2/16/16 1 Report Card on Women and Girls May Report Card Racialised Minority and First Nations Girls and Young Women in Victoria, BC Are They Being Served? A Survey of Youth and Family Service Executive Directors Jo-Anne Lee Assisted by Eugenie Lam 1. Background In February 2001, our Victoria based research team began meeting with over 70 girls and young women (ages 13 years to mid-20’s) from diverse ethnic, religious, class, sexual orientation and racial backgrounds. Over a period of 18 months, we asked racialized minority girls and young women, Canadian-born and immigrant, what it was like to grow up in Victoria, B.C.1 and how they saw themselves within their families, schools and the greater community. This research found that many racialised minority young women, Canadian and foreign born, lived complex lives. Though many were well integrated and flourishing, there was a strong expression of isolation from others like themselves, marginalization from their “white” classmates, and, for immigrant and refugee teens, few resources to support them in their adjustment. In the course of our research, several participants disclosed troubling physical, emotional and mental health issues and reported that they had not sought help for their problems. Many participants reported that while school counselors, teachers, community workers and other adults, including parents, were caring, supportive and understanding, very few fully grasped the complexities of their lives.2 Unlike major metropolitan centers like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, Victoria’s “visible minority” population constitutes a fraction of the population. Census figures from 1996 show that the city’s population consists of 15% immigrants and 8% visible minorities, both of which are lower than the provincial average of 24% and 17% respectively and substantially lower than Vancouver’s rates of 42% for foreign born and 43% for visible minorities. 2 See www.anti-dote.org 1 2/16/16 2 The following year, the research team met with front-line immigrant settlement counselors and community workers who further underscored the need to investigate the services and referral networks available to racialized girls, young women, and their families. 1. Two Surveys for Executive Directors and Direct Service Providers This report summarizes the methodology and selected findings from a survey of executive directors of organizations and agencies who provide services for young girls, women and families in Victoria. We conducted a second survey with direct service providers and we report the results from that survey separately. 1.1 Purpose Our main purpose for undertaking the surveys was to ascertain the present service delivery context for racialized girls and young women as one component in understanding how young racialised female teens grow up in Victoria, a mid-sized, predominantly white city. In the survey to executive directors, we investigated to what extent organizations who offer programs for youth and women are aware of racialized girls and women’s specific needs, to what extent these organizations demonstrate a capacity to serve this population, and/to what extent they have plans to begin offering programs and services. We also asked questions regarding service provisions for First Nations girls and young women. 1.2 On-line, Web-based Survey Using on-line, web-based surveys, <www.itsaboutus.com/survey/>, we documented: 1) Current services and resources available to racialized girls and young women in organizations whose main mandate is to serve youth and families; 2) The awareness of and commitment toward services for this population; and 3) Equity policies, programs, activities, staffing arrangements, practices, organizational mind-sets etc. within these agencies that potentially limit and impact on racialized girls and youth women. 1.3 Advisory Committees We consulted with front-line immigrant settlement workers, youth group volunteers, and an ad hoc committee that included the Executive Directors (ED’s) of the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA) and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria, and the then Chair of the Ministry for Children and Families Ethno Cultural Diversity Committee (2001-2003) to advise us on how best to approach and access their busy colleagues. 1.4 Establishing a Qualified Pool We then compiled a preliminary list of approximately 200 organizations and agencies in Greater Victoria. The main criterion for the initial selection was that an organization must serve youth and families in any capacity. We relied on three directories and 2/16/16 3 referrals from knowledgeable key informants to compile the list. The directories included: the Capital Regional District (CRD) Directory of Services, a list provided through the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, and a list of referral agencies posted on the web-site of The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria. Our list included the five major youth serving organizations in Victoria funded by the Ministry of Children and Families. The final sample consisted of the executive directors and/or managers of 100 organizations. 