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May 2022

Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series #5 – June 28, 2022

Webinar #5 of our Decolonizing Child Welfare Learning Series focuses on Holistic Healing, Prevention and Early Intervention programs.

NCFST offers a wide array of programs available to children, youth, individuals and families open to all self-identifying community members, whether or not a child welfare file is currently open. Holistic programs seek to empower families to access resources and supports that can avert crises that may necessitate child welfare, and to support Youth in strengthening resilience and personal growth in contemporary cultural contexts.

In this webinar, we describe how our culturally grounded holistic healing and early intervention services work to provide the necessary resources and supports to families to prevent the need for Child and Family Wellbeing (child welfare) involvement or help families succeed so that time involved in child welfare services is minimized. Please join us to learn how our services can work together and can work with external Indigenous and mainstream services to strengthen parents and children at risk of involvement in child welfare services or who are already working with child welfare services as part of their healing journey.

This event has passed, please find the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mziO-41Uc

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Red Dress Commemorative Art Project – Virtual Reveal Event

In honour of National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S), NCFST revealed the Red Dress Commemorative Art Project in a virtual presentation. This Art Project was created to honour the lives of MMIWG2S through the facilitation of virtual “Bead In” community engagement sessions. These “Bead In” sessions were guided with cultural teachings and beading instructions along with a variety of guest speakers who each shared their own experiences, stories, and ways of healing trauma through art.

Participants created two beaded red dresses: one red dress was beaded to keep in honour of #MMIWG2S and to memorialize a family member or friend, and the second beaded red dress was given to #NCFST to contribute towards a community art exhibit, including a photobook, that will become a living legacy of their artistic expressions. 

Chi-miigwetch (Thank you) to the Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) for their support with this project and many thanks to our Support Staff, Elders, Knowledge Carriers, Beading Facilitator, and all the Guest Speakers. This community art exhibit will continue to honour our lost loved ones and raise further awareness of MMIWG2S.

Watch this video to hear teachings, impact stories, ways to navigate trauma, as well as ways to increase #MMIWG2S+ awareness.

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April 2022

Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series #4 – Recording

Webinar #4 of our Decolonizing Child Welfare Learning Series focuses on our Family Finding program. At NCFST we know that the removal of children can leave a lasting legacy of trauma and the longer a child remains in care, the greater the risk of negative life outcomes. The best way to reduce harm, avoid further trauma and keep children connected to their culture and community is to keep children in the embrace of extended family.

The Family Finding model offers methods and strategies to locate and engage extended family, as well as First Nation, Metis and Inuit communities for children/youth currently living in out-of-care placements. The process identifies relatives and other supportive adults in planning for the permanency of the child and a major component of the program is to facilitate the child’s connection to their community and culture in order to promote a strong sense of cultural identity. Please join us as we share what steps we take to find extended family and community to step in to create a circle of care to support children, youth and families.

Join our host Terri Jaffe, and the following panelists:

  • Vivian Roy, Knowledge Keeper;
  • Mary-Ann Rice, Supervisor of Family Finding
  • Tammi Ferguson, Kinship Support Worker
  • Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director;
  • Mark Atanasoff, Director of Quality Assurance & Decolonization.

Click to access the presentation file

Below is the recorded webinar available for viewing.

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Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series #4 – April 22, 2022

Webinar #4 of our Decolonizing Child Welfare Learning Series focuses on our Family Finding program. At NCFST we know that the removal of children can leave a lasting legacy of trauma and the longer a child remains in care, the greater the risk of negative life outcomes. The best way to reduce harm, avoid further trauma and keep children connected to their culture and community is to keep children in the embrace of extended family.

The Family Finding model offers methods and strategies to locate and engage extended family, as well as First Nation, Metis and Inuit communities for children/youth currently living in out-of-care placements. The process identifies relatives and other supportive adults in planning for the permanency of the child and a major component of the program is to facilitate the child’s connection to their community and culture in order to promote a strong sense of cultural identity. Please join us as we share what steps we take to find extended family and community to step in to create a circle of care to support children, youth and families.

This event has passed, please find the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0wMszz6g9Q

Select here to view previous webinars

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February 2022

Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series #3 – Recording

Thank you to everyone who joined us on February 25th for our third webinar in this learning series.

