APPLYING A POLICE ENGAGEMENT MODEL TO CHILD PROTECTION SOCIAL
WORK – A VIABLE OPTION FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA?
by
Caleigh West
Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care
The University of Victoria
2013
MAJOR PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS (CRIMINAL JUSTICE)
In the
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
© Caleigh West
UNIVERSITY OF THE FRASER VALLEY
2019
All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy
or other means, without permission of the author.

Approval

Name: Caleigh West
Degree: Master of Arts (Criminal Justice)
Title: APPLYING A POLICE ENGAGEMENT MODEL TO CHILD PROTECTION
SOCIAL WORK – A VIABLE OPTION FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA?

Examining Committee
Irwin Cohen
Chair
Associate Professor, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
____________________________________________________________

Amanda McCormick, Ph.D.
Senior Supervisor
Director, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
____________________________________________________________

Alan Markwart
External Examiner
Acting Deputy Representative for Children and Youth

___________________________________________________________

Date Defended/Approved: April 23, 2019

ii

Abstract
Child welfare services seek to help children, youth, and families following an event of child
abuse or neglect, as well as attempt to prevent such events from occurring. However, the
research gathered in this study suggests that child welfare intervention is rarely perceived as
helpful by the general public. This perception has damaging impacts for the children, youth, and
families that the system aims to protect, as well as for the workers offering these services.
Another helping profession that has experienced comparable challenges is law enforcement. As
such, this major paper explores initiatives previously undertaken by police to help repair their
relationship with the community and reviews the outcomes that these efforts have generated. In
an effort to unveil pathways of reconciliation between child welfare services and the community,
interviews with professionals in the field were conducted to establish if the same initiatives used
by police services could be adopted by child welfare services. The results of this study suggest
that applying community policing and problem-oriented policing models to child protection
social work would be beneficial. Based on the findings of this study, this paper recommends that
applying community engagement strategies used by police agencies is a viable option for reform
to child welfare services in British Columbia. Furthermore, this paper seeks to contribute to the
growing field of research on bridging the gap between social work, law enforcement, and the
community.

iii

Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to thank those individuals who have provided
ongoing support and encouragement to me along the journey of completing this major paper.
First, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to complete this study under the
supervision of Dr. Amanda McCormick. Dr. McCormick endlessly shared her expertise with me,
and I have learned so much from her. Thank you for always believing in me Dr. McCormick and
pushing me out of my comfort zone, this project would not have been the same without you.
I am also very appreciative of the assistance I have received from the Ministry of
Children and Family Development. A special thank you to Tanis Wiersma, Diane Jakubowski,
and John Yakielashek who have gone out of their way to support me in pursuing my passions
and have been there to reassure me whenever that road got difficult.
Finally, a big thank you is further extended to my friends and family. Thank you to my
mom, Barb and dad, Fred for giving me my old room back whenever I was on the mainland for
school (and even packing my lunches!). To my Fiancé, Stephen, I am so grateful for your tireless
support and unconditional love throughout this journey. To my friends, including my classmates,
thank you for coming on this wild adventure with me and making it an enjoyable one.

iv

Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1
Child Protection Literature Review ............................................................................................ 6
Child Protection History ........................................................................................................................ 6
Child Protection Today .......................................................................................................................... 8

Community and Problem Oriented Policing Literature Review ............................................ 16
Community and Problem Oriented Policing Origins ........................................................................ 16
Effective Police Engagement Initiatives.............................................................................................. 22
Youth Engagement ............................................................................................................................. 22
Social Media....................................................................................................................................... 25
Culturally Sensitive Initiatives ........................................................................................................... 28
Multi-disciplinary teams .................................................................................................................... 29

Current Study.............................................................................................................................. 32
Methods ................................................................................................................................................. 32
Sample ................................................................................................................................................... 33

Results .......................................................................................................................................... 34
Current Perception of Child Protection Social Work ....................................................................... 34
Views of Community Engagement Initiatives .................................................................................... 35

Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 39
Limitations ............................................................................................................................................ 42

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 43
References .................................................................................................................................... 45
Appendix 1 – Information Sheet and Consent Form............................................................... 58
Appendix 2 – Interview Questions............................................................................................. 60
Appendix 3 – Ethics Approval ................................................................................................... 61

