Professional Development Conference
Workshop Proceedings
Title of Workshop and Download (all in PDF format)
A6 Ready for School Connects: A newcomer focus on school readiness
Ready for School Connects is a school readiness program for newcomer families (both status and non-status) in downtown Toronto. The project has launched a website and toolkit for service providers who work with newcomer families with young children. We would like to share our learning and resources with others in the settlement field including the RfSC toolkit. After attending the session participants will have a model of a school readiness project that they can replicate in their own communities. The session will be made up of both information sharing and a Q & A period. Participants will be given a printed version of the toolkit to take back to their agencies.
A8 Organizing Newcomer Orientation Programs
Agnes Manasan will present an outline of the organizational strategies used to plan and initiate successful newcomer orientation workshops for both adults and youth. Using her experience with the Filipino Newcomers Support Group, she will show how relationships with government, agency staff and resources and volunteers lead to building partnerships, developing orientation services and expanding outreach. Funding issues will also be examined.
A9 Using New Media Technologies for the Settlement Sector
Online communications are having an incredible impact on society and how we get and use information in our organizations. Our clients, volunteers and leaders are often amongst the most sophisticated users of technology, and have expectations about being able to communicate with us quickly and easily. How do we reach out to them with information in ways they can use? How do we share
information inside our offices and within the Settlement Sector to improve services or advocate for clients? This session will answer some of these questions by outlining new technology tools and demonstrating best practices for online information sharing using new and simple internet tools.
A14 Improving Access to Services for Socially Marginalized Immigrants and Refugees Through a Model of Inter-Sector Coordination
The session provides information on an innovative approach to coordinating services between various sectors with the purpose of improving access for a specific segment of immigrants and refugees who require specialized settlement services. Socially marginalized individuals and families may be those on social assistance or unemployed, and they may face multiple barriers. The various social sectors involved in this initiative and represented on the Advisory Committee include Toronto Social Services, agencies that provide support in mental health, health, domestic violence, employment, education as well as shelters, genderbased, ethnic-based, legal support agencies and lesbian and gay services. The settlement sector is also represented on the advisory committee. The Advisory Committee is considered to be:
- Innovative- as most of the coordination done is within the settlement sector, while coordination between different sectors provides an opportunity for a holistic approach to accessibility of services
- Client-centered- as it takes into consideration that different groups within the immigrant and refugee communities may have various and/or multiple accessibility barriers
After attending this session, participants will have a deeper appreciation for the complexity of sectors that provide services for just one segment of immigrants and refugees and a deeper understanding of the complexity of service coordinationbetween various sectors.
C2 Telephone and E-counselling
In this one-day program, participants learn solution-focused and practical strategies to provide individuals and couples with telephone counselling and ecounselling services. Discussion will include the assessment process to determine the suitability of these approaches to the client and the problem he or she is presenting, as well as hope-oriented strategies for working with clients who find themselves in difficult life situations.
Learning Outcomes:
- Benefits of tele-counselling and e-counselling
- How to build a demonstrated level of confidence and comfort through these counselling tools and approaches
- Ethical issues and other factors arising out of these interventions
C3 Community Development Strategies to Prevent Family Violence
This day-long workshop was developed as part of OCASI’s work in 2007 to prevent violence in immigrant and refugee communities in 2007. The purpose of the workshop is to enable participants to develop awareness of community development strategies that individuals and organizations can employ when working with women and families experiencing domestic violence. It is targeted at frontline workers and their managers so that organizations and individuals can begin to develop context-specific strategies that they could immediately employ as part of their ongoing violence prevention work. The following learning outcomes will be achieved by the end of the day:
- Understand family violence as a community issue
- Enhance awareness of systemic barriers affecting immigrant and refugee women, particularly from racialized communities
- Understand varied approaches to community organizing on a continuum
- Learn ‘alternative’ ways of addressing family violence through communitydevelopment mechanisms and strategies
- Inspire creativity with practical outcomes through the use of case studies
D2 Non-Consensual/Forced Marriages in Canada: A primer for social service providers (Presented in English with simultaneous translation)
SALCO has identified increasing numbers of forced marriages, in particular amongst newcomer/diasporic communities. Many forced marriages involve young women (and some young men), with schools and community agencies often serving as a crucial point of intervention. This workshop is aimed at addressing cases of forced marriages and at intervening before a forced marriage is imposed. Using learning and research gained through SALCO’s own Forced Marriages Project, as well as extensive research done in diasporic communities in the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions.
