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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]

Background: The most effective way to provide support to caregivers with infants in order to promote good health, social, emotional and developmental outcomes is the subject of numerous debates in the literature. In Canada, each province adopts a different approach which range from universal to targeted programs. Nonetheless, each year a group of vulnerable infants is identified to the child welfare system with concerns about their wellbeing and safety. This study examines maltreatment-related investigations in Canada involving children under the age of one year to identify which factors determine service provision at the conclusion of the investigation. Methods: A secondary analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect CIS-2008 (PHAC, 2010) dataset was conducted. Multivariate analyses were conducted to understand the profile of investigations involving infants (n=1,203) and which predictors were significant in the decision to transfer a case to ongoing services at the conclusion of the investigation. Logistic Regression and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) were conducted to examine the relationship between the outcome and predictors. Results: The results suggest that there are three main sources that refer infants to the Canadian child welfare system: hospital, police, and non-professionals. Infant maltreatment-related investigations involve young caregivers who struggle with poverty, single-parenthood, drug/solvent and alcohol abuse, mental health issues, lack of social supports, and intimate partner violence. Across the three referral sources, primary caregiver risk factors are the strongest predictor of the decision to transfer a case to ongoing services. Conclusions: Multivariate analyses indicate that the presence of infant concerns does not predict ongoing service provision, except when the infant is identified with positive toxicology at birth. The opportunity for early intervention and the need to tailor interventions for specific caregiver risk factors is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Very little research has examined the relationship between resilience, risk, and the service use patterns of adolescents with complex needs who use multiple formal and mandated services such as child welfare, mental health, juvenile justice, and special educational supports. This article reports on a study of 497 adolescents in Atlantic Canada who were known to have used at least 2 of these services in the last 6 months. It was hypothesized that greater service use and satisfaction with services would predict both resilience, and better functional outcomes such as prosocial behavior, school engagement and participation in community. Methods: Youth who were known to be multiple service users and who were between the ages of 13 and 21 participated in the study. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire administered individually. Path analysis was used to determine the relationship between risk, service use, resilience, and functional outcomes. MANOVA was then used to determine patterns of service use and service use satisfaction among participants. Results: Findings show that there was no significant relationship between service use history and resilience or any of the three functional outcomes. Service use satisfaction, a measure of an adolescent''s perception of the quality of the services received, did however show a strong positive relationship with resilience. Resilience mediates the impact of risk factors on outcomes and is affected positively by the quality, but not the quantity, of the psychosocial services provided to adolescents with complex needs. Conclusions: Results show that resilience is related to service satisfaction but not the quantity of services used by youth. Coordinated services may not increase resilience or be more effective unless the quality of individual services is experienced by an adolescent receiving intervention as personally empowering and sensitive to his or her needs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: Fluke et al. (2010) analyzed Canadian Incidence Study on Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) data collected in 1998 to explore the influence of clinical and organizational characteristics on the decision to place Aboriginal children in an out-of-home placement at the conclusion of a child maltreatment investigation. This study explores this same question using CIS data collected in 2003 which included a larger sample of Aboriginal children and First Nations child and family service agencies. Methods: The decision to place a child in an out-of-home placement was examined using data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2003 and a reanalysis of CIS-1998 data (Fluke et al., 2010). The CIS-2003 dataset includes information on nearly 12,000 child maltreatment investigations from the time of report to case disposition. The CIS-2003 also captures information on the characteristics of investigating workers and the child welfare organizations for which they work. Multi-level statistical models were developed to analyze the influence of clinical and organizational variables using MPlus software. MPlus allows the use of dichotomous outcome variables, which are more reflective of decision-making in child welfare and facilitates the specific case of the logistic link function for binary outcome variables under maximum likelihood estimation. Results: Final models revealed the proportion of investigations conducted by the child welfare agency involving Aboriginal children was a key single agency level predictor of the placement decision. Specifically, the higher the proportion of investigations of Aboriginal children, the more likely placement was to occur. Contrary to the findings in the first paper (Fluke et al., 2010), individual Aboriginal status also remained significant in the final model at the first level. Conclusions: Further analysis needs to be conducted to further understand individual and organizational level variables that may influence decisions regarding placement of Aboriginal children. There is also a need for research that is sensitive to differences among, and between, Métis, First Nations and Inuit communities. Results are not generalizable to Québec because data from this province were excluded. