Actions and Commitments

Call to Action # 1 : Child Welfare (1-5)

Moncton University School of Social Work

May 25, 2024

The School of Social work’s mandate is to offer training programs which reflect the realities and the aspirations of Indigenous peoples, Acadians, francophones and immigrants, as well as insuring 

The mission of the School of Social Work is to offer training programs that reflect the realities and aspirations of Indigenous, Acadian, Francophone and immigrant populations, while ensuring openness to the practice of social work with an international scope.

Its objective is to train people to understand social problems, particularly the processes of impoverishment and precariousness of individuals, families, groups and communities, in order to intervene more effectively.  The focus is on research and intervention with local communities and identities.

Commitment of School of Social Work to Truth and Reconciliation 

School Update: February 2024

“The School has created a new committee, the Comité de réflexion sur la décolonisation et l’antiracisme. The purpose of this committee is to review our practices in order to better engage with Indigenous communities and ensure their presence in our training spaces. The committee wishes to engage in decolonization by taking into account the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In addition, this committee would like to ensure the presence of Indigenous culture by placing Indigenous artworks, symbols and signs in the corridors leading to the School’s secretariat, and also in the space occupied by the secretariat.”

TRC Call to Action # 1

We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to commit to reducing the number of Aboriginal children in care by: 

  1. Monitoring and assessing neglect investigations
  2. Providing adequate resources to enable Aboriginal communities and child-welfare organizations to keep Aboriginal families together where it is safe to do so, and to keep children in culturally appropriate environments, regardless of where they reside.
  3. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the history and impacts of residential schools.
  4. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing.
  5. Requiring that all child-welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers.

Mandatory Course: 0

Programmes offerts | École de travail social (umoncton.ca)

An elective course is offered:

TSOC4183 Social Work and Indigenous Populations

The School specifies that it is currently in the process of changing its bachelor’s degree program, and that this course will become mandatory for all students enrolled at the School of Social Work.

Faculty of Social Work Commitment to Call to Action # 1: 3, 4 and 5: out of 3 = 0%

3History and impact of residential schools (theory)
 No. Not explicitly addressed
4Potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing (practice)
 No. Not explicitly addressed
5All child welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers
 No. Not explicitly addressed

Compliance with CASWE/ACFTS Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change

At the May 27th, 2017 Board meeting, the Board of Directors of CASWE-ACFTS committed to ensuring that social work education in Canada contributes to transforming Canada’s colonial reality and approved a “Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change”. “This is an important step in engaging social work education in the reconciliation process and supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action” affirms CASWE-ACFTS President, Dr. Susan Cadel.Of the 12 actions articulated in the “Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change, the following two are directed at Schools of Social Work
7Will encourage institutional members to post a territorial acknowledgement on their School’s website and post a link to the CAUT guide to territorial acknowledgement on the CASWE-ACFTS website to assist Schools with this task
 L’Université de Moncton reconnaît que ses trois campus sont situés sur les terres ancestrales non cédées des Wǝlastǝkewiyik / Wolastoqiyik (Malécites) et des Mi’kmaq / Mi’kmaw. Ces Nations autochtones et leurs territoires sont régis par les « Traités de paix et d’amitié » élaborés et signés par les Wǝlastǝkewiyik / Wolastoqiyik (Malécites), les Mi’kmaq/ Mi’kmaw et les Peskotomuhkati (Passamaquoddy) avec la Couronne britannique au 18e siècle. Les traités n’abordaient pas la cession des terres et ressources, mais ils reconnaissaient plutôt le titre Wəlastəkwey / Wolastoqey, Mi’kmaw et Peskotomuhkati et définissaient les règles quant à ce qui devait être des relations durables entre les nations.Land acknowledgement only available on the French version of the website, although is not located on the School of Social Work website. Reconnaissance | Autochtones (umoncton.ca)
8Will encourage and support Canadian schools of social work in revising mission statements, governance processes, curriculum, and pedagogy in ways that both advance the TRC recommendations and the overall indigenization of social work education
 No. Not explicitly addressed
NOTE:
All content has been submitted to the respective faculty for validation to ensure accuracy and currency as of the time of posting. The Moncton University School of Social Work reviewed and approved the document.

Managing Editor: Douglas Sinclair: Publisher, Indigenous Watchdog
Lead Researcher, Julia Dubé