1.5 Sample characteristics and response rate We emailed these 100 government and non-governmental agencies representing diverse sectors such as health, immigrant settlement, recreation, disabilities, substance abuse, counseling, education and training, employment, justice, advocacy, mental health, child welfare, and family services. The overall response rate was 48% (n=48) after follow-up emails and phone calls over an eight-week period. The overall response rate included “returned and completed” (36% n=36) and “returned but not completed” (12% n=12) surveys. Nineteen (52.8%) respondents were Executive Directors of their organization, seven (19.4%) were in other senior management positions, and eight (22.2%) were the designated respondent for their organization. The majority of respondents (70%) were female and white (97%). The one self-identified, racialised respondent and the one selfidentified, First Nations respondent were employed in agencies that served a specialized population, immigrant and refugees in the first case and Native communities in the second. 1.6 Limitations Local school boards were not included in the sample. The omission of schools is one possible limitation of the sampling for the Executive Director’s Survey; however, our focus was on agencies that serve youth and families rather than the public and private school systems. We also did not include organizations or religious groups that serve a specific Ethno Cultural group or religious population. However, we included First Nations bands mainly because they had listed youth programs or services in the CRD Services Directory. One of the major youth serving agencies, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria, did not respond to our invitation to participate despite several attempts to contact them. The absence of such a major agency affects our study’s ability to generate a thorough picture of organizations and services that make up the youth and family “landscape” in Greater Victoria. While our sample of executive directors and managers who completed and returned the survey is limited to 36 organizations, the responses and data that we did collect point to emergent and critical trends with respect to community services for racialized girls and young women in Greater Victoria. Moreover, the results of this survey are consistent 2/16/16 4 with many of the observations, insights and experiences articulated in the meetings and focus groups with youth and family workers described in the introduction. 2. Findings of the Executive Directors Survey 2.1 Characteristics of Organizations by Size and Services In our sample, organizations ranged in size from 2 to 850 employees, including full-time (FTE’s) and part-time positions3. Five organizations (13.9%) accounted for the majority (296) of employees who work with youth, women and families. The remaining agencies reported on average, less than 80 employees with the majority reporting less than 16 employees. Small organizations, those with 1 to 16 staff, constituted almost 50% (n=18) of our sample size. According to our findings, small and medium sized organizations provide the majority of services for youth, women and families. Many organizations we contacted operated on a part-time basis, had an answering machine to take messages, or had a contact person with a different daytime or work phone number. As a result of the large variability in our sample, we grouped the 36 organizations according to “small”, “medium” and “large” categories based on their total staff size. To provide a more sensitive portrait of the variations in organizations, we report many of our findings by organization size. The staffing size of an organization is both a direct and indirect indicator of features such as budget size, the type and number of services and programs available, opportunities for new program planning, hiring and professional development, networking and outreach activities. 2.2 Governance The 36 responding organizations represent various human and social services sectors. Sixty-seven percent (n=24) of respondents described their organizations as “non-profit with volunteer elected board” and most of these organizations were small and mediumsized. Of the four large organizations, two provided mandated government services and two were non-profit organizations. 2.3 Services Respondents self-selected their main service areas from a range of services provided, and the two most frequently checked were “counseling” (n=6, 22%), “other services” (n=8, 24%) and parenting, family, youth, child abuse and neglect (n=6, 22%). “Other services” included “clinical and educational”, “mental health”, and “recreation.” We asked respondents to choose only one category, however, many respondents wrote that they were multi-service organizations and selecting only one category of service did not accurately represent their organization. 3 The largest organization with 850 staff included staff at all its four facilities. 2/16/16 5 2.4 Staffing On average, ED’s of small and medium sized agencies reported youth and family staff as a higher proportion of their total employees than their counterparts in larger organization. The average number of employees for large organizations (n=4) was 108 employees, for medium organizations (n=14), the average was 22 staff, and for small organizations, (n=17) the average was six staff. Among the four large organizations, the average number of youth and family workers accounted for an average rate of 36% of all staff, in the 14 medium organizations, the average rate was 63% of all staff, and in the 17 small agencies the average rate was 67% of all staff. 