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: This paper builds upon the analyses presented in two companion papers (Fluke et al., 2010; Fallon et al., 2013) using data from the 1998 and 2003 cycles of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-1998 and CIS-2003) to examine the influence of clinical and organizational characteristics on the decision to place a child in out-of-home care at the conclusion of a child maltreatment investigation. This paper explores various model specifications to explain the effect of an agency-level factor, proportion of Aboriginal reports, which emerged as a stable and significant factor through the two data collection cycles. It addresses the issue of data comparability between the two cycles and explores various re-specifications and descriptive analyses of reported models to evaluate their solidity with regards to the sampling schemes and the precise contribution of a multi-level specification. Methods: The decision to place a child in out-of-home care was examined using data from the CIS-2003. This child welfare dataset collected information about the results of nearly 12,000 child maltreatment investigations as well as a description of the characteristics of the workers and organization responsible for conducting those investigations. Multi-level statistical models were developed using MPlus software, which can accommodate dichotomous outcome variables and are more reflective of decision-making in child welfare. The models are thus multi-level binary logistic regressions. Results: Final models revealed that two agency-level variables, ‘Education degree of majority of workers’ and ‘Degree of centralization in the agency’ clarify the nature of the effect of ‘Proportion of Aboriginal reports’, a stable, key second level predictor of the placement decision. The comparability of the effect of this agency-level variable across the 1998 and 2003 cycles becomes further evident through this analysis. By using a unified database including both cycles and various specifications of models, the comparability was found to be robust, in addition to clarifying the precise contribution of a multi-level specification. Conclusions: This third paper in a series establishes the ‘Proportion of Aboriginal reports’ received by the child welfare agency as an important agency level predictor associated with a child''s likelihood of being placed in the Canadian child protection system. While the more complex models give support to the notion that unequal resources subtend those results, more analyses are needed to confirm this hypothesis. Unequal resources for agencies with larger Aboriginal caseloads may explain the persistence of the results. These findings suggest that specific resource constraints related to worker education may be explanatory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: Although there is growing evidence that the emotional dimensions of child maltreatment are particularly damaging, the feasibility and appropriateness of including emotional maltreatment (EM) in child welfare statutes continues to be questioned. Unlike physical and sexual abuse where investigations focus on discreet incidents of maltreatment, EM is not as easily defined and delimited. Through a review of legislation and child welfare investigation practices in Canada, this paper examines (1) whether Canadian child welfare services respond to EM with the same level of perseverance as with other forms of maltreatment and (2) the extent to which the introduction in 2008 of a more specific EM taxonomy distinguishes between EM and family problems that could lead to EM. Method: Following an analysis of the legislative framework for EM across Canada, investigations practices in Canada are examined using data from the 1998, 2003 and 2008 cycles of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS). Using data from the 2008 cycle, EM investigations are compared to other maltreatment investigations for all of Canada (N =15,980). Changes in EM investigations over time are then compared using data from the three cycles of the study, excluding Québec because of limited data availability in 2003 (N =5,360 in 1998, 11,562 in 2003 and 14,050 in 2008). Results: EM is included as a form of reportable maltreatment in all provincial and territorial statutes in Canada. Over 11,000 cases of EM were substantiated in Canada in 2008, at a rate of 1.86 cases per 1,000 children. While EM investigations were substantiated at a lower rate as other forms of maltreatment, a higher proportion of EM cases were referred for specialized services, kept open for on-going child welfare services, lead to an out of home placement, and lead to an application to child welfare court. Using a broad definition of EM the number of investigations classified as EM in Canada, excluding Québec, nearly tripled from 1998 to 2003. In 2008, using more specific definitions focusing on caregiver definitions, the number of investigations classified as EM nearly returned to their 1998 level, with nearly twice as many cases being classified as risk of future maltreatment. Conclusion: EM is a well established category for child welfare intervention in Canada, however, more emphasis should be given to distinguishing between EM and family problems that place children at risk of EM. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Repeated reports indicate that First Nations children on reserve receive less child welfare funding than other children in Canada despite the fact that First Nations children have higher child welfare needs. After the Government of Canada failed to implement two joint solutions to address the inequality, First Nations organizations in Canada filed a human rights complaint alleging that the Government of Canada is discriminating against First Nations children on the basis of race and national ethnic origin. This historic case is now before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and marks the first time that Canada has been held to account before a legal body for its current treatment of First Nations children and their families. This opinion article presents the facts leading up to the filing of the human rights case, the grass roots advocacy and legal processes after the complaint was filed, and the implications for: First Nations children, individuals from minority groups, and the moral fabric of the country if the Government of Canada wins the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