Webinar #3 focuses on the ongoing services we provide when protection concerns have been verified and when a family’s file remains open to our Child and Family Wellbeing teams.

  1. Why do cases stay open for longer-term services?
  2. How do we make decisions about whether a family’s file should remain open?
  3. Why do some cases go to court? How is the decision to go to court made?

Hear how we seek to empower families to reach their goals, how we connect families and children to external and internal supports, healing services and how we decide when a child and family wellbeing case is ready to be closed

Join our host Terri Jaffe, and the following panelists:

  • Vivian Roy, Knowledge Keeper;
  • Jamie Toguri, Supervisor, Child and Family Wellbeing;
  • Miguel Torres, Child and Family Wellbeing;
  • Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director;
  • Mark Atanasoff, Director of Quality Assurance & Decolonization.

Click to access the presentation files

Below is the recorded webinar available for viewing.

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Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series #3 – Feb 25, 2022

Webinar #3 focuses on the ongoing services we provide when protection concerns have been verified and when a family’s file remains open to our Child and Family Wellbeing teams.

  • Why do cases stay open for longer-term services?
  • How do we make decisions about whether a family’s file should remain open?
  • Why do some cases go to court? How is the decision to go to court made?

Please join us to hear about how we seek to empower families to reach their goals, how we connect families and children to external and internal supports, healing services and how we decide when a child and family wellbeing case is ready to be closed

This event has passed, please find the recording: https://youtu.be/G_SwB9wgbc4

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Select here to view previous webinars

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November 2021

You’re Invited: Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series – December 13th

Webinar #2 of our Learning Series focuses on the most important decisions made in child welfare arising from the Intake and Assessment process.

Please join us to explore how Child and Family Wellbeing teams respond to concerns about the safety of children and how we connect families and children to early interventions, holistic healing, and prevention services that lessen the need for intrusive child welfare interventions and keep children safe. Attend the discussion to hear how we ensure that families stay together and are safely supported with culture and community.

This event has passed, please find the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgFUgGQF13M

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Select here to view previous webinars

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October 2021

Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series – Recording

Thank you to everyone who joined us on October 29th in the first of our Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series.

In this webinar we discussed the history of NCFST in relation to its provincial child welfare mandate, provided an overview of the core interventions and services that are offered from referral to case closure and we told the story of our efforts to provide prevention and early intervention to mitigate the harms caused by colonial child welfare services.

Miigwetch to our host and panelists:

  • Terri Jaffe, Senior Supervisor, Aboriginal Cultural Program Liaison;
  • Vivian Roy, Knowledge Keeper;
  • Kenn Richard, Founder and Director of Special Projects;
  • Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director;
  • Mark Atanasoff, Director of Quality Assurance and Decolonization.

Webinars in this learning series will be recorded and posted as the series evolves to be available to the community and the families we serve.

Below is the recorded webinar available for viewing.

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Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series – Oct 29 @ 2 PM

Please join us as we launch the first Child Welfare Webinar Learning Series.

This launch will consist of an overview of the child welfare system and the role of Native Child and Family Services of Toronto. We will look at the child welfare systems in the historical injustices against Indigenous children and families and the impact of the resulting intergenerational trauma.

The Webinar will explain the history of NCFST in relation to its provincial child welfare mandate, provide an overview of the core interventions and services that are offered from referral to case closure and tell the story of our efforts to provide prevention and early intervention to mitigate the harms caused by colonial child welfare services.

Webinars in this Learning Series will be recorded and posted on the NCFST website as the series evolves to be available to the community and the families we serve.

This event has passed, please find the recording: https://youtu.be/GAixoLSpaAU

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September 2021

Decolonizing Child Welfare Webinar Panel September 30, 2021

Thank you to the 1246 individuals who joined us today in our discussion on what Indigenous child welfare could look like in five years. Today, we announced our commitment to open a new chapter in our ongoing work and vision of transforming child welfare.

Read the full announcement here.

Miigwetch to our host Bob Goulais and the panelists:

  • Jocelyn Formsma, Executive Director, National Association of Friendship Centres;
  • Irwin Elman, Former Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth;
  • Pat Green, Traditional Knowledge Keeper;
  • Micheal Miller, Executive Director, Association of Native Child and Family Services Agencies of Ontario
  • Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto

For those not in attendance on Sept 30th, the recorded webinar is now available to watch. 

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