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The 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) definitively identifies anti-racism as a necessary component of social work education. This change supports an effort to ensure that coming generations of social workers are more than culturally competent, but rather actively anti-racist in their practice across the micro, mezzo, and macro spectrum. While some social work programs have already embraced anti-racist education, many still have significant work to do. The fact remains that every accredited school will be required to make this shift to stay in compliance with CSWE accreditation once the newly ratified EPAS comes into effect. Although changes are expected of social work schools/programs, guidance on how to make such changes has been scarce. This paper provides an overview of what is meant by anti-racist social work education and why it is important, inclusive of emphasizing the difference between rhetoric and praxis. Based on a narrative review of the literature related to social work schools/programs in the U.S. and Canada that began incorporating anti-racism prior to EPAS 2022, suggestions for encouraging strategies within both the implicit and explicit curricula that align with anti-racist social work education are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field education provides students with the opportunity to supplement classroom learning with the hands-on practice needed to be successful after graduation. However, in recent years, field education has encountered several challenges including a changing societal environment, placement scarcity in the face of increased enrollment, and strict guidelines for the provision of adequate supervision. In response to these challenges, semi-structured qualitative interviews with 35 social work field education coordinators, directors, faculty liaisons, field instructors and field supervisors were conducted throughout the prairie region of Canada between July and December of 2020. These interviews were aimed at determining innovative, promising, and wise practices that would address the various challenges in the provision of field education while also providing a pathway forward to the transformation of more sustainable social work field education practices. Findings indicate that there is a need for additional supervision strategies and increased flexibility within field placements, as well as a greater focus on the need for decolonization within the social work field education sphere. The emergence of COVID-19 was also discussed as both an exasperating factor within the current field education system while simultaneously creating an opportunity to reevaluate and restructure current field education practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can judicial mediation within a settler state's justice system improve the experience of dealing with child welfare services for Indigenous parents? Interviews with social workers, lawyers, and judges in the Canadian province of Quebec yield little basis for optimism. Adapting judicial mediation will not suffice to decolonize dispute resolution between Indigenous individuals and the state. Mediation fits uneasily with the severe power disparity in this setting. Moreover, the cautious nature of participants' recommendations signals the limited adaptive capacity of the settler state's system of civil justice. The recommendations exemplify relatively superficial accommodation, rather than deep engagement with legal pluralism and Indigenous difference. Constraints on the state system's ability to adapt are both legal and cultural. This study contributes to literatures on Indigenous and colonial legal cultures in relation to child welfare, on access to justice for Indigenous peoples, and on mediation in Canada and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research pertaining to racial disparities for Black families in child welfare is relatively limited in Canada. Recent research reveals that the overrepresentation of Black families in Canadian child welfare systems typically begins at the reporting or investigation stage and continues throughout the child welfare service and decision-making continuum. This research is occurring against the backdrop of increasing public acknowledgement of Canada's historic anti-Black policy-making and institutional relationships to Black communities. Though there is increased awareness about anti-Black racism, there has been limited exploration of the connection between anti-Black racism in child welfare legislation and how this policy generates disparities for Black families in both child welfare involvement and outcomes – this paper seeks to fill this gap in knowledge. The objective of this paper is to explore the entrenchment of anti-Black racism within the child welfare system by critically assessing the language and absence of language within the guiding legislative and implementation policies. Utilizing a critical race discourse analysis method, this study explores the entrenchment of anti-Black racism within the Ontario child welfare system by critically assessing the language and absence of language within the guiding legislative policies that shape practice for Black children, youth, and families. The findings revealed that though the legislation does not explicitly address anti-Black racism, there were instances where the legislation indicated that race and culture may be considered in responding to children and families. The lack of specificity, particularly in the Duty to Report, has the potential to contribute to disparate reporting and decision-making for Black families. Policy makers should acknowledge the history of anti-Black racism that informed the development of the legislation in Ontario and move towards tackling systemic injustices that disproportionately affect Black families. More explicit language will shape future policies and practices to ensure that the impact of anti-Black racism is considered across the child welfare continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child welfare services in Canada are guided by a dual mandate: to protect children from imminent harm and to promote their optimal development and well-being. To understand how child welfare systems respond to this dual mandate, Trocmé et al. (2014) developed a taxonomy to classify child welfare investigations as either being related to urgent protection or chronic needs. To extend Trocmé et al.'s (2014) analysis using data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2019 (CIS-2019). The CIS-2019 employs a file review methodology to collect information on child maltreatment-related investigations conducted in Canada in 2019. The study's unweighted sample included 41,948 investigations involving children aged 0–15 years. Secondary analyses of the CIS-2019 were conducted including frequency counts and bivariate analyses. Ninety percent of investigations conducted in Canada in 2019 were focused on concerns related to chronic needs. Most investigations (90.9 % of urgent protection investigations and 98.3 % of chronic needs investigations) did not involve physical harm to the child. Urgent protection investigations were less likely to have been previously investigated and more likely to be substantiated, involve a child welfare court application, or involve a placement in out-of-home care. Most child welfare investigations in Canada continue to be focused on chronic needs. Yet, the investigation response seems designed to respond to urgent protection concerns. A truly differential model is needed to appropriately respond to the dual mandate of Canadian child welfare services and better serve children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, Black children spend more time in out-of-home placement than other children and are less likely to experience family reunification following involvement with child welfare services. Within Canada, very few studies have examined Black children's exits from the child welfare system and factors influencing their service trajectory. This study, the first of its kind in Canada, uses longitudinal clinical administrative data to examine reunification outcomes for Black children following placement in out-of-home care. The study population includes 1395 children receiving ongoing child welfare services in Quebec between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2011. A longitudinal research design from anonymized clinical administrative data extracted from a single child welfare agency in Montreal. Survival analysis using a Kaplan Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression examined the trajectory and chances of family reunification from the point of each child's initial placement. Black children spend longer lengths of time in out-of-home placement and are less likely to experience family reunification when compared to other children. Poorer reunification outcomes for Black children were associated with placement instability, the age of the child and reasons for child welfare involvement. While we tend to prioritize prevention services for vulnerable communities, this study indicates that attention must be given to services all throughout Black children's service trajectory to ensure that these children are able to exit the child welfare system in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]