REGULATOR SHOWCASE

REGULATOR SHOWCASE

The College of Early Childhood Educators and DEI The Registrar Staff

The Registrar spoke with the College of Childhood Educators to showcase a unique and important journey in learning, understanding, and implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

CECE

Beth Deazeley, CEO and Registrar, says acknowledging that the CECE is not a DEI subject matter expert was the first step to making progress. Staff was credited with initiating the journey, and were supported every step of the way by Council. Deazeley emphasizes that the journey is, and always will be ongoing, rather than a one-time project that is implemented and marked as complete.

“Like most regulatory bodies, we had little in-house expertise in equity, diversity and inclusion prior to 2020,” says Deazeley. “To help us learn and unlearn, we intentionally sought out and engaged with experts to support our work. This has included training and advice on how to apply anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion in areas such as policy development, investigations and adjudication, governance, human resources and strategic planning.”

In 2020, the CECE developed a Statement of Commitment to Anti-Racism. This was integrated into the College’s multi-year strategic plan in 2022, which included several important plans. “It [the CECE’s multi-year strategic plan] included a commitment to embed equity, diversity and inclusion into all aspects of our work as a key objective,” Deazeley said.

Deazeley provided an example in the development of the CECE’s Sexual Abuse Prevention Program, a mandatory educational requirement that is designed to empower registrants with proactive approaches to recognize and prevent child sexual abuse. A component of the preventative aspect of the Program involves reporting risk of harm to a child, to the Children’s Aid Society.

“We were conscious of the problem of bias and racism in reporting to child welfare and the over-reporting of Black, Indigenous and racialized families,” Deazeley said. “We didn’t want to contribute to this problem, so a mandatory component of the education program is a resource we developed based on consultation and expert advice, Racism and Bias in Reporting to Child Welfare, to guide registrants in examining their own biases when exercising their professional judgement.

Deazeley states that, due to the power that regulators exercise, there is always the risk of contributing to systems that oppress marginalized groups. She says that critical examinations of all initiatives and decision-making procedures is necessary, to advance equity in a public protection mandate.

“We need to acknowledge that marginalized communities often have many good reasons not to trust regulatory organizations,” she said. “When seeking to engage with individuals, we must invest the time to build meaningful relationships and work hard to earn their trust.”

“Our responsibility to the public obligates us as regulators to work to identify and address racism and discrimination in the sectors in which our registrants practice,” Deazeley said. “Healthy and equitable practice environments benefit the public by improving access to professionals and enhancing the quality of care provided.”

“We were conscious of the problem of bias and racism in reporting to child welfare and the over-reporting of Black, Indigenous and racialized families”