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 up to in 2022:
When Nova Scotians see stories like this that paint a picture of a system that isn’t working in the interests of children, it strengthens the narrative that public services cannot meet our needs and it continues to erode trust in crucial government services.
For social workers, emotions run in many directions: anger that their actions are portrayed as uncaring, frustration that there is not a broader understanding by Nova Scotians of their role, and moral distress as they are consistently asked to take on tasks that are counter to their core values and training and that they know will cause harm.
As for me, there is despair for a system that has been far too neglected, and hurt for all the social workers who bear the brunt of public scrutiny when such stories emerge.
But I am currently feeling a moment of hope, however fleeting it may be. Hope that this story will highlight for you, the premier, your cabinet colleagues, and all Nova Scotians why transformative change is urgently needed in the provision of child welfare.
Torn between hope, despair on child welfare. Op-ed by Alec Stratford, Chronicle Herald June 4, 2022
As Halifax’s government and police seek to evict residents of Meagher Park, also known as People’s Park, we want to remind our elected leaders once again that there is another way. It is possible to create public policy that can solve the underlying causes of poverty and homelessness, rather than criminalize the symptoms of a policy that has failed to actualize its stated electoral goals.
A challenging summer. Blog post by N Siritsky July 12, 2022
Nova Scotia has the highest percentage of gender diverse individuals in Canada. Despite this, our province has an abysmal and antiquated system, reflecting a discriminatory approach to health care – including GAC – that continues to fail to address the psychosocial determinants of health, and risks causing more harm than good.
Not yet time to celebrate; obstacles to gender affirming care persist. Blog post by N Siritsky July 28, 2022
Siritsky said changes like this need to be part of a larger shift in the delivery of mental health care in Nova Scotia to a collaborative and proactive approach to patient care.
The goal, Siritsky said, would be to prevent people struggling with mental health from ever having to go to the hospital in the first place.
Suicidal man got on QEII roof after long ER wait, mother says Josh Hoffman, CBC August 5, 2022
While there’s optimism about the creation of the commission, the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers has raised concerns about the language the province has used to describe child and youth advocates. … “Adversarialism is necessary to evoke social change,” [Alec Stratford] said. “There’s not been an incident in our history in which change has occurred where there hasn’t been some kind of adversarial approach to ensuring that government is accountable to the people that they serve.”
N.S. child and youth commission comes with ‘sense of relief,’ says advocate. Josh Hoffmann, CBC, March 29, 2022
The recommendations for more trauma-informed supports are a positive step, said Alec Stratford, the executive director of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers. However, he said the review is treating the symptoms of a larger problem instead of looking at the root cause.
“What we often fail to focus on is that these acts, which are again predominantly impacting children and youth, are a reflection of the broader social inequalities that exist in our society,” Stratford said. He said he’d like to see more programming for youth that addresses mental health, healthy relationships and consent.
N.S. Department of Justice accepts recommendations on cyberbullying, online abuse. Victoria Wellend, CBC September 7, 2022
Offering more community-based practice through non-profits and public services is more cost-effective, more accessible to a diverse range of service users, and better positioned to address issues of mental health inequity and the social conditions that play a significant role in the development of mental health struggles. These community-based services could have included advocacy and support (including financial, housing, and legal support); individual, family, and group counselling; support for daycare/ child or adult care; and transportation support. There is no investment here at all.
Budget 2022: unmet needs and mental health in Nova Scotia. Op-ed by Karn Nichols & Alec Stratford, Halifax Examiner March 30, 2022