SALCO will increase participants’ understanding of:
- The context and history of forced marriages, why they occur, and whynewcomers, especially youth, are at risk
- The legal and policy terrain governing forced marriages, as well as the associated complexities, including international conventions, country-specific information, and cross-jurisdictional issues
- What resources are available and how to access them
- How to recognize signs of someone at risk of forced marriage
- A step- by- step guide to appropriate and effective intervention strategies for various stages of a forced marriage case
- Strategies for cooperation across agency and sector lines
Learning will occur through resource/information sharing, presumption exercises,case studies, scenario analysis, visual tools, and discussion.
D3 Case Management in Settlement for Experienced Workers
This workshop invites experienced settlement workers to refresh their skills in case management and best service practices by reviewing the ethical, antioppressive approach to settlement when in a position of power. Through case study, participants will explore who they are, how they serve clients, and who are the partners in service delivery by using a model that can enhance the integration
ability of high risk newcomer individuals and foster welcoming communities. The participants will be able to apply and learn about:
- Ethical and anti-oppressive case management principles
- Re-visit case management as a model of service delivery
- Best service practices in settlement case management
- The challenges of coordinating services with multiple service providers
- Case study
- How to provide feedback for advocacy around systemic issues
We will use a case study methodology based on COSTI’s settlement experiences and successes to illustrate the aforementioned outcomes. Participants will also be invited to share their experiences.
D7 “Count me in!’ A Toolkit for Developing Inclusive Community Programs
Are you concerned about how individuals are included in our communities and how communities are included in society? Learn how to build the capacity of communities to be more inclusive with the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse’s “Count Me In!” Toolkit. Developed with intensive and rigorous community input, this leads you step by step to develop inclusive community programs. The toolkit
is centred on the idea of inclusion - the feeling and reality of belonging - and translates it into understandable, everyday terms. This widely applicable toolkit will challenge you to think in novel ways through the social determinants of health, even as it helps you in your work. This is a toolkit that can be used by community developers or by community groups on their own. We will use live examples from
participants as they work through the toolkit.
D9 Sponsorship Breakdown: What you need to know
Family reunification is a crucial part of immigrant settlement and integration. We recognize the importance of strong families in our society and value the contribution they make in building healthy communities. Sponsorship breakdown occurs when the sponsor or the sponsored family member withdraws from the sponsorship relationship before the end of the period specified in the Sponsorship
Undertaking. The breakdown could be the unwanted result of changing financial conditions or could be a necessary course of action to sustain the well-being of the sponsored family member(s).
Sponsors and immigrant and refugee service providers may not be aware of the consequences of sponsorship breakdown. This session will provide an overview of current Ontario Works regulations and a general picture about the implications of sponsorship breakdown. It will also provide you with an opportunity to raise some of your questions and concerns.
E1 Case Management in Settlement for New Workers
This workshop invites new settlement workers to develop their skills in case management and learn how to apply them in settlement. Through case study, participants will explore who they are, who the partners in service delivery are,and how they provide services to clients. This will be done by use of a model that can enhance the integration ability of high risk newcomer individuals and foster
welcoming communities. Participants will be able to learn about and apply:
- Ethical and anti-oppressive case management principles
- Case management best service practices; service plans, follow-up, long-term stabilization services, etc.
- Coordination of services with multiple service providers
We will use a case study methodology based on COSTI’s settlement experiencesand successes to illustrate the aforementioned outcomes. Participants will also be invited to share their experiences.
E3 Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications De-mystified - Part 1 - Part 2
Learn about the process and criteria for applying for Permanent Residency status through Humanitarian and Compassionate applications, and whether this is a worthwhile option for your client(s). This session will give you a hands-on overview of some of the basic tools necessary, and help you become better informed about the process. This session is useful for settlement workers who would like to learn about providing more effective and appropriate assistance to clients through making useful choices and learning about how to do broad-based advocacy on issues of immigration.