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Introduction
The well-known phrase, “it takes a village to raise a child” reveals that society
understands that families are a part of multiple systems and, moreover, that exposing a child to
healthy interactions with others in these systems is an important part of their development
(Kesselring, De Winter, Horjus, Van de Schoot, & Van Yperen, 2012). A systems approach to
child-raising also naturally builds in what is often much-needed relief for parents (Kesselring et
al., 2012). However, western cultural norms have traditionally placed the responsibility of
ensuring child safety and wellbeing solely on parents, and as such interpreting any intervention
in this area as negative and intrusive (Kesselring et al., 2012). This phenomenon becomes
especially concerning when a child has experienced or is at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect.
Afifi, MacMillan, Boyle, Taillieu, Cheung, and Sareen (2014) reviewed data from the 2012
Community Health Survey and concluded that approximately one third of Canadians (32.1%)
were victims of abuse and/or neglect as children. Statistics Canada reports a similar finding in
their review of the 2014 General Social Survey on Victimization, which found that 33% of
Canadians reported experiencing physical and/or sexual abuse in their childhood (Statistics
Canada, 2017). Therefore, rather than being an issue that impacts only a small proportion of the
population, child abuse and neglect are instead a prevalent concern that impacts not only those
directly involved in child protection responses but the community as a whole. It is inarguably a
tragedy when a child is exposed to abuse or neglect, unfortunately, such incidents can become
further traumatizing as for many children and families the child protection response to these
incidents is highly fear-inducing (Cameron, 2014).
Child protection services across North America are shadowed by a longstanding negative
reputation (McFadden, Mallett, & Leiter, 2018). In British Columbia, this undesirable reputation

1

is alive and well and the wounds from a history of child protection errors remain fresh. The
Representative of Children and Youth, a watchdog for child protection services in British
Columbia, has produced numerous publications highlighting areas of concern in the government
systems meant to safeguard children. One of British Columbia’s most tragic incidents, where a
child, his mother, and her parents were killed by the father in the family prior to taking his own
life highlighted a plethora of these concerns (Representative for Children and Youth, 2009). The
reports following this incident explained that the child welfare, criminal justice, health and,
family law systems needed to improve their communication and information sharing to better
assess and ensure safety (Representative for Children and Youth, 2009). Ten years later, the
Representative for Children and Youth and their fellow advocates continue to voice pleas for
improvement to the child welfare system. In March 2019, the Canadian Council for Child and
Youth Advocates released “A Statement on Children’s Rights in Canada”, which explained that
the government systems designed to protect children continue to fail in the upholding of
children’s rights by not providing channels for youth to advocate for their needs, not seeing the
children in their care as often as required, and facilitating damaging numbers of moves between
foster homes for children in care.
Should the province seek to improve this reputation and achieve a more effective child
protection response model using the recommendations of Hughes (2006), Gove (1995), and the
many reports by the Representative for Children and Youth, we must consider initiatives that
strive to repair the relationship between child protection services and the community
(Deukmedjian & Cradock, 2008). Researchers such as Fazzi (2019) suggest that the idea of
strengthening the relationship between the community and child protection has been gaining
more traction recently. Taking the time to repair this relationship would include a strategic effort

2

to reduce the trauma associated to child welfare involvement by hopefully reducing child
maltreatment through prevention efforts, but would also involve educating the community on
who child protection socials workers are and what their role is in hopes of changing the
longstanding perceptions and fears. Inflicting trauma is not the aim of child protection services
and is, in fact, counterproductive to achieving the goal of ensuring child safety and providing
family support (Gibson, 2015).
Improvements to the relationship between communities and child welfare agencies may
be especially beneficial for Indigenous families as child welfare services are historically related
to colonization in Canada (Pan et al., 2013). Colonizing child welfare practices date back to the
1870s when residential schools were first established in Canada (Blackstock, 2011). During the
timeframe where residential schools were active, there were at least 22 operating in British
Columbia (Knickerbocker, 2015). Residential schools were religious boarding school programs
that became mandatory for all Indigenous children to attend following an amendment made to
the Indian Act in 1920 by Duncan Campbell Scott (Knickerbocker, 2015). Duncan Campbell
Scott declared that the schools were necessary to “civilize” Indigenous people with the ultimate
goal of “killing the Indian in the child” (Knickerbocker, 2015). The killing did not end with
culture, however, as many young Indigenous people forced to attend residential schools died as
the result of high rates of disease, abuse, and neglect (Blackstock, 2011). Despite these horrific
outcomes, residential schools were also often used as placements when Indigenous children were
removed from their home by child welfare services. While these removals were conducted in
response to what were deemed child protection concerns at the time, they are now understood to
have often occurred as part of systematic oppression (Blackstock, 2011). A surge of this type of
removal and placement occurred in the 1960s following another amendment to the Indian Act

3

that authorized provincial child welfare services to operate on reserve, a period often referred to
as the “60s Scoop” (Royal Commission on Aboriginal People, 1996). In 2008, Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged that these acts were discriminatory and heinous in nature
and issued a corresponding formal apology (Harper, 2008). Since then, some efforts for
reconciliation have and are being made, although Indigenous children continue to represent a
disproportionate number of children in care and the service provided to these families continues
to be viewed as lacking in cultural sensitivity (Blackstock, 2011).
Lack of cultural sensitivity is a common critique of child welfare in the media (Zugazaga,
Surette, Mendez & Otto, 2006). While criticisms are at times warranted, Zugazaga et al. (2006)
suggest that the constant flow of one-sided media stories that only cast child welfare in a
negative light is a misrepresentation that can have damaging effects. A 2005 study found that
92% of the 3,000 social workers in the United Kingdom that were surveyed reported that
destructive media coverage had a negative impact on workplace morale (Community Care,
2005). The press has also been blamed for swaying public perception of social work towards fear
(Aldridge, 1990). Therefore, neglecting to repair the image of child protection services allows
the media to continue to place the blame for child abuse and neglect on the professional system
instead of unveiling a clearer picture of who is perpetrating child abuse and neglect and why
(McFadden et al., 2018).
Such challenges are not unlike problems faced by police that community policing
initiatives have sought to address (Deumedjiann & Cradock, 2008). Deukmedjian and Cradock
(2008) stated that community engagement initiatives had promised to rejuvenate both policing
and child protection; however, a review of available literature suggests that the concept has yet to
be adopted and tested specifically to child protection services. When considering that community

