Many service providers, including child welfare agencies, face challenges in addressing and responding to child protection concerns in newcomer and immigrant communities. The current model of child protection services in North America is dominated by individualistic social norms. Many minority-status ethno-cultural groups in North America share more collectivist traditions.
Developing more effective and culturally meaningful intervention strategies for identifying and responding to child protection concerns in diverse populations will keep children safe and preserve families. This requires building mutual understanding and trust between the child welfare system and many other communities, especially those who are racialized and marginalized, and this necessitates working together to develop culturally meaningful child protection strategies that are child-focused and family and community-friendly.
This presentation aims to share lessons learned from MRCSSI’s model of collaboration with the Children's Aid Society of London and Middlesex, which led to a dramatic reduction of Muslim children in care. This was achieved by working together to use the Culturally Integrative Family Safety Response approach, which provides space for MRCSSI as a culturally-based community organization to be part of the intervention plan.
The main questions that will be addressed in this presentation are:
- What are the challenges mainstream service providers face in responding to child protection concerns in newcomer communities?
- What are the limitations of current strategies and approaches that child protection services use to respond to these challenges and address this gap?
- How does MRCSSI address and respond to these challenges?
