Child Welfare Social Work
Curriculum guideline
Lecture: 4 hours/week
In this course, students engage in a variety of learning activities such as lecture, discussion, group work, case studies, and presentations.
• Historical, political, and ideological foundations of child welfare in Canada
• Colonization and the impacts of child welfare systems on Indigenous children, families, and communities
• Indigenous child welfare perspectives, legislation, and community-led approaches in British Columbia
• Anti-oppressive, decolonizing, anti-racist, feminist, and intersectional approaches to child welfare practice
• British Columbia child welfare legislation, policy, and service delivery systems
• Child abuse, neglect, trauma, and their impacts on children, youth, and families
• Strengths-based culturally grounded family-centred, and community-based practice approaches
• Assessment, decision-making, and service planning in child protection contexts
• Child welfare practice with diverse families, including Black, immigrant, and refugee communities
• Interdisciplinary collaboration, court processes, and future directions in child welfare practice
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Identify major historical, ideological, legal, and professional themes that inform child welfare policy and practice in Canada, including the disproportionate impact on Indigenous people;
- Critique child welfare systems using anti-oppressive, decolonizing, Indigenous, anti-racist, and feminist perspectives and concepts of class, disability, gender, and sexuality;
- Describe core elements of the current child welfare system in British Columbia, including legislation, policies, and practice approaches;
- Discuss community-led, federal, and provincial child welfare policies and systems relating to Indigenous people;
- Identify different forms of abuse, neglect, and trauma and their indicators and impacts;
- Describe ways to assess and support children, youth, and families, including strengths-based and culturally grounded approaches;
- Apply assessment and planning tools in a child welfare context;
- Analyze their personal values and beliefs in relation to child welfare work.
Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline. This is a letter-graded course.
Typical means of assessment include the following:
- Written papers
- Creative works
- Presentations
- Projects
- Exams
- Participation
- Attendance
Textbooks and materials are to be purchased by students. A list of required textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester.
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