and nurturing of balance
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
within each worker; secondly the probability that
each worker will model the same behaviours in the
presence of clients, thereby diminishing a need to
rely on authority and more on mutuality.
Stress Management Advocate
The supervisor as a stress management advocate,
advocates both “to” the worker and “for” the worker.
When advocating “to” the worker, the supervisor is
focussed on influencing the worker to become more
aware and empowered to pursue stress
management based practice. In part, the supervisor
gives the worker permission to engage in greater
balance. The supervisor “puts things into
perspective” and allows the worker to learn to
express their professional needs. The supervisor
does not, however, lose sight of the importance of
the work nor does she ignore priorities but rather
brings a realistic view to what is achievable at the
time and the need to balance priorities. The worker
who is frantic and overworked needs to be
reminded and encouraged to return to a balanced
state of functioning.
In situations where critical incidents have occurred,
the supervisor promotes learning and proactive
prevention. Oftentimes, the supervisor may be
advocating for the worker against the worker’s own
distorted “wants”. The worker may “want” to follow a
non-productive work pattern and therefore will need
to be challenged to seek more effective ways of
managing the workload.
Opposite to advocating “to” the worker, the
supervisor advocates “for” the worker. Here the
supervisor is engaged in the traditional form of
advocacy where, on the worker’s behalf,the
Supervisor seeks resources and supports to assist
the worker in fulfilling their service role. In this way,
the supervisor supports worker effort in maintaining
quality service. This ranges from the common
requests for material supports to other areas.
Often times there are stressors that impact on a
worker’s ability to function that are not related to
the work itself. These personal stressors, whatever
they may be, need to be addressed when it is
identified that the worker’s ability to provide quality
service has been compromised.
The supervisor then provides support in an effort to
(within the supervisory role) assist the worker with
the management of the external stressor. Here the
Supervisor extends permission and provides safety
for the worker to comfortably express any issues
which may be affecting work performance. The
supervisor should not inquire as to the details of
personal issues but only seek to empower the
worker to find resolution and/or external supports.
Stress Management Facilitator
The supervisor as a facilitator seeks the elimination,
reduction or management of stressors hampering
the worker’s ability to function. In this role the
supervisor allows the worker greater autonomy in
identifying their own stress management strategies
and desired outcomes. Emphasis is placed on the
Worker’s own ability to generate individual stress
management mechanisms to cope with work
stressors.
The essential question to the worker here is “What
would help you manage (this stressor) so that you
can continue to provide good service?”. The worker
then generates their own solutions as to what would
be useful.
As a stress management facilitator the supervisor
assists the worker in identifying the parameters of
what can be achieved while allowing the worker
continued control of the process.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
In essence, the supervisor helps the worker in
assessing the boundaries of stress resolution. Is this
a stressor that can be realistically eliminated? Is this
a stressor that will need to be reduced or managed?
By providing guidelines, the worker is than able to
generate a realistic and individualized stress
management plan.
Individualized stress management plans are much
more successful than generic or imposed strategies.
The person undergoing the stressor has a better
notion of the individual effects of stress as well as
the preferred course that could alleviate the issue.
Therefore, the Supervisor attempts to facilitate
identified strategies towards implementation.
Supervisory Style as an Obstacle to Supervisory
Stress Management
Adopting a stress management based approach to
coaching and mentoring child protection staff
involves obstacles. One is an overly controlling
supervisory style. To be successful in being a stress
management role model, advocate and facilitator a
certain amount of control must be abandoned in
supervision.
Child protection supervisors, known in the business
lexicon as “micro managers”, may not be
successfully able to adopt the roles necessary to
promote stress management based practice. Such a
supervisory style does not lend itself to the
promotion of growth, independence and
professional development required to motivate
workers to take ownership of and collaborate in a
work style that views efficiency and professionalism
in balance.
The “micro manager” is invested in exercising and
maintaining control and therefore promotes stress
as opposed to working jointly with the worker to
relieve it.
Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter in their book
“The Truth About Burnout”2 identified a “lack of
control” over one’s work as one of the leading
causes of work related stress. This was again
emphasized in research within seven countries
conducted by the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.3
A lack of reasonable work autonomy breeds
uncertainty and lack of professional growth. The
“micro manager” for whatever reason is opposed to
worker self reliance and therefore stifles
development. Such a supervisory style not only has
implications for the child protection team but for
the agency as a whole who must periodically cope
with the negative effects (e.g. union grievances, low
morale, work avoidance, poor leadership) of such a
confining supervisory style.
In this regard individuals who see merit in moving
towards a stress management based supervisory
style must first take note of any tendencies or
preference to “micro manage” and legitimately
examine the need to abandon such a restrictive
practice.
1 Cheryl Regher, Bruce Leslie, Philip Howe and Shirley Chau. Stressors in Child Welfare Practice. OACAS
Journal. Vol. 44. No. 4. December 2000
2 Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter. The Truth About Burnout. Jossey Bass California. 1997. p. 42-44. 3 European Foundation for the Improvement if Living and Working Conditions. Work Related Stress. Research Paper. Dublin. 2005. p. 3.
About the Author
Joe DaRocha, MSW, is a Children’s Services
Supervisor at Niagara Family and Children Services.
He runs a Seminar on “Stress Management in Child
Welfare” and also teaches the OACAS New Hires
Module “Wellness and Self-care”.
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Web-Based Education In The Human Services: Models, Methods and Best Practices By Bernie Gallagher
I f you are contemplating
being a participant, or an
instructor in a web-based
course or just want to know
what is happening with
technology and social work,
Web-Based Education In The
Human Services: Models,
Methods and Best Practices is
a stimulating read. The book
covers the expected areas of technology aided
learning such as the strengths and weaknesses of
web-based environments. What is intriguing about
the book is the coverage of topics that will catch
you off guard such as creating emotion in web
based learning (McFadden), challenging the role of
ethics in on-line learning (Biggerstaff), and
designing delivery platforms that include learners
with functional impairments (Steyaert).
When I ordered the book I thought I would be
getting a How to Guide to create an e-learning
environment, instead I stumbled upon a wonderful
volume of academic work on the topic of web-based
learning. The book is a collection of academic
studies, articles and position papers on the topic of
web-based instruction and was simultaneously
published as a single volume of the Journal of
Technology in Human Services, volume 23 (1, 2, 3,
4) in 2005.
The advantage of the book being a compilation of
studies is the reader is not forced to read
sequentially from front to back. Instead, you can
select any starting point in the book. In keeping
with principles of adult education the reader
chooses the article that is most relevant to their
learning need at the moment. There are three
central themes that weave the independent articles
together: each paper is written through a social
work lens; each contributor places emphasis on the
context of learning rather than content; and, the
writing styles encourage critical thinking.
Web-Based Education In The Human Services:
Models, Methods and Best Practices is edited by
Robert MacFadden, Brenda Moore, Marilyn Herie and
Dick Schoech who are all social work educators.
The book is truly a reflection of social workers
staking a claim in the higher education arena.
Robert MacFadden and Brenda Moore bring a
References
Duxbury, Linda (Ph.D.), Clive Higgins (Ph.D.) Where to Work in Canada? An Examination of Regional Differences in Work Life Practices. Carleton University. Ottawa, 2003. European Foundation for the Improvement if Living and Working Conditions. Work Related Stress. Research Paper. Dublin. 2005. Hersey, Paul. (Ph. D.), The Situational Leader. Center for Leadership Studies. Escondido, California. 1992.
Maslach, Christina. and Michael P. Leiter. The Truth About Burnout. Jossey-Bass. California. 1997. MFL Occupational Health Centre. The Hazards of Poor Work Organization. Winnipeg, 1999. Regher, Cheryl., Leslie, Bruce., Howe, Phillip., Chau, Shirley. Stressors in Child Welfare Practice. OACAS Journal. Vol. 44. No. 4. December 2000
Book Review
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Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Canadian perspective to the work along with
contributors Sandra Collins, Paul Jerry, Jacquie Rice-
Green, Gary Dumbrill, Patricia MacKenzie and Dora
Leigh Bjornson. In fact out of 18 articles a third
reflect Canadian social work practice.