- Abstract: The child welfare system within Canada has an inordinate number of Aboriginal children being taken into care, which stems from a number of ongoing systemic and social is sues. These matters of contention include extreme levels of poverty, resulting in parental risk factors, high rates of suicide and sub stance abuse; a history of colonization and assimilative practices on part of the Canadian government and; on going jurisdictional conflicts, all which affect the fundamental rights of the child as out lined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This paper will illustrate and re view literature and re search that has high lighted many of these is sues and explore where Canada is at in terms of self-governed Aboriginal child welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study in which parents who had received child protection intervention set out to develop a “Service Users' Guide” to help parents newly receiving intervention better understand and cope with the process. The study took place in Ontario, Canada between 2004-2009. Ninety-five parents took part in 13 focus groups and 20 individual interviews. A mix of Participatory Action and grounded theory methods were used to enable parents to develop their service uses guide. As the study progressed it quickly became evident that the biggest issue parents face when receiving intervention is an imbalance in power between themselves and workers. This paper describes the problems this power imbalance causes for parents and presents a potential solution suggested by parents themselves - the development of a child welfare service users' association or union. Parent's ideas about why this association is needed, how it could function, and the benefits it might bring, are discussed. The paper concludes by reviewing the benefits a service users' association might bring not only for those receiving child welfare intervention, but all social work services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the efficacy of a family differential response program to lower rates of (1) reentry into child protective services (CPS) and (2) child removal. Data were collected over 20 months from one region of British Columbia, Canada. Comparisons between family development response (FDR) and cases assigned to regular investigation (INV) suggest that FDR does not decrease recidivism to CPS. However, fewer children in the FDR group were removed than children in the INV group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores different orientations to child-centered social work as conveyed in the training materials and guidelines of Looking After Children and Assessment Framework in Australia, Canada and Sweden. ‘Child centered’ is shaped by contextual factors and influences social work practices. We found differences in these approaches as needs based and/or rights based and in relation to how each emphasizes the three P''s — Provision, Protection and Participation. Substantial differences were identified both in how references to a child-centered approach appear in theoretical frameworks, values, motives and use of concepts in training materials and guidelines, and in the instructions given as to how to apply these approaches. It appears that Australia balances needs and rights, while Canada is more needs-oriented and Sweden more rights-oriented. Swedish materials show a more explicit emphasis on participation than Australian and Canadian materials. Differences between the three countries indicate the importance of structural, contextual factors shaping orientations to child-centered practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined the use of the Child Well-Being Scales (CWBS) as an aid to structured decision making in a child protection agency in Ontario, Canada. A total of 337 closed case records from a large multi-service agency in Ontario, Canada, were reviewed and abstracted by trained coders in order to determine whether or not the scales, completed by intake workers, were predictive of the subsequent decisions and activities of family service workers. Using regression models to control for demographic, case, family, community, and organizational variables results indicated that lower CWBS scores, implying increased threats to well being, were associated with greater activity and more services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a brief review of child welfare issues identified by a Canadian Task Force convened for the 1979 Year of the Child. Project experience with the use of Looking After Children is linked to the issues identified in 1979. A fairly extensive discussion of legal considerations is presented to provide a context for the challenge of influencing policy. Finally, the possibility of influencing policy from a grass roots approach that can transcend jurisdictional boundaries is presented as offering hope for change in a child-centred direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares child welfare services provided to Aboriginal (Indian) and Caucasian children in Canada. The findings suggest that child welfare reports involving Aboriginal children are more likely to be classified as suspected or substantiated than reports for Caucasian children. Aboriginal children also are twice as likely to be placed in foster care. This overrepresentation in out-of-home placement is explained statistically by socioeconomic, child, parent, and maltreatment characteristics. In addition, these variables play a significant role in accounting for higher rates of case substantiation among Aboriginal children. These factors may reflect the multiple disadvantages experienced by Aboriginal families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s and even more markedly in the 1990s, new public policies and programs with "child" or "children" in the title have proliferated in Canada. This article makes the claim that this shift in policy focus marks the appearance of a new policy paradigm. The article supports this claim first by describing change over time, characterizing it as shift from a paradigm in which parents have full responsibility for their children's well-being to one that can be labeled an investing-in-children paradigm, in which responsibility for children's well-being is shared by families and the broader community. In each case, the role of the state and its public policy choices are quite different. The article next accounts for the change, attributing it not only to new social and economic risks but also to the work of a social-learning network made up of advocates and experts from civil society and inside the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the child protection system in Canada in light of the country's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2001. The protection of children from abuse and neglect has been a longstanding principle of Canadian public policy and law. It has been reflected historically in the creation and development of provincial and territorial child protection legislation in which child protection agencies and family courts are authorized to provide for the protection and care of abused or neglected children. The principle also has been reflected in the establishment of criminal law provisions against abuse and neglect. But given the difficulty of proving abuse or neglect beyond reasonable doubt, child protection or child welfare legislation is the most important legal means for dealing with the problem. Canada is a federal state in which responsibility for child protection legislation is with the provinces and territories. Under its spending power, the federal government may spend money on child welfare through cost-sharing arrangements with the provinces, but chief legislative and spending authority is with the provinces. This creates the possibility of provincial variation and unevenness in the development of the legislation, especially if there is provincial variation in public support and financial ability. In provinces such as Alberta, where there has been more emphasis on the privacy of the family, there has been less support for the expansion of child protection legislation and for the principle of children's rights. Thus, because of the federal system and of the provincial variation it allows, the building of a uniformly stronger child protection system may not be the case.