4

policing initiatives have been found to have at least some benefit on the public perception of
police, it would be negligent not to explore the possibility that similar strategies may improve
child protection services and consequently the safety and wellbeing of children and their
families. As a result, this major paper will seek to understand whether the application of
community policing and problem-oriented policing initiatives to child welfare services are a
viable option for British Columbians and what the strengths and challenges of such an adaptation
would be.
In order to conduct this analysis, it is important to understand that the negative light that
often shines on child protection does not appear at random, but rather has been cultivated over
history. Accordingly, it is important to understand the path that has led child welfare in British
Columbia to where it is today. As such, the first section of this paper provides a literature review
on child welfare both in its past and present state. Knowledge of this research allows us to move
forward in an evidence-based fashion that maximizes known strengths and attempts to avoid
previous mistakes. It is this reasoning that lends itself to the following literature review on
community policing, which starts with a history of policing that provides the foundation for the
models society has built upon until today. This history is followed by a deeper examination of
four types of police community engagement initiatives that may be applicable to the way the
child welfare profession could interact with the community in the future. As there is an absence
of research on the direct correlation between community engagement initiatives and child
welfare, the third section of this paper explains the methodology used in this study to gather
qualitative data to explore this potential connection. The subsequent section then elaborates on
the findings of this exercise and provides a discussion using these findings. The final section
reviews the implications of this study. This concluding section also makes recommendations on

5

the application of this research to practice and other areas of study that may assist in the ongoing
effort to improve child welfare practice.

Child Protection Literature Review
Child Protection History
Child protection social work emerged as an official profession in North America in 1875
(Hämäläinen, 2016; Myers, 2006). Prior to 1875, there were no formal means of child protection
services; however, friends, family, and church personnel would regularly intervene if a child was
found to be orphaned, poor, abused, or neglected (Myers, 2006). Should these supports not be
available or sufficient, then local officials would at times intervene under the principle of parens
patriae, which provides the state with the legal authority to take responsibility for individuals in
need of protection (McGillevray, 2011). As early as 1642, the state of Massachusetts enacted a
law that gave magistrates the legal authority to apprehend a child should their parent not “train
them up” adequately (Myers, 2006, pg. 12). Common responses to children found in need of
protection during these times were derived from the English Poor Law, including: outdoor relief,
apprenticeship, and indenture (Myers, 2006). Outdoor relief, a program that allowed children to
remain in the family home with financial assistance provided by the government, was primarily
used for families struggling with poverty (Myers, 2006). In circumstances when a child was
removed from the home on either a voluntary or involuntary basis, they were often placed with a
master under an apprenticeship program where they would learn and practice a trade (Myers,
2006; Schalk, Wallis, Crowston, & Lemercier, 2017). With some similarity, indentured slaves
were children that were placed out of the home and who, to earn their room and board, were
expected to complete working duties (Myers, 2006). The demand for child protection
intervention continued to increase and there were insufficient resources to respond; many of the
arrangements that were available enabled further abuse and neglect of the children accessing
6

their services (Myers, 2006). As a result, a more centralized service known as “almshouses” was
created and became common practice throughout the 1700s (Holt, 2016; Myers, 2006).
Almshouses were institutions intended for all those considered to be dependent, including
children, as well as those considered to be physically or mentally unwell (Holt, 2016; Myers,
2006). Over time this type of environment was scrutinized for not being in the best interests of
children, and consequently the 1800s saw the birth of orphanages as housing specifically for
children was prioritized (Myers, 2006). By the end of the 19th century, it was reported that the
United States had more than 100,000 children in the care of approximately 600 orphanages
across the nation (Myers, 2006).
With the number of children requiring support more visible than ever, it was requested
that Minister Charles Loring Brace direct his attention to assisting children in need in the state of
New York (Myers, 2006). This led to the development of the private charity known as the New
York Children’s Aid Society in 1853 (Children’s Aid Society, N.D.; Myers, 2006). This society
partnered the concept of orphanages with increased education in industrial schools and lodging
houses (Myers, 2006).
Although these programs were well-intentioned, they were primarily designed to assist
children of poverty as opposed to those who were victims of abuse. This became apparent in the
iconic case of Mary Ellen Wilson, a young girl who was indentured to a very abusive home
(Jalongo, 2006; Myers, 2006). A concerned citizen brought this to the attention of Missionary
Etta Wheeler, who refused to let the situation continue despite a lack of authority to intervene
(Jalongo, 2006; Myers, 2006). In desperation, Ms. Wheeler approached the American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and although Mary Ellen could not be protected under
animal protection laws, an alternate law was found and used to authorize the removal of Mary

