Beyond Neglect: Infusing Equity in Child Welfare
Webinar event date: 
Apr 20, 2023 12:00 pm EDT
Webinar Presenters: 
John Telfer, MSW

Manager of Equity Practice, CAS Toronto

John Telfer is the Manager of Equity in Practice at the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, focusing on building capacity and disrupting systemic inequities for families involved with child welfare. He holds a BA in Social Work from the University of East London, UK, a Post Graduate Diploma in Child and Family Studies from Kingston University, UK as well as, a Master's in social work from the University of Windsor. In his 15 years of experience in the field of child welfare, he has held both child protection roles as well as supervisor roles within various departments. 

Raquel Britton BSW

Anti-Black Racism Lead, CAS Toronto

Raquel Britton is an experienced child welfare leader with 16 years’ experience in both frontline and supervisory role with a strong emphasis on promoting equity, diversity, and collaboration.  To support her work Raquel has an educational background of a BA in Psychology and Social Service Worker.  In her role as an Anti-Black Racism Practice Integration Lead with Children’s Aid Society of Toronto Raquel aims to champion equity, diversity and inclusion for Black families through coaching, providing consultations, group facilitation and training, support the review and development of agencies initiatives and support the development of best practices. 

Description

This webinar aims to raise awareness of the need for equity which is often not included in child protection interventions, as the emphasis of child welfare is focused on risk and safety. Thus, not much consideration of the underlying factors such as bias, discrimination, rigidity, and subjectivity that underpins assessing risk and safety, is given much attention. Therefore, as we gain an understanding of equity, the webinar looks at applying 2 truths when executing child protection interventions while leaning into identified best practices to infuse equity into child protection.