We declare the following as fundamental to our organization, including all aspects of our service delivery, culture and values:

Relationships between First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people and child welfare organizations have been defined by the history of colonization and assimilation — from the mass apprehension of Indigenous children to residential schools and the so-called Sixties Scoop to today’s over-representation of Indigenous children in care. This has had devastating effects on First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, families and cultures. We hold ourselves accountable to this history and understand reconciliation with Indigenous peoples must begin at the individual level. We each must challenge our own power, knowledge and privilege within social and political systems that affect the lives of Indigenous children and families.  

We recognize the need to acknowledge harms done to marginalized groups — and to engage with and support Indigenous, Black, racialized, 2SLGBT2Q+ and other diverse children and families in an anti-oppressive, culturally informed way, in both our professional and personal lives. We commit to critically assessing how behaviours, social structures and institutions create and perpetuate oppression and marginalization, and to developing equitable, power-sharing partnerships and collaborations with communities, service providers and other systems leaders to support culturally safe service provision. We also commit to continuously integrating equity analyses into the everyday practices and procedures of our front-line staff, senior leaders and Board of Directors.

Black, racialized and other diverse and vulnerable populations experience marginalization and oppression within our system. Institutional and oppressive perspectives may be Eurocentric, heteronormative, ableist or take some other form. We are determined to refocus child welfare processes and the system overall on children’s safety and wellbeing in the context of their lives and unique circumstances. This requires meaningful engagement with families and communities in decision-making processes and recognizing people as experts on their own lived experiences.

As a designated French Language Service agency, we provide high-quality services to children, youth and families in the official language of their choice, English or French.

SDGCAS is committed to improving outcomes for children, youth and families who are members of marginalized groups by adopting an Anti-Oppressive Practice (AOP). Anti-oppression can be defined as the lens through which one understands how race, gender, sexual orientation and identity, ability, age, class, occupation and social service usage, can result in systemic inequalities for particular groups. 

The Agency’s practices, structures and policies are being informed by anti-oppressive principles with the intention of creating a culture where there is focus on the needs and circumstances of those who are marginalized and excluded from equitable participation in agency.  Having the Agency embed AOP into its services will help address the issues of disparity and disproportionality that plague families who are marginalized.  This practice will result in better outcomes for the families and improve the working experience of staff who are members of marginalized communities.  Research indicates that utilizing other approaches that fail to address the power dynamic between the child welfare system and families has the potential to reinforce, if not deepen, the inequalities experienced by many parents and children already.

We know that we must continue to advance change and foster an inclusive organization. As we continue this path, we commit to:

• Acknowledging that racism, anti-black racism and social inequity lead to overrepresentation and disparity in outcomes
• Ensuring that our services are culturally safe, support children as they develop their identity and give them a sense of belonging
• Ensuring the provision of active offer of French language services
• Working in partnership with First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities to ensure children are cared for by their local communities
• Supporting the local indigenous agency and help them build capacity

Purpose of the SDG EDI Committee:

The CAS of SDG EDI committee aims to champion a personal, professional, and organizational movement to better understand and address the systemic oppression impacting infants, children, youth, and families that receive services from our organization. Through the inclusivity of diverse peoples, perspectives and voices, action to challenge privilege, and practices to improve organizational culture, we aim for changed narratives through evidence in people’s experiences, data, changed policies, and changed lives.

The EDI committee follows the four main goals set out in the Eastern Zone Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity Work Plan:

1. Reduce the number of children & families negatively affected by Child Welfare.
2. Address & reduce disproportionalities
3. Hire & retain child welfare staff to increase diversity & improve talents
4. Address the emotional trauma of dealing with such issues for staff, youth & families

1. Education/learning across the organization
2. Awareness of statistics of representation/disproportionality based on SDG
   • Children living in out of home care
   • Families
   • Staff
   • Board
   • Resource families
3. Creating and maintaining a safe, respectful and inclusive work environment
4. Practice in Service Delivery are embedded with EDI principles
5. Building Community Partnerships
6. Alignment with Indigenous Services Workplan