Theme: For the well-being of our children, our young people and our families.
Saturday, November 23, 2019 at the Grand Salon, Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta
Organized in collaboration with Children’s Services
Purpose: To listen to and collect comments and suggestions from community members, with the aim of stimulating reflection on the placement of children in foster care.
PRACTICAL STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE LINKS
Philosophy:
Practical Strategies for Sustainable Links recognize the importance of human relationships in family and community settings and how these relationships create lasting safety for children and youth. It is complex and goes well beyond the concepts of legal permanence, placement or planning. It provides tools to create safety, well-being and connections in our work with families.
Connection domains:
As the practice of intervention with children has evolved, staff have led the way in starting to define the areas of connection that help children and youth grow up with people who love them unconditionally and who have strong ties to their family, community and culture through the creation of standards of practice and permanent frameworks. We focus on four areas of connection at the provincial level in the hope of creating a clear foundation for understanding the connection and facilitating a common basis for discussion and the creation of meaningful plans for children and youth. Connection domains include relational, cultural, physical, and legal domains. We would appreciate you sharing your teachings with us regarding relationship and cultural links.
• Relational Connection: A lasting bond with family, friends, caregivers and important people that provides a sense of belonging, unconditional love, acceptance and someone to rely on when needed.
“Relationship is the most important factor of healing and resilience and must be at the center of all social services cases, when we involve the extended family, the community, and the child’s tribe. we give him the opportunity to build relationships and we open the door to healing and permanence. ” – Kevin Campbell
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child identifies:
The family, as a fundamental group of society and as a natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and in particular children, should be given the protection and assistance necessary to fully assume its responsibilities in society. the community.
Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, must grow in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding (United Nations, 1989).
• Cultural Connection: Participation and connection to its ancestral history – language, religion, customs, belief systems, social roles and celebrations and / or birthplace that foster a strong sense of identity, self esteem and better self-esteem.
Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child identifies:
Minority or indigenous children have the right to learn and practice their own culture, language and religion. The right to practice one’s own culture, language and religion applies to everyone; the Convention emphasizes this right in cases where the practices are not shared by the majority of the inhabitants of the country.