7

Ellen from her home on April 9, 1874 (Myers, 2006). Those involved in the rescue of Mary Ellen
knew that she was not the only child in need of protection and subsequently founded the New
York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in December of 1874 (Myers, 2006; New
York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 2006). The society responded to reported
child protection concerns with a variety of interventions ranging from legal prosecution to
offering education and support (Myers, 2006; New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children, 2006). Myers (2006) explains that this response model quickly caught on across the
United States.
In 1891, the first Canadian Aid Society was opened in Toronto (Ontario Association of
Children’s Aid Society, N.D.). A legal mandate for child protection followed in 1893 when the
actions of founder John Joseph Kelso led to the legislation of the Child Protection Act (The
Child, Youth, and Family Policy Research Centre, 1991). Although these societies were a vast
improvement, there were still children falling through the cracks. Gaps in service increased
between the depression period of the 1930s through to the 1960s when times of war resulted in a
lack of resources (Myers, 2006). The non-profit model could no longer sustain itself, forcing
government agencies to step in and assume responsibility for the safety of children across North
America starting in 1965 (Myers, 2006).
Child Protection Today
Today, government employed child protection social workers continue to carry the
responsibility of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children across North America (Gibson,
2015). In Canada, child protection is the responsibility of the Provincial and Territorial
Governments (Canadian Association of Social Workers, 2018). This contributes to some
variation across legislation from province to province, including the age in which someone can
be considered a child at risk ranging between 16 and 19 years of age (Canadian Association of

8

Social Workers, 2018). However, much of the legislation parallels one another in that children
who are exposed to abuse and neglect have the right to be protected (Sinha, Ellenbogen, &
Trocmé, 2013). As such, there are laws in all areas of Canada that citizens have a duty to report
if a child is believed to have been the victim of abuse and/or neglect or is at risk of abuse and/or
neglect in the future. Social workers are employed to work around the clock, every day of the
year, at all Canadian child welfare agencies to respond to these reports (Canadian Association of
Social Workers, 2018). The reports are sadly ample, with the most recent data available
suggesting that British Columbia’s child welfare agency, the Ministry of Children and Family
Development, receives approximately 3,000 reports monthly (The Province of British Columbia,
2010).
In British Columbia, the legislation that mandates child welfare is the Child, Family and
Community Services Act, which delegates the Ministry of Children and Family Development
(“MCFD”) to ensure the safety and wellbeing of families who are identified as in need. There are
429 MCFD offices across the province. In addition to MCFD, there are also delegation
agreements with 24 Delegated Aboriginal Agencies (“DAAs”) with varying levels of authority
(Province of British Columbia, N.D.). DAAs are one the many efforts of the provincial
government to help address the disproportionate number of Indigenous children in care and to
restore the historic responsibility of child protection to Indigenous communities (Province of
British Columbia, N.D.).
Child Protection Agencies, including British Columbia’s MCFD, state that the intention
of the profession is to help children and families who are identified as needing support to reduce
the risk of abuse and neglect of children. Therefore, it is reasonable that Giwa (2018) states that
social work is a helping profession with empathy for families at its core. However, families often

9

require support during times of struggle and vulnerability, often creating a guarded environment
that is very sensitive, yet critical for a social worker to enter (Horwitz & Marshall, 2015;
Winefield & Barlow, 1995). Families may be defensive of their situation as they fear that
exposing their circumstances may result in judgement or even worse, the removal of their child
(Horwitz & Marshall, 2015). Acknowledging the reality of this fear is important, as although the
goal is to preserve the unity of families, the safety of children is paramount and ensuring safety
can require interventions that may be unpleasant for families, such as investigations, court
orders, and in severe cases, removal of the child(ren) (Lamothe et al., 2018). The MCFD states
that they are committed to using the least intrusive intervention available to mitigate risk
(Province of British Columbia, N.D.). As mentioned previously, this has not always been the
case for Indigenous families in British Columbia and during the 1960s many children were
apprehended without just cause and forced to attend residential schools (Pan et al., 2013).
Generations later, there remains a large part of society that has developed a lack of trust and an
overall distaste for child protection services based on the experiences of their ancestors and
ongoing injustices (Pan et al., 2013).
This distrust has likely been amplified by the negative outcomes experienced by many of
the children and youth who are removed and placed into the care of the government. Children in
care in British Columbia are four times less likely to graduate from high school, with a
completion rate of only 24.5% (The Representative for Children and Youth, 2007).
Unfortunately, children in care are more likely to be involved in the youth justice system for
criminal activity than they are to graduate high school (The Representative for Children and
Youth, 2009).

