Dr. Geoffrey Pawson
With profound sadness we announce the passing of Dr. Geoffrey Pawson on January 30, 2012. Husband to Barbara for 50 years; Father to Jane (David) Loblaw, Gord (Lori) Pawson, David Pawson, and Kate (Scott) Langen. He was an extremely proud Granddad to Rachel, Sydney and Chloe Langen and Demira and Darian Pawson. Brother to David (Doreen) Pawson and Lloyd (Angie) Pawson; brother-in-law to Roger & Vicki Hardage and Ann & Jim Stevens; and their families. Geoff is the founder of the Ranch Ehrlo Society and former Ehrlo Community Services. He was only 27 years of age when he opened the first group home with 6 youth. The agency has grown to currently serving 250 youth and families across Saskatchewan and Canada. There have been thousands of graduates of the program, many of whom continued to maintain contact. He received many honours throughout his career such as the Order of Canada in 2000, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2001, the Family Service Canada Award in 2003, and an Honourary Doctorate of Law from the University of Regina in 2005. Geoff was an inspirational leader who had a tremendous impact at the local, provincial, national and international level for his unwavering commitment to youth. He had a gifted ability to create change, overcome obstacles, and challenge the status quo. He was a master problem-solver and visionary who was respected by his colleagues, employees, community, friends and family. Although Geoff will be profoundly missed, he has left a remarkable legacy. His mission and vision will live on at Ranch Ehrlo, as he laid a solid foundation to continue to improve upon meeting the needs and filling gaps for the most vulnerable members of our society. He truly left the world a better place. Donations can be made in Geoff's honor to the Dr. Geoffrey Pawson Education Scholarship. The purpose of this scholarship is to enable present and/or former residents of the Ranch Ehrlo Society and other deserving individuals to continue with Post-secondary and apprenticeship training. The focus is to improve the likelihood of long-term and continuous employment in the future of the recipients. A Memorial will be held on Friday February 17, 2012 at 7 pm at the Radisson Plaza Hotel Saskatchewan in the Grand Ballroom. An online book of condolences can be accessed at www.Ehrlo.com, as well as www.Facebook.com/RanchEhrlo. This is a wonderful way for the family to stay connected as they have yet to be able to return from Tucson AZ.

Events

In our Events section you will find information on upcoming conferences, symposiums, forums and CWLC sponsored events.

Calendar of Events - Visit our new Calendar of Events for a complete listing of all events posted on our site. Now you can search by month and year!

CWLC Achievement Awards - NOW OPEN!

National Teleconference Series

If you have an event you would like posted on our site please contact info@cwlc.ca.

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CWLC Webinar

Retention of Foster Families: Experiences from Across Canada

CWLC would like to invite you to a webinar on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 from 1:00 - 2:00pm EST.

In fall 2010, Child Welfare League of Canada, in partnership with Canadian Foster Family Association, held focus groups consisting of foster parents and child welfare workers at six sites across Canada as part of the Every Child Matters project. These discussions highlighted the factors that affect the retention of foster parents in different regions of Canada.

Specific themes that emerged from the discussions included: training, services and supports, and communication between foster parents and child protection departments/agencies.

An overview of the findings and regional perspectives from foster parents and child welfare workers will be presented by Anna Ekins, MSW, RSW, National Coordinator for CWLS's Every Child Matters project.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

CWLC Webinar
Foster family recruitment: What the international research tells us

CWLC would like to invite you to a webinar on Wednesday, March 23 from 2:00-3:00pm EST.

Foster family recruitment is a major issue for Canadian provinces and territories. Demographic and other societal changes over the last 25 years have led to a decrease in the pool of people with both the motivation and capability to foster, while in many jurisdictions the need and demand for foster care has never been higher.

With a particular focus upon research from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, this webinar will critically explore in a very accessible way, the current research evidence on what has been found to "work” in relation to foster family recruitment.

As well as examining specific recruitment methods, a strong focus of the presentation will be the research on how agencies can more broadly manage their recruitment efforts in order to ensure that they have sufficient foster families to meet the needs of their children and young people.

The webinar will be hosted by the CWLC and presented by Iain Matheson, a New-Zealand-based independent management consultant, researcher, program evaluator and doctoral candidate. As well as foster family recruitment, his professional interests include international child welfare, foster care, youth care, child welfare management, quality assurance, standards, managing demand, foster care training and monitoring, research and evaluation.

Further information on Iain can be found at: http://www.mathesonassociates.co.nz and http://www.linkedin.com/in/iainmatheson

TO REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Atlantic Canada Child Welfare Forum III

The third Atlantic Canada Child Welfare Forum was held on March 25th and 26th, 2010 at the Oak Island Inn & Resort in Chester, Nova Scotia. The Forum was supported by CWLC, the Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare (CECW) and the governments of Atlantic Canada.

The theme for this year’s ACCWF III was New Approaches and Current Research on Differential Response & Risk Management. Guest speakers at this year's event were Dr. John Fluke from the American Humane Association and Dr. Aron Shlonsky from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto.

The Atlantic Canada Child Welfare Forum is an important opportunity for senior child welfare staff from all four provinces to engage in a formal planning and exchange opportunity. These child welfare systems experience similar challenges, demands and opportunities. The Forum serves as an effective mechanism to learn about the developmental work as well as build working relationships across provinces. The Forum also provides an opportunity to engage other key stakeholders including universities, other government departments and community organizations in knowledge and program development.

Visit the ACCWF III webpage and download the presentations.

Second National Invitational Symposium on Child and Youth Mental Health

On November 19 – 20, 2009 over 100 child and youth mental health stakeholders gathered at the Château Laurier in Ottawa for the 2nd National Invitational Symposium on Child and Youth Mental Health. Getting in the Right Door at the Right Time was the theme for a symposium that aimed to address access to mental health services for children, youth and their families.

In March 2007, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, a national body funded by the federal government arose out of recognition that Canada needed a national mental health strategy. Evergreen, a national mental health framework specific to children and youth is being developed as a guide for policy and program development. Former Senator the Honourable Michael Kirby, chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, stated a sentiment that has embedded itself into this initiative: the mental health of children and youth is essential to the overall well-being of Canadians. This is in light that

1 in 5 youth have a mental illness
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people
Less than 17 % of children and youth who require treatment actually receive it
70 % of adults with mental illnesses experience its onset in childhood/adolescence

Every child and youth deserves equal access to health care and resources.

The 2^nd National Symposium was a key step to the development and solidification of national partnerships and linkages. This National Symposium built on the existing network of partnerships focused on child and youth mental health, and progressed towards identifying next steps and plans of action that will inform Canada’s new mental health strategy.

National Invitational Symposium on Youth Illicit Substance Abuse and Justice System

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), in association with the Coalition on Community Safety, Health and Well-being, and in particular the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), Child Welfare League of Canada (CWLC), Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) and YOUCAN, along with support from Justice Canada, held another symposium, this time with a focus on substance abuse and youth justice.

The expected outcomes of the Symposium were to:

increase awareness in the justice community, social development sectors, governments and the public of the relationship between illicit substance abuse and youth crime and victimization;
help participants and Coalition members to modify their approach to working with youth who have illicit substance abuse problems; and
build momentum for addressing, through a holistic, multi-sectoral, long-term approach, the issues affecting youth with illicit substance abuse problems who are involved in the justice system.

Considered a success by all participants, a summation of the symposium's findings, as well as a full report of the event, is available to download.

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