2.5 Diversity Among Youth and Family Staff Respondents indicate that there is good representation of women in their work force, but are less positive with respect to racialized minority staff. More than one female staff is available in 97% of reporting organizations, but racialised minority and First Nations employees are rare except in the larger agencies and in agencies serving a specialized population. Fifty-three percent (n=19) of 36 reporting organizations employed at least one racialized worker but only 28% (n=10) of the organizations employed at least one First Nations/Aboriginal youth and family staff. We did not collect data on how many youth and family staffs were both racialized and female workers, but our interviews indicated that there were very few, no more than a handful, and most of them worked in one or two specialized organizations. 2.6 Volunteers Working With Youth and Families Large organizations tend not to use volunteers to work with youth and families, but the opposite is true for medium and smaller organizations. Just over half of organizations reported using volunteers, only four (15%) of all responding agencies reported more than 100 volunteers, and most reported a volunteer corps of less than 20 individuals. Only one of the five large agencies reported using volunteers. However, of the 14 medium organizations, nine medium organizations reported using volunteers. In the 10 small organizations, the range of youth/family volunteers was between 2 to 175. 2.7 Diversity Among Youth and Family Volunteers In our sample, almost 56% of organizations (n=20) enlisted female volunteers to assist with youth and families. Medium and small organizations accounted for the largest proportion of organizations with female youth and family volunteers. Compared to paid staff, diversity was generally much lower among youth and family volunteers with few respondents reporting that they drew on racialized minority and First Nations/Aboriginal volunteers of either gender. Thirty-seven percent of responding organizations (n=13) had volunteers from racialized backgrounds. The number of racialized volunteers ranged from 1 to 18, but these were found only between medium and small organizations. That is, the five biggest agencies did not report having any racialised minority or First Nations volunteers. Less than one quarter (22%) of organizations (n=8) enlisted First Nations/Aboriginal volunteers to work with youth and families. 2/16/16 6 3. Equity Activities 3.1 Staff Training in Gender-sensitivity and Anti-racism We asked respondents to report on any equity activities undertaken by their organization in the past 24 months. Less than half of the executive directors and managers reported that their organization had offered gender sensitivity or anti-racism training in the last 24 months. Only eight (22%) respondents reported staff training in gender issues, while a slightly higher proportion, 13 (36%) had conducted anti-racism training in the past 24 months. The highest rate of anti-racism training occurred in medium sized organizations (50% n=7) compared with (20% n=1) of large and (29% n=5) of small organizations. 3.2 Gender-sensitivity Training and Anti-racism Training by Position Of those reporting gender or anti-racism staff training in the last 24 months, more fulltime staff working in direct service positions undertook or were offered these opportunities than part-time, direct service, or full-time or part-time, management, administrative or clerical staff. 3.3 Equity Activities Most frequently reported equity activities for just over half (55.6%, n=20)) of respondents was hiring diverse staff, followed by making referrals and liaising with immigrant serving and ethno-cultural organizations (50%, n=18). The next frequently reported equity activities were offering anti-racism training (27.8%, n=10) and drafting anti-racism policies (25%, n= 9). See Table 1. Table 1 Equity Activities Undertaken in Last 24 Months Activity Hired diverse staff Liaised with immigrant serving organizations, ethno cultural groups. Anti-racism training Hired linguistically diverse staff Drafted anti-racism policies Addressed anti-racism within agency Gender-sensitivity training Recruited racialized board member(s) Sought funding for racialized youth Addressed gender-equity within agency Sought funding for racialized girls/young women Drafted gender-equity policies Percent of Organizations % N 55.6 20 50.0 18 27.8 25.0 25.0 22.2 19.4 19.4 19.4 19.4 11.1 10 9 9 8 7 7 7 7 4 11.1 4 2/16/16 7 4. Current and Future Commitment to Racialized and First Nations girls/young women 4.1 Acknowledgment of Service Needs for Both Populations We posed separate questions of the perception of service needs for racialised minority and First Nations/Aboriginal and Métis girls and young women. Of the 28 respondents who answered both questions about service needs for racialized and First Nations/Aboriginal girls and youth women, 64.9% (n=25) of these respondents answered that both racialized and First Nations/Aboriginal girls/young women needed services from their agency. See Table 2. Table 2. “Racialized and First Nations Girls/Young Women Need Services From My Organization or Other Organizations” Racialized girls/young women need services No Yes First Nations girls/young women need services No Yes % 8.3% 2.8% N 3 1 % 0% 69.4% N 0 5 The above figures show that all respondents who perceived needs for this population equally acknowledged that both groups need their services or those from other agencies; however, respondents did not comment whether or not they were answering in terms of just their own agency or for all service agencies in general. 