10

Furthermore, modern child protection social work has been criticized for being overly
focused on paperwork, limiting social workers’ abilities to tend to the actual needs of the
families on their caseload (Ferguson, 2014). Ferguson (2014) describes this phenomenon as
‘zombie social work’. Gibson (2017) explains that this demand for documentation has been
steadily increasing since the 1970s and has reached a level well beyond professional need. The
burden of paperwork has also been documented to have a negative impact on social worker job
satisfaction (Gibson, 2017). According to the Canadian Association of Social Workers (2018),
66% of the responding child welfare workers stated that increased administrative requirements
were a critical issue contributing to burnout. However, in British Columbia, the Representative
for Children and Youth released a report titled “More Than Just Paperwork” in 2013, which
criticized MCFD for not meeting documentation standards. The Representative for Children and
Youth feels that proper documentation is the crux of preparing for the future of children in care
as it helps hold the government accountable for proper planning that helps reduce the risk of
children slipping through the cracks of the system. As theorized by the Representative for
Children and Youth (2013) it is unlikely that social workers neglect paperwork with ill intent,
and it is more probable that the current environment makes it challenging to meet standards. In
fact, Gibson (2017) noted that unmanageable caseloads and the associated paperwork are some
of the primary reasons that social workers leave the profession. The Canadian Association of
Social Work (2018) surveyed 3,258 social workers across Canada and found that 75% of
respondents reported experiencing unmanageable workloads.
Turnover rates of social workers are a significant concern in child welfare practice
(Gibson, 2017). In British Columbia, the 2018 BCGEU staff survey of 880 MCFD employees
revealed that 85% of respondents reported that staff in their workplace had left over the past

11

year, resulting in 62.5% of respondents reporting that their workplace had unfilled vacancies.
Other reasons that contribute to premature departure from the profession include: bureaucracy,
unrealistic objectives, lack of autonomy, limited organization support, and low salaries
(Canadian Association of Social Work, 2018; Gibson, 2017). Zosky (2010) further explains that
social workers not only juggle these challenges but also the conflicts associated with role
ambiguity between being both an authority and a helper. This unrealistic expectation sets child
welfare social workers up to feel inadequate in their trade (Zosky, 2010). When social workers
attempt to lead change in an effort to minimize role ambiguity or to address other challenges in
the field of child protection they are often stonewalled by their organization, resulting in further
feelings of defeat, which again contributes to reduced job satisfaction and burnout (Gibson,
2017).
In addition, Lamothe et al. (2018) found that hostility and violence were other significant
causes for social worker burnout. This is especially concerning considering Brandon, Bailey,
Belderson, Gardner, Sidebotham, and Dodsworth (2009) stated that the findings of their study
suggested that approximately 75% of those needing to work with child protection services are
seen as uncooperative and hostile. The frequency and impact of these scenarios are further
exemplified by Cooper, Hunt, Goddard, Littlechild, and Wild’s (2016) study of 590 child welfare
workers in the United Kingdom, which found that 50% of survey respondents had been
threatened by those they worked with on a regular basis. For many workers, these threats were
actioned upon, resulting in 18% of respondents being physically assaulted and 10% being held
captive (Cooper et al., 2016). Based on the severity of these events it is perhaps not surprising
that 66% of survey respondents stated that the stress from these incidents had lasting impacts on

12

both their professional and personal lives (Cooper et al., 2016). The impact on mental health and
well-being that this stress can have is discussed below.
Although trauma exposure is often unavoidable when following required duties, there is a
lack of systems in place to both prepare and respond to those social workers who are impacted
(Salloum, Kondrat, Johnco & Olson, 2015). Cooper et al.’s (2016) previously mentioned study
found that only half of the individuals who felt impacted by trauma also felt that they received
adequate support from their organization. These numbers are shocking when we consider that
being impacted by trauma has a significant influence on the well-being of the individual, the
organization and the safety of the children that they serve to protect (Salloum et al., 2015).
An evidence-based trauma response model used commonly in other professions is
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) (Everly & Mitchell, 2011). CISM originated from a
program titled the Assaulted Staff Action Program that has been adapted over the last 50 years to
what it is today (Everly, Flannery & Eyler, 2002). CISM is described as “a comprehensive,
integrative, multicomponent crisis intervention system. CISM is considered comprehensive
because it consists of multiple crisis intervention components, which functionally span the entire
temporal spectrum of a crisis” (Everly and Mitchell, 2011, pg 1). Everly, Mitchell and Eyler
(2002) completed a meta-review of eight studies that measured the efficacy of CISM, all of
which concluded that CISM leads to statistically significant positive outcomes. Despite being
evidence-based, there is no evidence that CISM or related principles are being used in the field
of child welfare in British Columbia at this time. However, some social work agencies in
Australia are using CISM, and Pack (2013) reports that they have been found to be very
effective. British Columbia’s child welfare services were also not recognized in the provincial
Bill 9- 2018 Workers Compensation Amendment Act (“Bill 9”), which was passed on May 14,

