Changing the Ontario Child Welfare System to Better Serve African Canadians

One Vision One Voice is a program led by the African Canadian community. It is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services through the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies and addresses the overrepresentation and experiences of disparities faced by African Canadians after coming into contact with the child welfare system.

Latest News

Our Resources

Video Highlights

Play Video
Play Video
Play Video
Play Video
Play Video

What are the Race Equity Practices?

Click on a Practice to read its description.

Commit to courageous leadership.

It is the responsibility of the organization’s Board, Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer and senior management team to set the direction, specify organizational expectations, and allocate resources, lead conversations on anti-Black racism, spearhead anti-racism organizational change efforts, and engage the organization in courageous conversations if racial disproportionality and disparities are to be identified and addressed.

Collect and analyze data to measure racial disproportionality and disparities

Through the use of data, child welfare agencies are able to assess the extent of racial disproportionality and disparities, identify the underlying causes, as well as measure progress toward improving service outcomes.

Evaluate programs and monitor performance.

Ongoing program evaluation and performance monitoring allows organizations to understand which programs, services, and practices are working, the impact they have on African Canadian children, youth and families, and where changes are needed to achieve desired outcomes.

Allocate appropriate and dedicated resources.

When procuring services (e.g., group homes, outside paid resources, and mental health beds), each agency should include an assessment of the service provider’s ability to reflect and appropriately serve African Canadian children and youth in care and their complex needs.

Engage African Canadian parents and communities.

Child welfare agencies must develop ways of engaging parents and community members not only in the short term, but also with the goal of developing and maintaining relationships over the long term.

Engage and educate mandated referrers.

As the first stage in the child welfare continuum, mandated referrers can contribute to the overrepresentation of African Canadians in the child welfare system. As such, it is important that child welfare agencies analyze referral data and provide critical feedback and additional training to referral organizations and professionals as needed.

Establish effective internal complaint mechanisms.

African Canadian families involved with the child welfare system need to be informed of the complaints mechanisms available to them. Further, these mechanisms should be assessed to determine how well they serve the needs of and address the issues raised.

Enhance human resource management.

Within child welfare agencies, there is a need to ensure that African Canadian staff, and indeed all staff, are able to raise concerns as needed and advocate for changes to better serve African Canadians without fear of reprisal.

Provide daily supervision, ongoing training, and supports for staff, volunteers and caregivers.

Ensure agency staff, volunteers, and caregivers are well-trained in anti-racism, with a focus on anti-Black racism, and that they receive daily supervision that supports the application of this knowledge to support better outcomes for African Canadian children, youth and families.

Establish collaborations and partnerships.

Ensure ongoing engagement of African Canadian parents and the local African Canadian community to support the work of the child welfare agency and the success of African Canadian children, youth and families.

Strengthen the ability of caregivers to support African Canadian children and youth.

Child welfare agencies can support positive outcomes for African Canadian children and youth in care by placing them with kin as the first option and African Canadian families as the second option, as well as by ensuring caregivers are well trained, supported, and able to support the development of a strong and positive racial identity and the maintenance of cultural connections.

Connect with us
Locate a Children's Aid Society