As human services considers web-based learning,
the role of the educator shifts from “sage on the
stage to guide on the side.” This book definitely
helps shifts our cultural thinking about using
technology in social work education and is well
worth the read.
About Author
Bernie Gallagher is the Director of Education
Services at OACAS and a PhD Candidate, Memorial
University, Newfoundland.
Reference
Robert MacFadden, Brenda Moore, Marilyn Herie and Dick Schoech. (2003) Web-Based Education In The Human
Services: Models, Methods and Best Practices. Haworth Press.
Poem
ABANDONED By Stephen Gill
This is not the first time
when we had to put out
fire in his room.
His windows are often
shattered,
the mattress slashed,
and the floor is littered
with the Kleenex and other
objects.
The walls present
a portrait of crude wasteland
outlined with profanities.
He uses
the dagger of taunts
to wound his opponents.
From his assaults
not even his teachers
and playmates are exempt.
He carries
a lake of incredible rage.
Verbal abuse is his
constant tool.
He is hardly ten
but through the skylight of his
eyes
one can perceive more.
His appearance is a blend of
pleasure
no worries
no hope
and several deep despairs.
He comes from a home
where
neglect and desertion
were common.
The social workers
had to remove him.
What was this boy exposed to
and what triggers his outbursts?
No one will ever know
beyond
the tip of the iceberg.
©Stephen Gill
About the Author
Stephen Gill is an acclaimed national/
international poet and author and a
director on the Board of the Children’s
Aid Society of the United Counties of
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
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Region 1 Charron Sippola Kenora-Patricia C&FS, Rainy River F&CS Region 2 Vacant Dilico Anishinabek FC, Payukotayno James & Hudson Bay FS Region 3 Frank Gillis Algoma CAS, Sudbury-Manitoulin CAS Region 4 Dennis Draves Jeanne Sauvé FS, C&FS of Timmins & District, Timiskaming C&FS Region 5 Nancy Ringham Thunder Bay CAS, Tikinagan North C&FS Region 6 John Stopper FY&CS of Muskoka, Nipissing & Parry Sound CAS Region 7 Bill Wellman Northumberland CAS, Kawartha-Haliburton CAS Region 8 Al Law Hastings CAS, Lennox-Addington F&CS, Prince Edward CAS Region 9 Keith Sparling Frontenac CAS, Renfrew F&CS Region 10 David Huether Leeds-Grenville F&CS, Lanark CAS Region 11 Barbara MacKinnon Ottawa CAS Region 12 Ray Barnes Prescott-Russell CAS, Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry CAS Region 13 Tim Maloney York Region CAS, Durham CAS
Region 14 Tiffany Woodfine Simcoe CAS, Dufferin C&FS Region 15 Paul Zarnke Peel CAS, Jewish F&CS, Native C&FS of Toronto Region 16 Sue Makin CAS Toronto Region 17 Marilyn Dumaresq Toronto CCAS Region 18 Jan Lord Halton CAS, Wellington F&CS Region 19 Gary Harron Grey CAS, Bruce CAS Region 20 Tom Knight Huron- Perth CAS Region 21 Harry Emmott Waterloo F&CS, Brant CAS Region 22 Ron Sharegan Hamilton CAS, Hamilton-Wentworth CCAS Region 23 Jane Anderson Niagara FACS, Haldimand-Norfolk CAS Region 24 Jane Fitzgerald London-Middlesex CAS, Oxford CAS Region 25 Jerry Collins Chatham-Kent CS, Elgin F&CS Region 26 Richard Newton-Smith Windsor-Essex CAS, Sarnia-Lambton CAS
25
OACAS JOURNAL Summer 2008 Volume 52 Number 2
Board of Directors 2008/09
President: Donna Denny First Vice President: Jane Anderson Second Vice President: Keith Sparling Secretary/Treasurer: Al Law Past President: Dennis Nolan Member-at-Large: David Huether Member-at-Large: Tom Knight
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