The Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare (CECW) has been one of four Centres of Excellence for Children’s Well-Being, established in 2000 as an initiative of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The CECW brought together a network of child welfare practitioners, community-based child and family service organizations, child welfare researchers, advocacy and resource groups, child welfare policy-makers, and government ministries to share knowledge and build capacity in child welfare.

The CECW’s mandate has been to work at a national level to disseminate evidence-based knowledge on the incidence, characteristics, and effects of abuse and neglect on children and youth, as well as to transfer knowledge on the most effective ways to alleviate and prevent child maltreatment. This mandate also included fostering collaborative research and providing expert policy advice and recommendations to government agencies and organizations at the provincial, territorial, and local levels. As a special point of interest, the CECW has been active in the field of Aboriginal child welfare and has been an integral part of fostering reconciliation, promoting healing, increasing knowledge, and developing new practices to increase the health and well-being of Aboriginal children at risk of abuse and neglect.