Promise Into Practice, ICYC Conference, Aug 20-23, 2003, Victoria, Canada

The School as A Hub : Best Practice Model for School Based Child and

Youth Work• A Child Care Worker and Social Worker

reflect on a 25 Year research project.• Rick Kelly, Hon.B.A, CCW, CYC(Cert.),• Professor, Child and Youth Worker

Program, George Brown College• 416-415-5000 ext.3703• rkelly@gbrownc.on.ca• Toronto, Ontario• Yvonne Kelly, BA, MSW• peasantree @sympatico.ca

Better Beginnings, Better Futures

“…stories matter.So…do stories about stories.”

Clifford Geetz, 1986

Language =words

Story = narrative = voice

“….it felt very amazing, exciting.Very

empowering, which was a word I didn’t

know then but I do now. It felt very

important. That this community was of some worth to people.”

These are the stories of how “one village

decided to raise its children”. The stories

are the maps that extend through time…

What better way to capture the story of

children’s development!

It is a place where the children…..

Low and Declining Family Income

• 1990 mean family income for Highfield was $43,841, compared with the provincial average of $57,227

• 1995 mean family income for Highfield was $36,054, compared to the provincial average of $59,830

Unemployment Rates

Highfield

• 1991 - 14.1% for men

• 1991 - 12.6% for women

• 1996 - 13.3% for men

• 1996 - 17.5% for women

Ontario

• 1991 - 8.6% for men• 1991 - 8.4% for

women• 1996 - 8.7% for men• 1996 - 9.6% for

women

There is mounting evidence that poverty

and other manifestations of socio-economic disadvantage are

becoming increasingly concentrated in specific neighbourhoods across

Canada. Zeesmann, 2000

It is also a place where many of the families

come from what is now truly, in many respects, the global village….

They come from many countries and speak over

40 languages…From such places as India, Sri

Lanka, Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana,

Ghana, Somalia, EL Salvador, Poland, the

former Yugoslavia…and the list goes on

A Culturally Diverse Community

• 1991 - 53.6% born outside Canada

• 1995 - 59.8% born outside Canada

• 9 languages were mother tongue to 100 people or more

Shauna’s Story

It is also a place where there is a school that

grew from 500 to 1000 students…in 5 years…

and was one of the largest Inner City

schools with children from JK to Grade 5…in

the Etobicoke Board

It is also a place that exists in policy space. A

place created by the efforts of our politicians and bureaucrats for the

well-being of children…to correct the ill health of our children created

by the efforts of our politicians and bureaucrats.

The Ontario Child Health Study

Findings(1983)• 1 in 6 children in the Province

experience significant mental health and behavioral difficulties (18 out of each 100)

• Only 20% of these children receive help/services (3 out of those 18 identified)

Which lead to the Better Beginnings, Better

Futures Model• Prevention• Promotion• Community Development• Ecological Approach• Holistic child focus• Locally run and developed

Major Goals of Project

• To reduce the incidence of preventable serious, long-term emotional and behavioural problems in children

• To promote the optimal emotional, behavioural, social, physical and cognitive development in children

• To strengthen families and communities

And the Highfield Community Enrichment

Project

The Programs

• School• Community• Family

– Pre-school and Early Years

• Programs• Partnerships • Advocacy

Family Based Programs

“every child has many parents”

The Programs

• Outreach • Resource Centre (Pre-school)

– Drop-in– Toy Library– Parent Relief– Computer Literacy– Theme Boxes– Parent Workshops– Events and get togethers– Resourcing/advocacy

Community Development

• “We make the path by walking it…”

The Programs

• Grassroots outreach• Volunteer Coordination• Community Action• Ethnocultural Support

– ESL– Cultural Pride Events

• Before and After School• Creative Dance• Aerobics (Adults)• Leadership development• Community Newspaper

In-school

• The School as a Hub• The Seamless Day

The Programs

• Classroom support (EW’s)• Breakfast, snack and hot lunch• Social Skills (Lion’s Quest)• Summer Enrichment Program• Family Visiting• Newcomer Family Welcome• Nobody’s Perfect• Partnerships

– Albion Lodge (Seniors)– Albion Arena

Stories from The Lodge

Where do the children play?

