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Running head: BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN SOCIAL SERVICES NORTH


Assignment #1

Kristy Jones, Karen Mason & Theresa Vinokuroff


University of Calgary

SOWK 697: Diversity, Oppression & Social Justice


Dr. Carol Ing

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

Building Cultural Competence in Social Services North


The history of child protection with Aboriginal peoples in Canada has been characterized
by power imbalances, dominance, and oppression. Child protection is intended to protect the
rights of children and ensure their safety, yet policies and practices have reflected prejudice and
institutional oppression. As Mullaly states subordinate groups are at greater risk of being
separated from their children than are members of the dominant group (2010, p. 55). In
Aboriginal populations, the residential school experience has left a social impact that leads to
the alarmingly high number of children in care. The system is responsible for creating
generations of people whose identity, culture and language were stolen from them (Aboriginal,
A.T.T.M., 2011, p. 4). As such, in child protection a historical and current divide between
Aboriginal peoples and child protection workers exists (Ontario Association of Childrens Aid
Societies, 2014, p.8). Therefore, it is essential that child protection agencies develop cultural
competency. Cultural competency is defined as the delivery of services that appropriately and
sufficiently take culture and cultural differences into account without compromising the
equitable provision of protection from harm to all children; it is cognisant of and equipped to
deal with cultural differences (Sawrikar & Katz, 2014, p. 397).
Social Services North
Social Services North (SSN) is located in a rural community of 2500 people with a
predominantly Aboriginal population and is responsible for providing child protection services.
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada (2014) produced a report that revealed a low
number of Aboriginal staff, over representation of Aboriginal children in care, and overall poorer
outcomes for Aboriginal children and families. It is essential that cultural competency be

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

assessed as the audit revealed there are significant concerns. To assess the levels of cultural
competency an assessment tool created by Ngo (2008) was utilized.
Self-Assessment
Efforts have been made to ensure the board reflects the diversity found in the community.
Community groups recommend representatives to the board of directors and through their role,
consultations with community members are occurring. However, there is no screening criteria or
assessment of skills specific to cultural competence for the board. There are no evaluation
practices or accountability for achieving cultural competence across the organization, nor is there
anything specific to it that can be found in strategic planning documents.
The CEO is required to have knowledge of the community and cultures found within it.
There is also an affirmative action hiring policy in place that seeks to increase representation of
Aboriginal people in the work force and interview questions seek to assess knowledge of local
culture. Despite these efforts, the workforce is not representative of local diversity. Moreover,
ethnocentric human resource practices exist. For example the policy for leave to attend a funeral
is that the individual must be a blood family member, which is reflective of a westernized ideal
of the nuclear family.
At a policy level, there is evidence of efforts being made to address cultural competence,
but they are not a part of day-to-day practice. The SSN vision is to: Empower People To Live
Healthy, Productive Lives however, there is nothing specific to cultural competence (Fort Smith
Health & Social Services Authority, 2011). The terms culture and tradition are listed as a guiding
principle, but are not further defined and are not mentioned in strategic planning documents. As
a Territorial organization SSN follows the Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy,
but this policy is not provided to staff during orientation. This lack of implementation of cultural

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

competency is also evident as there are no training efforts aimed at building cultural competence
in the organization.
A lack of valuing of diversity is evident in the physical environment of the organization.
Firstly, the organization is housed in a newly built facility, but the local culture and needs of the
community were not implemented. The community perceives the building as institutional and
sterile. There are no representations of Aboriginal art, or space for traditional activities such as
smudging and few pictures of Aboriginal people or families. Families who visit the center are
interviewed in office spaces that have large red buttons to push for help. The environment
overall is unwelcoming, intimidating and isolating.
Key Findings
A disconnect exists between the apparent desire of the organization to be culturally
competent and the structures that exist to ensure implementation of cultural competent practices.
This disconnect is evident in a lack of strategic planning to ensure cultural competency. At a
leadership level there is no overt commitment to cultural competency and policies are not in
place to support it. The only exception is the affirmative action hiring policies, which cannot, in
isolation, create competence.
There was no evidence of education or training for employees at any level of the
organization. There are no current efforts to educate staff about the value of diversity, increase
workers self-awareness, or create comfort with the differences inherent between different
cultural groups. Workers are not encouraged to become aware of how their culture has shaped
their worldview, and there are no efforts to teach staff about the worldviews of other cultures. As
Ing and Gabor indicate when organizations employ workers from different cultural
backgrounds, it is not enough to simply bring them together and hope for the best. Casual contact

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

among different cultural groups may actually reinforce stereotypes or create new ones (1999, p.
187). Employees are in authority positions, with the power to remove children, communitys
most precious resource, without knowledge of cultural standards, practices, or differences. This
lack of knowledge, it could be argued contributes to the higher rates of Aboriginal children being
taken into care.
Recommendations
1. Cultural Competence must be overtly expressed as a priority for the organization. Given the
complex nature of the relationship between the community, the board of directors, senior
management, and the Territorial Government it is recommended that a strategic planning
event occur. It will be essential to have community consultation as part of the process. As
this will be complex, it is recommended that this be led by someone with specialized skill,
knowledge and experience in creating cultural competency, strategic planning, and change
management.
2. It is essential that training in cultural competence be provided to all levels of employees in
the organization. It is of vital importance that frontline workers that interact with families
become more knowledgeable about the role culture plays in interpersonal communication
and the influence of their worldviews when assessing families from other cultures.
3. It is essential to have the families feel welcome and valued at SSN. It is recommended that
community groups be invited into a consultation to discuss and change the physical
environment. Recommendations from the group will be necessary to ensure any changes that
are made truly reflect the multiple Aboriginal groups in the community we serve.

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

It is imperative that these recommendations be implemented. Without a culturally competent


service delivery it is likely that children from Aboriginal families will continue to be
overrepresented and not well served in this child protection agency.

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

References
Aboriginal, A. T. T. M. (2011). Children First: The Aboriginal Advisor's Report on the Status of
Aboriginal Child Welfare in Ontario. Toronto, ON, CAN: Ontario Ministry of Children
and Youth Services. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Fort Smith Health & Social Services Authority (2011). Strategic Plan 2011-2014. Retrieved
from http://www.fortsmith.ca/cms/sites/default/files/fshssa_strategic_plan_2011-2014
Ing, C & Gabor. P. (1999). Cross-cultural supervision: From differences that divide to strength
in diversity. In G. Young-Lie and D. Este (eds.). Professional social service delivery in a
multicultural world. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 171 191
Mullaly, B. (2010). Challenging oppression and confronting privilege (2nd ed.). New York:
NY: Oxford.
Ngo, H. V. (2008). Cultural competence: A guide to organizational change. Calgary, AB:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca/documents/pubsandresources/CulturalCompetency
Guide.pdf.
Office of the Auditor General of Canada. (2014). Report of the Auditor General of Canada to
the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. Ottawa, ON. Retrieved from
http://www.oag-vg.gc.ca/internet/docs/nwt_201403_e_39100.pdf
Ontario Association of Childrens Aid Societies. (2014). The Other Side of the Door: A practice
guide for child welfare professionals working with First Nations, Inuit and Metis
Peoples. Toronto, On: OACAS.

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

Sawrikar, P. and Katz, I. B. (2014). Recommendations for improving cultural competency when
working with ethnic minority families in child protection systems in Australia. Child and
Adolescent Social Work Journal, (31), 393 417.

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