UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK
Central and Northern Alberta Region
Edmonton
Winter 2014
www.ucalgary.ca/fswcentralandnorth
SOWK 551-S02
Child Welfare
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Classroom 1
Email: addion@ucalgary.ca
587-991-5238
rcbodor@ucalgary.ca
Office hours: by appointment
COURSE OUTLINE
Syllabus Statement
The child welfare course is designed to provide an overview of practice issues relevant to child welfare
social work practice, embedded in historical and contemporary and theoretical contexts.
Course Description
This course aims to provide students a basic foundation of knowledge related to policy and practice in
child welfare. The course will examine policy and practice development in Canada related to the
understanding and treatment of child maltreatment, reviewing specific types of intervention (including
foster care), as well as evaluating service and outcomes in of child welfare intervention – with a primary
focus on the involvement of Indigenous children, families and communities in child welfare. The primary
goal of the course will be to explore alternative models for Indigenous Child Welfare.
This course has no pre- or co-requisites.
Learning Objectives
1. Apply an ecological or multi-systems perspective in understanding the balance between child safety,
child wellbeing and the preservation of the family within child welfare practice.
2. Critically evaluate the major issues in child welfare services and their implications for effective
Indigenous family practice.
3. Critically appraise existing child welfare policy, practice and research.
4. Examine and analyze services to diverse and special child and family populations with respect to
knowledge of developmental needs, and sensitivity in work with people from Indigenous populations.
5. Consider the importance of the values and structural tensions of child welfare services as a major
determinant of child welfare practice in relation to Indigenous families.
6. Evaluate principal client systems around which programs and services are designed.
7. Participate in creating a model of services to Indigenous families and children that is culturally and
ceremonially based and connected to Indigenous worldviews and values.
Course Text and Readings
Text:
Lonne, B., Parton, N., Thomson, J., and Harries, M. (2009). Reforming Child Protection. New
York.Routledge,
Readings:

Sinha, V., Kozlowski, A. (2013).The Structure of Aboriginal Child Welfare in Canada. The
International Indigenous Policy Journal, 4(2). Retrieved from: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/iipj/vol4/iss2/
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


Blackstock, C., Trocme, N. (2005). Community-based Child Welfare for Aboriginal Children:
Supporting Resilience through Structural Change. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, Issue
24. Retrieved from: http://www.mcgill.ca/files/crcf/2005-CommuniyBased_Welfare_Aboriginals.pdf
Sinha, V., Trocme, N., Fallon, B., MacLaurin, B., Fast, E., Prokop, S. (2011). kiskisik awasisak:
Remember the Children. Retrieved from: http://cwrp.ca/publications/2685
Makokis, L. Disordered Dependencies: The Impact of Language Loss and Residential Schooling
on Indigenous People. Retrieved from.:
http://media.wix.com/ugd/ff2744_320ebd101ee07fd6291b98c67241db0f.pdf
Class Schedule (Speakers to be confirmed, dates may change)
Date
Class 1 – January 13, 2014
Class 2 – January 20, 2014
Class 3 – January 27, 2014
Class 4 – February 3, 2014
Class 5 – February 10, 2014
Class 6 – February 17, 2014
Class 7 – February 24, 2014
(note time change)
Class 8 – March 3, 2014
Class 9 – March 10, 2014
Class 10 – March 17, 2014
Class 11 – March 24, 2014
Class 12 –March 31, 2014
Class 13 – April 7, 2014
Class 14 – April 14, 2014
Activity and Required Readings
Class Content: Introductions, Course Outline, Assignments, Readings
Class Content: Child Welfare
Required Readings:
The Structure of Aboriginal Child Welfare in Canada
Community-based Child Welfare for Aboriginal Children: Supporting
Resilience through Structural Change
kiskisik awasisak: Remember the Children
Class Content: Child Welfare
Required Readings: Lonne Chapter 6
Class Content: Indigenous Child Welfare – a place to start.
Guest Speaker – Dr. Leona Makokis
Required Readings: Disordered Dependencies
Class Content: Collaboration
Guest Speaker: Rhonda Barraclough
Required Readings: Lonne Chapter 8
Reading Week – No Class
Class Content: this class will be moved to 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Guest Speaker: Bob Lonne
Required Readings: To be handed out in class
Class Content: Diversity and Indigenous
Guest Speakers: Judy Shine/Wanda Whitford
Required Readings: Lonne Chapter 9
Class Content: Treatment vs Transformation, Addictions and Child
Welfare
Required Readings: To be handed out in class
Class Content: The government perspective
Guest Speaker: Maureen Konrad
Required Readings: Lonne Chapter 10
Class Content: Exploring Differences with Indigenous and NonIndigenous Child Welfare
Guest Speaker: Bruce McLaurin
Presentations
Presentations
Bringing it all together
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Assignments
Group Assignments: Students will be randomly assigned into groups that will generally reflect the stages
of the Child Welfare process (ie. screening, intake, assessment etc.) Each group will be responsible to
develop a process for that stage that reflects culturally appropriate standards, protocol and ceremony for
Indigenous families entering into the “system”. Each group will complete a written component and a
presentation component for their group’s assigned stage.