4.2 Equity Activities and Endorsement of Service Needs We then tried to ascertain the relationship between ED’s support and awareness of the need for services to racialized and First Nations girls and young women and to equity activities, particularly the willingness to recruit more diverse staff. The results seemed contradictory. Although 81% (n=29) of respondents agreed to the statement that “racialized girls and young women need services from [my] organization or another organization” AND 72% (n=26) of respondents agreed that First Nations/Aboriginal girls/young women need services, this awareness did not necessarily translate into hiring diverse staff. Very few organizations who recognized that racialised girls and women needed more services had actually hired more diverse staff or had liaised with ethno-cultural or immigrant serving agencies in the past 24 months. Thus organizations who endorsed services for these groups were not more likely to engage in equity activities than 2/16/16 8 organizations that did not endorse services for racialized and First Nations girls/young women. Organizations that reported hiring diverse staff (52.8%) were twice as likely to concur that racialised and First Nations girls/women need services than those organizations that did not (27.8%). This finding suggests that hiring more diverse staff is more likely to result in change in service provision than any other equity activity. 5. Funding Services for Racialized and First Nations/Aboriginal Girls and Young Women 5.1 Current Level of Funding Less than 25% of executive director/managers identified that any portion of their agency’s annual budget was presently allocated for specific services to racialized minority or First Nations girls and young women. In other words, 75% of the responding agencies did not allocate funding for the service needs of racialised girls and young women or First Nations/Aboriginal girls and young women. When asked what percentage of the annual operating budget this commitment represented, we received responses that ranged from a low of 1% to a high of 20%. 5.2 Likelihood for Increased Funding Respondents were very pessimistic about the likelihood of increased funding for programs. Only 5.6% (n=2) of respondents stated that an increase in funding allocation to racialized girls was “very likely” and an even lower number, 2.8% (n=1) was reported for First Nations/Aboriginal girls and young women. Most in the sample (25%, n=9) reported that they were “uncertain,” and one-third of respondents reported that increased funding was “unlikely or very unlikely.” 5.3 Lack of Funding At the time of this research, there were only two programs in Victoria for racialised immigrant youth and no services specifically targeted to racialized minority women or girls. Furthermore, with budget cuts to existing services, it is unlikely that governments would fund new service needs. Small and medium organizations that were offering services for minority girls and women were doing it informally off the corners of their desks. There were several factors mitigating the degree of commitment to services for racialized girls/young women and First Nations girls/young women in organizations. We asked respondents to rank a list of factors that could potentially increase their commitment to services; respondents reported the highest ranked factor was “more funding”. This factor received 44% of first and second place votes when answered for racialized girls/young women. Similarly, “more funding” received 40% of first and second place votes combined when answered for First Nations girls/young women. Lack of funding was the most frequently reported reason for lack of programs and services to racialized and Aboriginal girls and young women. 2/16/16 9 When asked to rank a list of factors that would have to change for their commitment to increase, the top two responses were “more funding” and “if more girls/young women sought services with us.” Without making changes to staffing through hiring and putting diversity or anti-racism as a priority, the likelihood of drawing more clients would seem very small. For those organizations in the health, recreation, and specialized services sectors serving girls, women, youth and families, who were part of an accreditation process, meeting requirements for accreditation was ranked very highly as a motivating factor for change. 5.4 Lack of In-service Training and Outreach In general, we found that most executive directors/managers who had an awareness of racialized girls and young women’s service needs relied on other agencies for support particularly, immigrant settlement and First Nations agencies and organizations. Most organizations preferred referral to other agencies rather than building “in house” expertise within their own ranks. Most often, they made referrals to already overburdened and under funded immigrant serving or First Nations services. ED’s of immigrant and refugee settlement agencies further elaborate: “The main reason the services [for youth] are not further developed is lack of financial support. *** We developed programming for immigrant youth over ten years ago. We have fought tooth and nail for every scrap of funding that has gone to these programs – the amounts have been inadequate to develop the programs as much as we would like. This year the province terminated funding for peer support programs like the one they funded here. This led to instability in the program and we have been working to regain that stability since then. We are just now beginning to see support from other sources. In Victoria, funders seem to assume the school is doing all that is necessary, which it is not, and therefore don’t want to put resources here.” Most organizations had engaged in very few equity-related activities to ensure that their staff had the necessary knowledge to meet the specific needs of this population. Several respondents felt that their predominantly majority background staff, as professionals, are able to respond to any individual who approach them looking for assistance. One ED of a Ministry mandated child protection service wrote, “Our counselors are extremely sensitive to all kinds of bias facing our clients. There are no boundaries on our ability to respond.” 