As part of our work towards the strategic goals of our College, we continue to be active in public discourse about issues that matter. We advocate for policy changes that improve social conditions, challenge injustice, and value diversity in Nova Scotia.
Here’s a small sample of what we were saying in 2019.
Op-ed: ‘Competitive” taxation threatens child welfare in Nova Scotia
Alec Stratford, Chronicle Herald, March 4, 2019
Rutger Bregman, a Dutch journalist and historian, told the World Economic Forum in January that we cannot possibly talk about inequality unless we are talking about taxes. His now viral quote, “It feels like I’m at a firefighters’ conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water,” rings true in our province, too, as the delivery of crucial public services continues to be compromised by underspending on public services.
We cannot possibly talk about fixing public services in Nova Scotia without talking about progressive taxes and increased spending. We must challenge the dogma that lowering taxes is good for everyone, and we must radically change the course of social spending.
Op-ed: Mental health solutions: the bigger picture matters
Jim Morton, Chronicle Herald, October 23, 2019
The Nova Scotia College of Social Workers believes that mental wellness is a lifelong journey fostered by healthy communities, and that diagnostic and treatment services must be tailored to unique client and family experiences. Healthy communities, in the College’s view, are possible only when people have access to stable employment, adequate incomes, affordable, quality housing and nutritious food, and when services are shaped by authentic community consultation and collaboration.
All of this requires investment. Part of that investment involves putting individuals, families and communities at the heart of decision-making. It also means, in Nova Scotia, increasing spending on mental health and addictions to 10 per cent of the Health and Wellness budget.
Media release: Budget balances the books by increasing social debt, leaves behind vulnerable children and youth in Nova Scotia
Shared by NSCSW on March 27, 2019
“If we’re going to truly create a balanced budget and build a strong foundation for our province, we must ensure that children and youth receive the services they need,” says [Alec Stratford]. “At minimum, the government has missed an opportunity to create a Child and Youth Advocate office. This would build assurance for children and youth that their stories and voices would be heard, and their rights would be acknowledged, as part of Nova Scotia’s decision-making process on the systems, services and programs that affect them most.”
Nova Scotia campaign aims to bolster child-welfare system
Keith Doucette, Canadian Press January 21, 2019
[Alec Stratford] said Monday that child welfare social workers in particular are hampered by a lack of administrative support and community resources for their clients. He said the stress on child welfare also has spillover effects to areas such as foster care, education and mental health.
… “This isn’t just about child welfare, this is about the broad social services that support social welfare such as income assistance, mental health and addiction and housing. All of those services need many more resources to be able to deal with the complexity of needs that families are facing.”
Op-ed: Nova Scotia’s child welfare services are in urgent need of more funding
Lynn Brogan, Star Halifax September 11, 2019
The Nova Scotia College of Social Workers views the comments presented by the Department of Community Services as a missed opportunity to inform elected officials of not only the positive strides being made by their department, but also of what is not going well. Information is power, and it is critical to equip our elected officials with the ability to make informed decisions that can make a difference in the lives of Nova Scotians.
The fact remains that Nova Scotia’s child welfare services are underfunded and many children and youth in this system are not doing well. We need to do something about that.
Blog post: Child benefit policy deepens poverty for the most vulnerable
Lynn Brogan October 18, 2019
We know that there is an over-representation of Black and Indigenous children in care, due to intergenerational trauma and poverty caused by centuries of structural, systemic racism. Such policies only increase the depth of poverty faced by these families, and entrench this legacy of harm.
As we prepare to elect our federal leaders, this is a critical time to raise these issues and garner their attention and support for a new path forward that is grounded in equity and fairness. We aspire to live in a country where our leaders not only speak of children as being our future, they believe it, and reflect these beliefs in their platform commitments and the policies they create.
