Transcript Gathering2010_Tue0900_Ktunaxa_Kinbasket.

Before and after Signs of Safety:
CHILD PROTECTION IN THE
ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY:
Presented by: Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child &
Family Services
Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child & Family
Services Society
WHAT’S BEHIND THE PICTURE
The Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child & Family
Services Society is committed to working
collaboratively with Aboriginal families and
communities of the Ktunaxa Traditional
Territory to increase their ability to fulfill
their responsibilities for caring for their
children in a culturally relevant and holistic
manner.
KTUNAXA MEN – 1885
(Standing left): Sebastian Joe; (Mounted L to R): Philip Brown Tail, Alpine Gus, Joe Nana, Skookum Joe, Kootenay
Pete.
(Front row L to R) William Paul, Louise Storkn, Chief Isadore, Kapilo.
KTUNAXA WOMEN AND CHILDREN/YOUTH (1910-1915)
Definitions – Indians in Canada
Aboriginal Peoples of Canada
• First Nations
• Metis
• Inuit
“Aboriginal is the term that covers all Indian People
of Canada”
Similarities - Canada & United States
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Canada – Federal Government
Provincial Government –
Provinces (BC)
First Nation, Metis, Inuit Aboriginal
Department of Indian Affairs
Indian Bands; Nations
Reserves – Off Reserve
Residential School; Industrial
School (1873-1970 = 97 years)
Governed by Family & Community
Services Act
Kinship Care
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United States
Individual States
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Native American Indian
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Indian Tribes
Indian Reservations
Boarding Schools
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Indian Child Welfare Act
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Foster Care
Canada
United States
Ktunaxa
Nation
First Nations
• 1818~ An agreement between Canada and the United States
confirming the 49th parallel
• 1876~ Dominion of Canada formed; legally defined Indian’s
different from other ‘Canadians’ - Indian Act established governing
First Nation people – 135 years later - still in effect
• Impacts of Colonization – Oppression, assimilation, loss of family
units, identity, language, culture, traditions - Residential Schools,
Sixties Scoop (Child Welfare removing Aboriginal Children and
placing in non-Aboriginal homes, Adopting out of Aboriginal
children). Given this impact a Child Welfare system is required for
Aboriginal peoples.
• Discrimination by removing First Nation women’s Indian status for
marrying non-Aboriginal man – 1981 Bill C-31
KTUNAXA FAMILY –MEMORIES - 1912
KTUNAXA WOMEN & CHILDREN- 1912 - aqamnik Band
1912 Mrs. Sam (Adelle) Gonzaga; Mrs. Basil (Johanna) Andrew;
Mrs. Martina Ambrose; Mrs. Pete (Elizabeth) Andrew; Mrs. Margaret Skookum; Anna Pauline
1899 Scrip Commissioner with First Nations and Metis
Ktunaxa Beliefs
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Everyone has value
Everyone has purpose
Children are a gift from the Creator
“It takes a village to raise a child”
Respect one another
Never take something without putting something
back – Dignity, kindness, self-respect
• Always give thanks
• Custom Adoption
In the early 1990’s Ktunaxa
Grandmothers came together demanding
from the government that the children
stop being taken from the community...
Because of these demands Ktunaxa nation council
and Provincial Government entered into a Transfer
agreement.
British Columbia Government
Risk Assessment
• Individual Oriented
• Points out what is going wrong in the family
• Doesn’t look at the strengths of the family or
what positive things are happening for the
family
• Paternalistic
• Assesses Risk (whether or not children are
safe)
Signs of Safety
in connection with Ktunaxa Beliefs
• Inclusive of everyone-family, extended family
• Family and community is part of the solution, Values
family and community knowledge
• Family and community take ownership of issues and the
solution-Accountability
• Tool that can be adapted into your own style of practice
• Can be adapted to be culturally appropriate
• Looks at both the issues and the strengths, you look at
the family and the individual as a whole and not just
pieces.
• When you take something you put something back.