• Making ramps for access• Building playgrounds• Cleaning up MTHA sites• Cleaning up the river• Creating a wetlands

End results….in anecdote and through

research.• Sara’s Story

• The Research

The Research

• Outcome evaluation (quantitative)

• Economic analysis

• Project development and program model research (qualitative)

Two Research Designs to Evaluate Child,

Family/Parent, and Community Outcomes

1• Baseline - Focal Cohort

Comparison Design - Baseline data collected on Gr. 2 children from Highfield Junior School in 1992-93 before the Better Beginnings programs began; Data gathered on focal cohort of children from Highfield Junior School in Gr. 2 in 1996-97 after the children had participated in Better Beginnings’ programs

Two Research Designs to Evaluate Child,

Family/Parent, and Community Outcomes

2• Longitudinal Comparison Site Design

- Data collected from a focal cohort of children from Highfield Junior School and a comparison group of children from a demographically comparable Etobicoke community: JK (1993-94), SK (1994-95), Gr. 1 (1995-96), Gr. 2 (1996-97), and Gr. 3 (1997-98). Note that an additional cohort of Gr. 3 children from the two communities were added in 1998-99 to increase the sample size for a 25-year longitudinal follow-up.

Principal Sources of Quantitative Outcome

Measures

• Parent Interviews

• Child Testing

• Teacher Reports

Preliminary Findings for Children:

Emotional and Behavioural Problems

 Measures

Baseline-Focal

Design

Longitudinal

Design

Decreased overanxious behaviour (parent-rated)

 

 

Decreased depression (parent-rated)

 

 

Decreased attention deficit (parent-rated)

 

 

Decreased oppositional behaviour (parent-rated)

  

 

Preliminary Findings for Children

Positive Social Behaviours 

MeasuresBaseline-

Focal Design

Longitudinal

DesignIncreased self-control (teacher-rated)

 

 

Increased self-control (parent-rated)

   

Increased cooperation (teacher-rated)

 

 

Increased cooperation (parent-rated)

 

  

Increased assertiveness (teacher-rated)

  

 

Increased assertiveness (parent-rated)

 

  

Preliminary Findingsfor Families/Parents

 Measures

Baseline-Focal

Design

Longitudinal

Design

More consistent parenting

 n/a

 

Less hostile-ineffective parenting

 n/a

 

Increased sense of parenting satisfaction

 n/a

 

Reduced stressful life events for parent

 

 

Improved social support

  

 

Preliminary Findingsfor Community 

MeasuresBaseline-

Focal Design

Longitudinal

Design

Sense of Cohesion

   

Use of Community Resources

for 1 of 6

resources

for 5 of 6

resources

Improved Parent Ratings of Child’s School

 

  

Improved Parent Ratings of Relationship with Child’s Teacher

  

  

Outcomes for the Project

Programs that are better designed and utilized

“… They (the residents) feel a little more for the project, than people who are just working there … It’s probably moved a lot faster … The home visitors wouldn’t have anywhere to go if parents weren’t involved … The project would have flopped because the parents wouldn’t have anything to do with it.”

Outcomes for the Community

Building a sense of community

“…I really think before this (Better Beginnings) was in place it was pockets of people … I think the neighbourhood is now starting to think of itself as a community, and I don’t think it was doing that before.”

Economic Analysis: The Cost Benefits

• Approx. $2000/per chilld– 517 children/year

• Compared to– Perry Pre-school Program

• $8,600/per child– U.S. CCD

• $21,000/child

A) In Kind & Leveraged Contributions

• 100 volunteers/partners a year• =‘s up to 2 fulltime staff• + donated space• + integrated services• Service Club involvement• Private Sector support.

Donations and Grants$100,000 per year for food programs.

$45,000 for 3 years for leadership development for

$120,000 to develop a provincial Association

$5,000 to develop wetlands

Partner to secure Brighter Futures and Success by 6 $ for all Etobicoke

Service Savings

• Decreased use of special education services

• Improved child health • Improved parental health

(smoking, alcohol)• Improved use of health services

(parents)• Reductions in domestic

violence• Reductions in open CAS’s cases

Long Term Outcomes

• School Completion• Job Attainment• Decreased reliance on social

assistance• Appropriate use of health care• Decreased criminal activity• Decreased teen pregnancies• Decreased drug/alcohol abuse

Residents Words

How this relates to Child and Youth Work: Core

Skills, Values and Knowledge

Being There for Others

• Circles of care…villages and so on• Coming from your centre• Being there• Teaming up• Meeting them where they’re at• Interacting together• Counseling on the go• Discovering and using self

» Mark Krueger

Approaches… in Other Words

• Strength/Resiliency Focussed• Non-stigmatizing• Self esteem building• Relationship focussed• Skill Focussed• Group and Network oriented• Ecological• Wholistic• Community and Capacity building• Affirming of experience, voice, language

and culture• Crticial thinking to analyse, design, plan

and implement

And Knowledge of

• Children• Families• Communities• Systems• Culture, race, ethnicity• Politics