Speaking up for children, families and workers

BY JACKIE BARKLEY, MSW, RSW, CHILD WELFARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHAIR

Being involved with the Child Welfare Advisory Committee of the college has been a highlight of my year.

We’re often unable to directly address the very difficult problems faced by our clients. And of course, conflicted issues, roles and confidentiality make it even harder to speak out in child welfare matters. So the support received from our College in setting up this committee to address issues a number of us had raised in late 2018 was a terrific support and collaboration. The committee has brought together frontline child protection workers, other DCS staff, private therapists, Association of Black Social Workers representation, and union activists, among others. The College staff were invaluable in their initiatives to make a way for people to stay involved.

The Child Welfare Advisory Committee had a very busy year once we came together in 2019, meeting frequently to maintain the momentum begun in 2018.

Under the leadership of Alec Stratford, and Lynn Brogan during Alec’s paternity leave, we continued our advocacy regarding serious child welfare issues in our province that affect client families, children and child welfare social workers.

In an important collaboration between the College and the NS Government Employees Union (NSGEU), our #ChildWelfareOnTheBrink public ad campaign was announced in a press conference on January 21. Both organizations called on the government to address the crisis in delivery of child protection services.

Later in June we co-hosted a guest speaker for another public event: Jane Kovarikova, founder of Child Welfare Political Action Committee. Jane’s talk, “The Kids Aren’t Alright,” described her personal experiences as a former child in care and built a case for a cultural shift towards evidence-based, client-centred policy making.

In the spring, several of our meetings focused on supporting social work union members to continue efforts to address their grievances. In the fall, the NSGEU members’ initiative led to the establishment of a Labour Management Group to address working conditions for child protection staff across the province, including issues such as sick time, intense workload, and job dissatisfaction.

In June, we held a two-day event with more than 50 attendees to examine child protection in Nova Scotia. We opened on a Friday evening with a panel discussion, with a group that included myself, fellow social workers Lynn Brogan, Crystal Hill, Alec Stratford and Robert Seymour Wright, and law professor Rollie Thompson. We discussed the issue from multiple perspectives: client experiences, legal implications, policy frameworks and cultural impact. The symposium on Saturday invited participants to break into groups to examine these issues in more depth, discussing strategies for ongoing change.

Throughout the summer, Lynn continued to keep the issues in the public eye with a series of published op-eds in the media reviewing ongoing policy and practice concerns.

The fall issue of Connection included an in-depth article, “Nova Scotia Child Welfare in Crisis,” which critically examined underlying principles to address the needed change in the delivery of child protection services.

The committee looks forward to continuing our work and expanding our active membership, and has welcomed the participation of new members from NS Legal Aid. Please join us if you have the time.