In June 1992, a family services agency in the Niagara region of southern Ontario began implementing and operating a computerized version of the Child Welfare League of America's Child Well-Being Scales [Magura & Moses 1986]. The scales are completed on all cases at the point of transfer from intake to long-term family service, and then again every 120 days until case closure. The scales have been useful in clinical and administrative practice for case planning in aggregate form, service planning, community profiling, and outcome measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the nature and implications of mortality rates in a one-year cohort of children under child welfare protection at Alberta, Canada. A consideration of standardized mortality rates calculated for different age-groups of children with and without child welfare protection did not yield and significant difference in their respective mortality rates. It was found that neglected and abused children were exposed to greater risk of violent death. It is also considered that child welfare protection reduced the level of risks faced by abused children in foster care of family care. Some suggestions have also been made for improvement of child welfare programs for reducing mortality rates.

The article presents a critique of the policies and practices that dominate the child welfare enterprise in Canada. It outlines the changes required to move child welfare from its residual stance into an enterprise that reports on the poverty-ridden lives of its children. In Canada, documentation of the association between poverty and child welfare was established by the National Council of Welfare in 1975. Canada is found to be failing to provide a supportive environment for families and children. It is suggested that the child welfare enterprise in all its activities and forms must take on the responsibilities of social reporting and advocacy.

The article presents information on the Community Systems initiative, a major project of the Laidlaw Foundation, that seeks to contribute to the improved well-being and life prospects of young people by developing local community systems approaches in Canada. The foundation launched a new program to benefit individual children and families called Children At Risk Program. The initiative's goal is to improve the well-being of children, youth and their families by finding ways to use all available resources including private, public and voluntary to best effect.

The article presents information on the difficulties inherent in the legal system for resolving child protection disputes in Canada. A model for the mediation of these cases is also offered in the article. The passage of the Child and Family Services Act in 1984 led to increasingly technical litigation of these cases in the courts. Child protection agencies throughout Canada have responded with major organizational shifts designed to reduce the necessity of bringing cases to court. Initial impetus for the development of a model of intervention came from professionals involved in the child protection system.