Direction to Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child and
Family Services Staff – early 2000s
The Leaders and Elders of the Ktunaxa Nation
directed Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child and Family
Services staff:
• to ensure safety of children in a way that was
inclusive of family and Community
• To build on family strengths, not break families
down through identification of risks and
deficits
British Columbia Risk Assessment Model
• This model is quite similar to the New York Risk
Assessment Model
• This model identified 23 areas of risk
• This model ranked level of risk from “0 – no risk”
through “4 – high risk” for each of the 23 factors
• Families were often left with little sense of hope – often
being told “what is not working well” with no idea “what
is working well”
• The system did not emphasize exploration of exceptions
when “things” worked well, sources of support, best
hopes, extended family and community involvement
Connection to Signs of Signs of Safety
• In 2003 Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child and Family
Services’ Managers of Social Work Programs
and Prevention/Support programs attended a
Signs of Safety Workshop with Andrew Turnel
in Vancouver British Columbia
• The philisophical approach of Signs of Safety
appeared to fit well with the beliefs of the
Ktunaxa Nation
• In 2006 Andrew Turnel agreed to work with
the Ktunaxa Nation
Culturally Relevant Risk Assessment Model
• From 2005 through to today Ktunaxa
Kinbasket Child and Family Services has been
working toward utilizing the Signs of Safety
Framework at all levels of assessment
throughout the agency
• This includes intake and investigation, safety
(risk) assessment and planning, care planning
for children, and working with residential
caregivers
• Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child and Family Services
no longer uses the British Columbia Risk
Assessment Model
• In a very short period of time (last 3 years)
Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child and Family Services
staff have moved to using mappings, 3 houses,
safety plans and words and pictures on a
consistent basis in working with families
• Staff compliance to the Signs of Safety approach
has greatly surpassed compliance to the British
Columbia Risk Assessment model when this
was the required assessment process
• Despite the continued growth in number of
people served by Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child and
Family Services we have not seen a parallel
growth of children entering/requiring alternate
(foster) care
POST SIGNS OF SAFETY:
Getting the Team on Board
SERVICES OFFERED AT KKCFS
• Family Support Services
- Reconnection
- Cultural Connections
- Sacred Family Circle
- Justice services
- Family Support , etc.
- Strengthening Families
• Delegated Family Support (Social Work)
- Child Protection (Intake/Investigations)
- Guardianship (Children in Care)
- Kinship Care (Foster Parents)
• Counselling Services/Addictions
• Prevention Services
- Early Years
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Support
PEOPLE SERVED BY KKCFS
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Ktunaxa Nation
Shuswap (Kinbasket) Band
Métis Community
Urban Aboriginal Peoples
• On/Off Reserve Cranbrook, Creston, Invermere
• All Aboriginal Peoples regardless whether live if
live on/off reserve (First Nations, Métis, Inuit)
Signs of Safety:
Recognizing and Building Strength and Safety
with Aboriginal Families in Crisis
In The Beginning
Getting the Team on board took some effort:
• There was some resistance to change
• There were staff who felt we were imposing a
practice on them
• Then there was the practice element itself –
how does this really work? And what does it
mean for our clients?
These were just a few of the challenges we were facing as an agency…
What did we do to overcome?
First we had to:
• Accept the resistance
• Allow transition to happen individually
• Don’t let go of the vision.
» Practice Daily
» Make it fun
» Challenge the staff
But we also had to commit to the work itself:
• We visited with the Carver Agency 3 times for training.
• We had Carver staff come work with our staff in
Cranbrook
• We enlisted the commitment of a Signs of Safety
consultant in the office to:
» Ensure the practice is being utilized by each team
» Ensure staff have access to consultation on difficult cases, and
» To ensure that the community around us was being educated
about the work we were doing.
• We talk Signs of Safety and We walk Signs of Safety
• In the end the work proved itself and staff came to see
that the model really works. One by one they began to
embrace it.
What’s Working Well Today?
Family/Client Feedback:
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Greater respect from staff
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Our clients feel that they are being heard
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Workers are not imposing plans on clients and families but rather are ‘walking the journey
with them’
Clients are showing more signs of hope
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Families/Clients feel that the mapping approach creates a mutually respectful environment
For decades Child Protection practice has removed hope from the lives of the families they
work with leading to a worsening of their situation in many cases. Families have expressed
that hopelessness saying that they did not think they were allowed to be a part of their child’s
life, that they didn’t believe they would ever be ‘good enough’ to get their child back. They
often gave up and did not work to improve their situations as a result.
Today clients are buying into the plans that they help create and as a result they are really
‘doing the work’ – not just attending programs but actually allowing it to change their lives.
There are signs of less conflict
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Prior to Signs of Safety Social Workers experienced a great deal of conflict in their day to day
work with families. This was evident in the number of contested court cases. Today not only
have our reasons for going to court dropped but also it is a very rare occasion when workers
have to go to ‘battle’ in court – more and more families are completely on board with plans
even when it means their children can’t live with them.