2/16/16 10 Most organizations reported that community development and outreach activities to ethno-cultural community groups were non-existent in the past 24 months. 6. Funding Context and Commitment to Services From reading respondents’ written comments, it was clear that organizations and their executive directors have an unwavering commitment to the people they serve and this means trying to keep programs running and doors open in the midst of massive provincial government cut-backs to services for children and families. That said, some individuals’ written comments provide additional insights into senior management’s thinking regarding the needs of racialised minority and First Nations girls and young women in Victoria. Although there is awareness that racial minority girls and young women may have service needs, most executive directors and managers responding to the survey did not feel that their needs are distinct, or a high priority. There is a perception that existing programs and services are universal, open to all, and that designating services or programs based on particular identifications such as race, gender, ethnicity, language or class was discriminatory, exclusionary and morally incorrect. In other words, race, class and gender are perceived as irrelevant given the universality of needs and services and the greater generalizability offered through gender and race blindness or neutrality. Many of our clients, youth and families, are of ethnic origins, however we do not target them differently than others receiving the same support services. It is therefore impossible also to designate any amount of funding for a specific ethnic group—as the funding goes to services open to all, and wisely used by [clients] of ethnic background. Designate, Family Services Center Given our mandate, I had difficulty envisioning that we would provide services to specific ethnic groups, i.e., having admission criteria based on gender and race. We receive no federal or provincial money that targets a specific group. Our funding comes from the provincial Ministry of Health. Respondent, Regional Health Services Our services are targeted to a population of children and youth who are dealing with a severe behavioral, emotional or psychiatric disturbance. Our mandate is specific to this population. Inclusion/exclusion would not be predicated on race or gender . . . Gender and race would not be considered to exclude admission/registration in our Programs and Services. Manager, Child, Youth & Family Mental Health 2/16/16 11 In addition to resistance to the particular needs of specific populations and acknowledging possible differences in experiences and impacts, respondents also attributed the absence of specific programs and services to lack of demand by racialised and First Nations girls and young women. For some EDs who acknowledged the needs of First Nations girls and women, the main motivating factor for change seemed to be funding criteria that gave First Nations services funding priority. We respond to requests from the community and we have almost minimal requests for our programs from any ethnic community ED Respondent In this program, we work very hard at building a strong community feeling. Very few racialised young women have ever applied—it is probably not mainstream enough to appeal to them or their parents. Manager, Youth program We are stretched to manage existing services. We see some clients of racialised backgrounds, but it is not a top priority that has been identified by staff or clients Manager, Sexual health services 7. Conclusion and Comments Overall, we are mildly encouraged by our research findings on programs and services for minoritized and marginalized female youth. For the future, hope lies in a handful of organizations that are acting proactively to meet the needs of a changing, multicultural population. These organizations are mostly small and medium sized organizations that are struggling to cope with their present load, and mainly located in the health, leisure and recreation, and immigrant and First Nations serving sectors. They demonstrate a high level of awareness of the needs and issues of racialised and First Nations female youth, but they are atypical in this regard. In general, providers of services for youth, women and families in Victoria, BC, are not well prepared to serve an increasingly diverse urban population. Funding cuts and uncertainties exacerbate an already barren environment, and alongside other justifications and rationales have become an excuse for not acting more proactively to respond to the service needs of this population. The research provides unequivocal evidence to support racialised minority girls’ and young women’s testimonies that they have no one [meaning responsible adults] who really understand the complexity of their lives, and who are able to provide the support they need. They are not imagining or inventing their stories. 