The article presents information on the emerging trends and challenges related to the child adoption practice in Canada. Two major adoption trends show that fewer children are being adopted and private adoptions are accounting for an ever-increasing proportion of infant placements. The article states the traditional concept of relinquishment is no longer valid due to changes in the adoption patterns. The article suggests that a reexamination of the underlying attitudes that are presently reflected in adoption law should be changed.

The article presents information on changing adoption policy and practice and its effects on the Canadian child welfare system in Canada. Traditional adoption practice for a large number of children beyond the age of infancy is inappropriate. The needs of the ethnoracially diverse populations of major urban centres require that alternatives to traditional adoption be developed. The number of children of parents with deadly diseases is growing rapidly. The article puts light on current legislative impediments and resource constraints that leave some children in care in limbo. The term limbo refers to the period of separation of a child from nurturing parents.

The article presents information on current child welfare policy and practice in Canada and the plight of homeless youths. The article also discusses a long-term residential program for homeless youths and its implications and recommendations for the child welfare. Homeless youths suffer from a developmental delay, severe lack of self-esteem, life skills, social skills, psychological well-being, school attachment/success. Advocacy groups including the Canadian Child Welfare Association and the National Youth in Care Network are criticizing legislative policies and services for the child welfare system.

The article presents the findings of a research that examines the effects of aspects of inclusive care on children's ratings of their own parents and their foster families in Canada. The research has been conducted as a precursor to developing a model for practice based on the theory of inclusive care. The instruments chosen for the children's ratings were the family assessment measure scales. The findings show that children need help, support, and good communication to maintain manageable relationships. The study demonstrate the ability of children to discriminate between different aspects of family functioning and parental care.

The article presents information on the social programs of children development that are being run for the welfare state in Canada. Children are the shared responsibility of parents and government in Canada. The article focuses on the public policy discussions on rethinking income security for Canadian families with children. The restoration of an economic balance between families can be achieved with a major restructuring of the redistribution of material resources between families in the same and a different income stratum.

The article presents information on the changing themes of child welfare in Canada. The article overviews the Canadian literature that reflects the contemporary political climate and child welfare services. The present period focuses on child maltreatment in native Canadian communities from the perspective of both academicians and leadership. The article suggests that there is a need for documentation of programs that deal with conditions requiring child welfare interventions. Frontline service workers, board members and foster parents of Ontario Children's Aid Societies wrote fervent and non-theoretical accounts of early experiences in providing child welfare services to the native Canadians.

The article presents information on Canadian child care and child care policy with reference to four goals including alleviating poverty, fostering equality for women, providing early education and child development services and promoting economic well-being in Canada. The federal and provincial governments introduce a variety of child care funding schemes to augment targeted support to low-income families. All children and families should be entitled to child care regardless of family income and work status. Child care should be based on the best available knowledge about child development and child care practice.

The article presents the author's views on the presence, visibility, and influence of women in the child welfare system in Canada. The author believes that child welfare has emerged as a feminist issue. The author believes that one should try hard to overcome the class and race divisions to promote the child welfare.

Patricia Monture explores the implications of Canadian child welfare law for Native (First Nations) children. Focusing on the importance of culture and traditions to First Nations individuals, she documents the failure of the structures and institutions of the dominant society to respect and recognize these ways in matters of child custody. She demonstrates how this conflict forms the basis for racist practices in child welfare law, and how contemporary reforms of child welfare legislation fail to reach the real issues. Patricia Monture writes in the way of her people and as a woman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history and politics in the child and youth care practice in Canada. It cites indications that adult responsibilities and tasks requiring adult reasoning are assigned at different stages. The author compares the political conditions in Alberta and in Ontario. She says that she became more politically aware and active to bring forward and advocate to government for the needs of the profession.

First Nations children have been dramatically over-represented in the Canadian child welfare system for more than 50 years. As western theoretical approaches have not successfully informed effective interventions to address the problem, this article suggests that new theories based on First Nations ontology and western physics may be more promising. The discussion begins with a general exploration of First Nations and western ontology before analyzing ecological theory, structural theory, and anti-oppressive approaches in the context of First Nations child welfare. The article goes on to suggest that physics' theory of everything more closely approximates First Nations ontology and provides a framework for the presentation of a new First Nations theory called the breath of life theory, which will be fully presented in a future article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]