13

2018. Bill 9 recognizes the following professions as being more likely to experience trauma in
the course of their work: correctional officers, police officers, sheriffs, firefighters, and
emergency medical assistants, more commonly known as paramedics. Bill 9 states that people
working in these fields who are presenting with a mental health condition related to trauma must
be presumed to have endured such trauma as part of their occupation, and consequently further
explanation as to the reason for additional assistance should not be required. Neglecting to
include child welfare workers in Bill 9 is another example of not recognizing or providing the
needed support for child welfare workers who experience the lasting adverse impacts that are
associated with critical incidents in a child protection workplace. The impacts of this stress may
be exasperated by a lack of sufficient follow up offered by the organizations.
A common negative outcome of unaddressed trauma exposure for workers is burnout
(Burbonnais, Jauvin, Dussault, & Vezina, 2007). Burnout manifests itself in many ways,
including physical symptoms, such as: headaches, gastrointestinal upset, muscle pain, sleep
disruption, fatigue, and increased susceptibility to flus and colds (Maslach & Leiter, 2008).
Burnout also has negative implications on the individual’s mental and emotional wellbeing; it is
common for workers experiencing burnout to have decreased work performance, higher rates of
tardiness and absenteeism, and an overall lack of professional commitment (Maslach & Leiter,
2008). Furthermore, when a social worker is experiencing burnout, they may present as lacking
empathy towards the families that they work with (Lamothe et al., 2018). Similar findings have
been identified for other public safety personnel, with 45% of 1,072 police officers stating that
feelings of burnout have led them to feel a lack of care towards the problems posed to them at
work and the impact that these problems have on the people that they serve (Gershon, Barocas,
Canton, Li, & Vlahov, 2009).

14

When symptoms of burnout persist following an acute traumatic event or repeated
exposure to trauma they can manifest into a mental health condition known as Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Jo et al., 2018). Additional symptoms
of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder include stimulus avoidance, thought intrusion and flashbacks,
perpetual feelings of aloneness, poor emotional regulation, and dissociation (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013). First responders are at a heightened risk of being diagnosed with
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with an estimated diagnostic rate of between 5% to 32%
compared to 4% of the mainstream population (Klimley, Van Hasselt, & Stripling, 2018). Social
workers are rarely included in the dialogue around heightened risk for Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, yet a recent study of child welfare workers across eight of the United States conducted
by the Quality Improvement Center for Workplace Development (2019) revealed that between
35% to 75% of child welfare social workers exhibited symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, depending on their agency and location.
The high rate of social worker burnout and turnover inevitably contributes to a variety of
systemic problems, such as an inordinate number of inexperienced staff, strained
communication, and limited supports offered to families (Cameron, 2014). These strains have
persisted despite many attempts at reform and they do not go unnoticed by the communities and
families that the social workers aim to serve (Cameron, 2014; McFadden, et al., 2018).
Despite the high levels of stress and burnout, practicing what many child protection
workers see to be “true” social work, such as building relationships and helping others evoke
change, results in reporting of increased job satisfaction (Canadian Association of Social Work,
2018). In fact, having the opportunity to participate in these types of work experiences was found
to counteract the negative impacts of ongoing trauma exposure. Therefore, increasing the

15

opportunity for this type of work through a more community-focused approach could be one
potential strategy to reduce burnout, while also improving the reputations of social workers
within the communities that they serve.

Community and Problem Oriented Policing Literature Review
Community and Problem Oriented Policing Origins
Social work is not the first public serving profession to cultivate the uncertainty of those
they seek to serve. In fact, many parallels can be found when comparing the challenges that have
been encountered by police agencies in Canada (Deukmedjian & Cradock, 2008).
Professional policing emerged in the 19th century following the establishment of the
Royal Irish Constabulary in 1814 by Sir Robert Peel (Chriss, 2011; McKenna, 2000). The model
of law enforcement during the era immediately following the introduction of this structured form
of policing is often referred to as political policing (Chriss, 2011; McKenna, 2000). This title is
granted based on the heavy influence that government had over policing at this time, which
resulted in politically motivated initiatives that often led to corrupt and unjust service (Chriss,
2011; McKenna, 2000). Furthermore, the role of the police could vary drastically from
community to community and with any change in leadership (Chriss, 2011; McKenna, 2000).
Unsurprisingly, the public took issue with this model of police practice and as such, reform
towards what is known as the professional policing era took place at the end of the 19th century
(Chriss, 2011; McKenna, 2000). The professional policing era attempted to recover the
reputation of the police by creating police academies that trained officers with common ethics
and practice guidelines (Chriss, 2011; McKenna, 2000). Establishing an ethical framework for
police fuelled initiatives that created an independence between the police and the government
(Chriss, 2011; McKenna, 2000). It is during this era that police began to leverage technology to
aid with their duties, and as a result police began to be able to distance themselves further from
16

