Child Protection Services Archives - Page 2 of 2

Media release: Concerned social workers campaign to see change to NS Department of Community Services

January 23, 2018

News release: Concerned social workers in Nova Scotia have launched a social media campaign to engage Nova Scotians and bring awareness to the significant stressors that the province’s child protective system is facing. “The current system is being stretched so thin and children are falling through the cracks. Child protection social workers continue to see high caseloads that are increasingly complex. This challenges the quality of case management and increases the risk to vulnerable children and families.”

Social worker burnout: I have kept quiet long enough

January 15, 2018 15 Comments

Former child protection social worker Trish McCourt about high caseloads, lack of training in what can be a dangerous job, burnout, stress and other perils of the job. “Yes, child protection is challenging work. Yes, it can be dangerous, and yes, it often feels thankless. But the real hardships come from the lack of empathy, support and value that is communicated by the employer – the department of Community Services, province of Nova Scotia.”

Op-ed: Child poverty is felt in our province and it’s time for change

November 24, 2017

Recent changes to the Child and Family Service Act have made the fight against child poverty even more difficult, writes Alec Stratford, executive director of the NS College of Social Workers. Shortened judicial timelines, the expansion of the definition of neglect and the overall lack of resources have amounted to greater penalization of families struggling to afford the cost of housing, food, childcare, clothing and transportation.

There is always someone crying. Former child welfare worker charges caseload too high

March 15, 2017 3 Comments

A former Community Services employee charges that high caseloads are negatively affecting both service to clients and staff morale. The employee worked in the child welfare division as a caseworker and later as a frontline supervisor. She left her job in frustration after well over a decade with the department.

Weekend video. Four feet up

September 10, 2016 3 Comments

Watch this wonderful documentary by Nova Scotia’s Nance Ackerman, about the exceptional eight-year old Isaiah and his equally remarkable family as they live in poverty in the Annapolis Valley.