Staff Feedback:
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Fewer calls getting passed the intake stage resulting in lower caseloads.
Fewer return callers
Less staff involvement – more family involvement = relationship building
Less re-occurrence of issues as a result of:
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Less Perceived Crisis /less fear
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Because there is greater trust between client and worker both are better able to be open and
honest about what is happening.
Less guilt felt by workers for not doing all the work!
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We have had many clients thank staff for the respectful way they worked with their families
More transparency
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Both staff and families are more at ease working through crisis because there is a greater
understanding/clarity of what the real danger is.
More feedback from clients on the process
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Practicing Social Work from a more respectful, strength-based and less enabling perspective.
Families are empowered to do the ‘real’ work. They also have hope!
Being a “lazy” worker really can be empowering for the clients while relieving workers of the
stress of doing it all.
Greater sense of team
Continued...
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The shift to using Signs of Safety was subtle enough that it did not
overwhelm staff
Staff report that they have the ability to be more creative with their work
using Signs of Safety
Supervisors Feedback
Using the Appreciative Inquiry approach in Supervision with staff gives the
Supervisor a greater understanding of the work that staff are doing and the
areas where skill development may be required.
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Worker/Client relationship shows through using A.I.
How much the worker knows about their client becomes strongly evident.
How the worker is feeling about their own work becomes visible showing where areas of
encouragement and skill development are needed.
It allows staff to acknowledge their good work.
Appreciative Inquiry sets a positive tone for staff throughout the agency.
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Benefits derived from the Mapping process:
» mediating Inter-Agency conflicts
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utilized to address co-worker conflict and to seek a Strength Based Solution.
» to assess staff performance: yearly evaluation and to address staff conduct
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assists with assessing the Team as individuals and as part of an overall view of the Agency.
» Its a useful assessment tool working through the Agency Complaints Process
» gaining Employee opinion on Agency growth and development
» Using Signs of Safety in community development and community planning
sessions.
Overall Signs of Safety gives the Supervisor direction and
understanding about the cases leading to less worry about the safety of
children.
Community Feedback:
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There is a keen interest within the community to know more about what it is
that KKCFS is doing.
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School teachers and professionals involved with education plans for
children report that using the Signs of Safety approach in planning for
children has lead to:
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Our partners are recognizing both a change in the families we work with and, they are
recognising a change in the way we work – for instance they rarely see us in court!
Improved behaviour in the children involved,
Greater understanding about the life of the child involved,
Greater relationships between teachers and parents,
Greater relationships amongst the community partners.
KKCFS is receiving requests for future workshops/presentations within the
community
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Community partners are recognising that this new approach to working with families really
works! And they are interested in how it can relate to work in their fields.
In the end we know that Signs of Safety has resulted in increased interest within
the community, less stress for staff and more hope for clients!
Forms
Some of the feedback from staff was that our
forms needed to be more culturally relevant.
As a result we have adapted some of those
forms...
Family Map
When workers meet with families/clients they
will do a mapping using the whiteboard and/or
Family Map form. We have these forms in
triplicate copy so that as soon as the meeting is
over the client can be provided a copy of the
work we have done whether it is done at home
or in the office...
Once the mapping is complete the process follows
one of two routes:
•If there are child protection concerns then a Child
Safety Plan is developed,
•If there are no child Protection concerns and the
family requires support then a Family Support
Plan is completed.
The Wizards and Fairies forms
were also adapted to reflect our
Aboriginal culture...
And of course, the Three Houses had
to be adapted as well...
Our Commitment to Signs of Safety:
We are so dedicated to using Signs of Safety that we are
currently working to educate our community and our community
partners by providing them with various presentations and
workshops. To date we have provided the following:
•Workshops at various conferences throughout British Columbia to provide
other Aboriginal Agencies and partners an understanding of how KKCFS is
practicing
•Local presentations with Band/Council in each of the 5 Ktunaxa/Kinbasket
communities
•Local in-town presentations/workshops with community partners (ie.
Police, Teachers, health Staff, Lawyers etc.)
•Key S o S worker/consultant available to staff in the three offices we
maintain to provide direction and consultation on difficult cases
•Weekly Mappings/Appreciative Inquiry with staff as a team for on-going
learning and skill building.