E4 Community Engagement as Health Promotion
Research shows that immigrants arrive in good health but their health declines within a few years. One of the factors that plays a part in how healthy we are, is the extent to which we feel included and engaged in the communities to which we belong. Our experience shows that community engagement promotes health. Community engagement is a process that has the potential to be a powerful tool for capacity building and social change. Using an interactive format, this workshop will be an introduction to community engagement and the application of engagement principles in the work we do. We will share stories of successful engagement and begin to explore the complexity of the issue. Participants will be able to take away ideas and information about working with communities, and how
their work actually promotes health. This workshop will be of interest to anyone wanting to deepen their work with communities.
E6 Literacy in Ontario
The Ontario Literacy Coalition will provide information about ESL literacy in Ontario, the challenges, and some findings from a recent research study that highlighted the need for literacy programs and services. This interactive workshop will also include strategies that can be used by settlement workers to address the literacy needs of their clients. Time will be allowed for sharing information from
frontline workers on the strategies they currently use.
E9 Breaking Down Barriers: Integrated service delivery for people without legal status
People without legal status are exceedingly vulnerable. In this workshop the presenters will outline how the Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre (DPNC) focuses support through their Newcomer and Non-status Action Committee (NNAC) which links and integrates settlement and other services. It provides leadership, education and resources for the staff, Board and community to
improve service delivery and access. Through NNAC, DPNC also maintains links with other city-wide networks and coalitions that address non-status concerns. By reducing stigma, debunking myths and creating an open and accepting climate, undocumented people can receive proper levels of support. Specific examples of this model will assist other agencies to offer similar services.
F2 Finding Home: Overcoming barriers in service delivery to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans refugees and newcomers to Canada
This workshop, designed for service providers and community workers, will address the multiple identities that LGBTQ youth who are newcomers, immigrants, refugees, or undocumented, live with and how the intersections of those identities create challenges and barriers to health, wellbeing and social integration.
Examples and stories will illustrate the challenges and give an overview of the community development model that Supporting Our Youth (SOY) follows in supporting newcomer/immigrant queer and trans youth. SOY promotes knowledge and sensitivity towards the various hidden and complex barriers that LGBTQ newcomer/immigrant/refugee youth face upon arriving to Canada. SOY presents
a more elaborate understanding of the barriers to health, wellbeing and socialinclusion that this population faces on daily basis.
F6 Demystifying Family Law: Supporting clients experiencing family breakdown to assert their rights
This workshop will provide service workers with a basic understanding of key areas of family law. It will also provide them with an appreciation of the resources that exist to support clients experiencing family breakdown. Access to legal information, while not a substitute for legal representation, is a crucial first step in the process of asserting rights. This session will offer participants a general overview of key areas of family law as well as the literature on violence against women. Recent changes to the law, including the prohibition against legally binding religious arbitration, will also be discussed. Handouts will be distributed. In particular, we will examine the following areas:
- general overview of basic principles, rights and responsibilities in family law
- examination of recent legislative changes, including the provisions around theapplication of religious principles to private family agreements
- introduction to the literature on violence against women
- potential sources for legal assistance in family law and
- where to find information on family and other legal issues.
F7 Leadership Training for Young Immigrant Women
Through this workshop participants will learn about a Leadership Training Model, used successfully to train young Latin-American women as agents of change. The model can be adapted by diverse communities with different needs and characteristics. The session will be of interest to organizations serving or planning to work with young immigrant women.
The Leadership Training Model project promotes healthy and equal relations among youth and includes building skills and knowledge to assist young women in combating violence in their own lives and preventing violence against younger girls and women. The project includes support for trained participants to do presentations in schools and the community at large.
The presentation will include a description of the training model, the theoretical /social framework being used and the process for outreach, recruitment and selecting participants.
Using popular education methodology the workshops will involve participants in discussion and analysis of the framework, the training component, the community outreach process and the challenges in the project implementation.Participants will also learn successful strategies to engage their communities inhow to address, reduce and prevent violence in their lives and to assist young women to take leadership roles.