the public. Chriss (2011) explains that this disbandment was likely done with the good intentions
of minimizing corruption, but it resulted in the loss of preventative policing and created a
primarily reactive law enforcement environment. As society entered the 20th century, this strictly
‘crime fighting’ model was no longer sustainable as crime rates continued to soar (Chriss, 2011).
In addition, as an awareness of civil rights was developing, the public began to question the
paramilitary methods of choice by police (Chriss, 2011). Police credibility was crippled in the
1960s following what the public saw as an unnecessarily harsh law enforcement response to the
Vietnam protests (Ratcliffe, 2016; Rosenbaum, 1998). It was also during the 1960s that the term
‘Terry Stop’ was coined (Torres, 2015). A Terry Stop is also known as a stop-and-frisk and
refers to a process where police may stop and search anyone that they believe to be suspicious
(Torres, 2015). This tactic almost immediately caused upset in the eyes of the public as it was
seen to be racially biased and a violation of human rights (Torres, 2015). Therefore, the public
did not only disagree with the methods being used for riot control and Terry Stops but also
questioned whether or not police were evolving with society. The divide between the people and
the police became more evident than ever, especially in pockets of communities with higher
populations of individuals who considered themselves to be marginalized (Ratcliffe, 2016). In
addition, the demand for police services began to escalate exponentially, and innovation was
necessary to keep pace with the growing needs of society (Anucha & Schwartz, 2014). Solution
seekers within policing began to understand that the state of society and crime are interlinked.
With this understanding, police began to remove the gap between the public and the
police. This led to The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society Report released in the United States
by President Johnson’s Crime Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of
Justice in July 1965, which some consider to be the first formal recommendation of community

17

engagement in policing (Ratcliffe, 2016). Unfortunately, in the decades to follow, the fear of
crime in North America was tangible and consequently, trust in the police continued to diminish
(Loader & Mulcahy, 2003). In attempts to regain a sense of legitimacy, community engagement
initiatives became common practice to help reduce this sense of unease. By the 1980s, police
departments across the United States had adopted the term “community policing” as part of their
business models (Giwa, James, Anucha & Schwartz, 2014). It is from this point forward that this
term became the defining name of the third and current era of policing. However, it was not until
the 1990s that community policing was instituted in Canada (Giwa et al., 2014). This is
evidenced by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) Commissioner Office Reports that
articulated a business model focused on enhancing community engagement to improve public
safety initiatives (Ratcliffe, 2016). Community policing continues to be mentioned in the
mandate of the RCMP, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police, the Quebec Sûreté, as well as
many, if not most, municipal police agencies (Forcese, 2002).
Community policing may have at first been an easy role to place officers that were not
wanted for or able to partake in regular policing duties, by providing them with the simple task
of cheerful conversation with shop owners; however, community policing has evolved
substantially since that time. Community policing is now a strategic multifaceted aspect of
policing that works with the public to identify, assess, and respond to the problems in the
communities they serve (Giwa, James, Anucha & Schwartz, 2014). As such, community policing
is now believed to be of value and is consequently a widely accepted practice both in Canada and
worldwide (Giwa et al., 2014). Despite the vast adoption of community policing there continues
to be a lack of an agreed upon definition of this term (Giwa et al., 2014). The lack of a
unanimous definition has corresponded with inconsistencies in properly implementing

18

community policing strategies (Giwa, 2018). However, Fleras and Elliott (2002), suggests that a
fairly agreeable definition of community policing is “a commitment by the police to prevent
crime by collaborating with an interested public” (p. 141). This paper has adopted this definition
when referring to community policing.
Despite the varying definitions of community policing, the principles of the model are
relatively consistent across communities. Community policing allows those in the community to
play a role in developing their agenda (Giwa, 2018). This collaboration on the direction of
policing allows for the agenda of the police to be more tailored to the needs of that specific
community at a particular time (Johnston, 2000). When these needs are being met, the
community correspondingly views the police as a more valid service, and furthermore, when this
sense of legitimacy increases people may be inclined to obey the law and assist in maintaining a
lawful society (Segrave & Ratcliffe, 2004). Therefore, community policing success cannot be
measured strictly in statistics of crime rates and response times as the primary value stems from
its ability to build effective working relationships between police and the public (Richard,
Williams & Thomas, 2005) and community policing may in fact increase crime rates as people
may be more willing to come forward to police with their concerns (Taylor & Charlton, 2005).
When this cycle of reporting crime and seeing police respond to these concerns occurs the
positive views of policing increases and fear of crime decreases (Taylor & Charlton, 2005).
Goldstein (1987) further states that this joint effort between community and law enforcement
increases transparency, which in turn increases police accountability.
As community policing stems from relationships, the successes have been found to be
transferable across many different community types. For example, many of the initial studies
were completed in large urban areas, such as Chicago and New York (Pate & Shtull, 1994;