2/16/16 12 The study also confirmed the sparse service context in small and medium sized cities like Victoria for racialised and First Nations girls and women, and documented differences from the “thicker” service context in Canada’s major metropolitan centers. In addition, it uncovered hidden discourses of recalcitrance among service providers. In this regard, the study found several limitations and barriers to change. Beyond immediate funding issues and the threat of cutbacks, ideologically based perceptions about the non-majority female population, and pervasive assumptions about the morality of present approaches impede change. Most challenging and formidable are respondents’ secure confidence in existing gender and race neutral approaches to programs and services. These values and practices, designed for the needs of the dominant majority, are assumed, by extension, to be representative of others’ experiences. Certainly, there are many points of similarities, but points of differences have to be acknowledged. It will require considerable investments in resources, leadership and dialogue to dismantle these firmly held, but unstated, normative assumptions regarding “needs” and “demands” to extend present capacity beyond the status quo. To conclude, study findings suggest that several mutually reinforcing forces and discourses converge to hinder organizational change towards more diverse youth, gender, racial and culturally sensitive programs and services in Victoria. These include: Lack of funding. o Actual material effects of funding cuts and staff layoffs and limitations on expanding into new program and service areas; Deferral of change until some distant future based on; o Discourse of limited funding, o Discourse of when funding permits, o Discourse of the tyranny of numbers: if and when numbers warrant it, o Discourse of lack of demand; The moral correctness of gender and race neutral/blind approaches; o Moral discourse regarding gender and racial neutrality; race, gender and class are seen as identificatory criteria, and asking questions or designing programs for any population based on such criteria is seen as discriminatory and exclusionary, o Discourse that needs and services are universal, but gender, race and class are perceived as particularistic criteria that restrict or exclude access and are morally incorrect; Universality and professionalism; o Discourse of universalism and professionalism. Existing mainstream employees are professionals who possess skills that enable them to serve all clients equally because they are able to generalize from present training and experiences to all. Many ED’s do not see cultural knowledge and subjective experiences as job related skills; o 2/16/16 13 Reliance on Referrals to Agencies Serving Special Populations; o Reliance on others to provide particular services to specific populations, so that there is little need or desire for an organization to change to accommodate new needs and more diverse clients. The study demonstrates the need for greater self-reflection and awareness among Victoria’s family and youth serving agencies. Organizations must come to acknowledge the extent to which present policies and practices prevent a segment of the female youth population from accessing their rights and benefits as Canadian citizens, and their human rights as members of minority cultural groups, and as minority female children and youth. Contrary to the dominant perspective, a one size fits all approach that assumes that all share majority experiences, in fact, excludes many. We identified exemplary organizations that were more open and proactive to meeting the needs of a changing population. These tended to be located in three main sectors: health, leisure and recreation services, and organizations serving specific populations such as immigrants, refugees and First Nations communities. Positive and proactive measures undertaken by these organizations include: Hiring ethnically, racially and gender diverse staff and recruiting ethnically, racially and gender diverse volunteers; Recognizing cultural knowledge as a job related skill Being active in reaching out and building partnerships Providing in-service training to volunteers and staff Providing organizational leadership in governance and management The current situation for service provision in Victoria remains decidedly focused on the needs of the dominant majority. Change will not come about in the near future without interventions at the policy and governance levels. Interventions, of course, must be tailored to differing contexts and specific locales, something that seems obvious and not worth repeating. However, as demonstrated in this study, the service context that exists in larger, more diverse centers, and that tends to dictate policy and funding interventions, may not be effective in smaller, less diverse centers. Findings also remind policy makers not to fall prey to the faulty logic in the lack of numbers or demand discourse that would otherwise relentlessly impose limits on all decisions. From the perspective of racial minority and First Nations women and girls living in mid-sized cities like Victoria, more government funding will not in itself, make a difference in their lives. There must also be acknowledgement of pervasive attitudinal impediments to change and development of specific strategies to address these issues. For more information please contact Dr. Jo-Anne Lee, email: jalee@uvic.ca