Mid-Term evaluation : 30 % (Due February 24th)
Written component: 30 % (Due March 31st)
Class Presentation component: 40% (Due March 31st and April 7th)
Details regarding the assignments, presentations, grading and cultural guidelines will be covered in
subsequent classes.
Other Readings:
Fuchs, D., McKay, S., Brown, I. (2012). Awakening the spirit: Moving forward in child welfare: voices
from the Prairies., Regina, Saskatchewan. Canadian Plains Research Centre
"If a student is interested in undertaking an assignment that will involve collecting information from
members of the public, he or she should speak with the course instructor and consult the CFREB ethics
website (http://www.ucalgary.ca/research/ethics/cfreb) before beginning the assignment."
WRITING EXPECTATIONS
It is expected that all work submitted in assignments should be the student’s own work, written expressly
by the student for this particular course. Students are referred to the section on plagiarism in the
University Calendar (www.ucalgary.ca/honesty/plagiarism) and are reminded that plagiarism is an
extremely serious academic offence.
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University of Calgary
MSW GRADING SYSTEM
U of C Calendar 2013-14
See www.grad.ucalgary.ca
Grade point value
Description
A+
A
4.0
AB+
B
B-
3.7
3.3
3.0
2.7
C+
2.3
Outstanding
Excellent: superior performance showing comprehensive
understanding of the subject
Very good performance
Good performance
Satisfactory performance.
Minimum pass for students in the Faculty of Graduate
Studies.
All grades below B- are indicative of failure at the
graduate level and cannot be counted towards Faculty of
Graduate Studies course requirements. Individual
programs may require a higher passing grade.
Faculty of Social
Work Percentage
95 - 100
90 - 94
85 - 89
80 - 84
75 - 79
70 - 74
U of C Calendar, 2013-14
The online Graduate Calendar is the official University Calendar. You can view the Graduate Calendar at
http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/grad/current/index.htm. The Faculty of Social Work uses the University of
Calgary grading system, as shown above. The official grading system must be used to report final grades to the
Registrar but need not be used for individual assignments, quizzes, etc. An instructor electing not to use the official
system for a particular component(s) of a course must provide the class, in the same format as was used for the
course outline, with an interpretation of the system being used. It is at the instructor's discretion to round off either
upward or downward to determine a final grade when the average of term work and final examinations is between
two letter grades. The University grading system can be viewed online.
Normally, a student who displays poor academic standing will be required to withdraw from the program unless the
program recommends otherwise, and said recommendation is approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Poor
academic standing is defined by any one, or combination, of the following; a student who receives a "C+" or lower
in any one course; thesis-based students in the Faculty of Graduate Studies, who do not maintain a GPA within the
last 12 months of at least 3.00 at the May reviewing period; and course-based students in the Faculty of Graduate
Studies who do not maintain an annual GPA of at least 3.00 (the GPA for course-based students will be calculated
each year at the time of their registration anniversary). When any instance of poor academic stand- ing arises, the
Program must submit a notice informing the Dean of Graduate Studies of its recommendation. If the program
permits the student to retake a failed course, the second grade will replace the initial grade in the calculation of the
GPA, and both grades will appear on the transcript. A student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 in order
to graduate.
Withdrawal
The last day to withdraw with permission from Winter session block courses is Tuesday, January 7, 2014. No refund
for withdrawal from Winter session half-courses after Friday, January 17, 2014. The last day to withdraw with
permission from Winter session half-courses is Monday, April 14, 2014. The Gradate Studies Academic Schedule
for 2013/2014 can be viewed at http://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/grad/current/academic-schedule.html.
Examinations
Exams are the property of the instructor and the University of Calgary and may not be reproduced in any fashion
without express written consent.
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Academic Accommodation
It is a student's responsibility to request academic accommodation. If you are a student with a disability who may
require academic accommodation and have not registered with the Disability Resource Centre, please contact their
office at 403-220-8237. If you are seeking academic accommodation, please notify your instructor no later than 14
days after the commencement of this course. See http://www.ucalgary.ca/drc/node/93
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