19

Skogan, Hartnett, DuBois, Comey, Kaiser, & Loving, 1999), yet Adams, Rohe, and Arcury
(2005) found similar positive outcomes across small to midsize communities across North
Carolina in their 2005 study. Despite the contrasting locations for these studies, they all reached
similar conclusions that community policing correlates with increased feelings of ease and safety
for those in the community and increased participation in self-protection (Adams et al., 2005;
Pate & Shtull, 1994; Skogan et al., 1999). However, Rabot (2004) points out that community
policing initiatives must adapt from community to community and must not remain stagnant.
Outside of North America, Kumar (2012) found that a study on community policing
initiatives in Janamaitri, India also yielded positive results, such as: enhanced police
performance, more positive views of the police, and an improved sense of safety among citizens.
In Taiwan, similar results were found in Kuo and Shih’s 2018 evaluation of their community
policing program titled ‘Our Paichusuo’, which means “field station” in Mandarin. Of note, this
evaluation also found an additional positive outcome of enriched job satisfaction for police. The
improved contentment with work was attributed to the community policing program allowing
more flexibility, increased variety of work, and an added sense of meaning to the duties required
(Kuo & Shih, 2018). In some areas, such as the United Kingdom, community policing is at times
referred to as Neighborhood Policing (Tuffin, Morris, & Poole, 2006). Regardless of the
different name, the strategies and positive outcomes are similar.
Although there are many indications that community policing programs and initiatives
repeatedly produce beneficial outcomes, it would be naive to not consider common challenges,
as we cannot address these areas without first identifying them. First, communities are complex
ecosystems with diverse needs and consequently there will not always be consensus on what
requires police attention (Johnston, 2000). Solely engaging with those already inclined to be

20

talking to the police can result in a community where only the needs of this specific group are
being met, which is neglectful as those more willing to speak with the police are often those less
involved in the criminal justice system (Johnston, 2000). Therefore, police must engage with
subcultures within the community to ensure that both their approaches and their agendas reflect
diversity and cultural sensitivity (Giwa, 2018; Johnston, 2000). Depending on the group of
individuals and their history working with police, some subcultures will be more or less
comfortable with community policing initiatives, as for some the mere presence of police may be
perceived as a threat (Giwa, 2018). As a result, working effectively with communities requires
dedicated officers who are committed to the principles of community policing. Unfortunately,
the plethora of skills needed to work in collaboration with a community as a police officer are
not always recognized, which can result in the position not being valued and therefore not
receiving the most eligible candidates and a lack of support for those who do assume the role
(Goldstein, 1987). Furthermore, without a cultural shift of acceptance from within the police
agency there is likely to be further issue with achieving deliverables due to a lack of resources as
well as a lack of multi-unit problem solving. Therefore, community policing needs to be a
cultural shift for the police agencies and the communities as a whole in order to be truly
functioning at its full potential.
Community policing should also be used in tandem with other policing strategies to
achieve its full potential. For example, the core of community policing is primarily focused on
crime prevention, yet it is known that not all unlawful activity will cease and as a result, policing
agencies often also use problem-oriented policing, which recognizes that responses must be both
preventative and reactive (Goldstein, 1990; Ratcliffe, 2016). Problem-oriented policing is
comprehensive in that it analyzes problems from a victim, offender, and location perspective

21

(Rogers, 2010). Once the problem is understood, police using problem-oriented policing
frequently use the methodological tool SARA (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment)
(Ratcliffe, 2016). Problem-oriented policing recognizes that not all responses will be a traditional
police response, such as an arrest and instead, partnerships with other community stakeholders
are imperative to finding the most applicable and the most ethical reaction to a given issue
(Rogers, 2019). Police partnerships that stem from community and problem-oriented policing
also lend themselves to intelligence-led policing, as gathering valuable intelligence necessitates
an integrated approach (Deukmedjian & Cradock, 2008). Ensuring the safety of the community
can, and should be, achieved using a variety of methods, many of which could be transferable to
the social work profession. The following section of this paper will outline those methods within
policing that have been found most effective based on the research to date.
Effective Police Engagement Initiatives
Youth Engagement
The younger years of an individual’s life are believed to be the most formative and
impressionable time during the lifespan (Widom, 2017). In British Columbia, the legal definition
of a minor is an individual under the age of 19 years. However, the younger years can often be
further broken down into subsections. For the purpose of this study, those under 12 years of age
will referred to as children, those from 12 years of age to 17 years of age as youth, and those
from 18 years of age to 25 years of age as young adults.
There is significant research to suggest that those who have adverse childhood
experiences, such as abuse and neglect, are more likely to engage in violence and crime as they
develop into their youth and young adulthood (Felitti et al. (1998); Fox, Perez, Cass, Baglivio, &
Epps, 2015; Mumford, Taylor, Berg, Liu, & Miesfeld, 2019; Widom, 2017). This is consistent
with Hirschi and Gottfredson’s (1983) age-crime curve, which suggests that criminal activity

22

typically does not commence until the age of 12 years old, unlawful activity then rises abruptly
until the age of 19 years old when it begins to taper off. We see this curve in Canada, as youth
represent 7% of the population, but they are believed to commit 13% of crimes based on the
Statistics Canada Reported Crime Survey from 2014. While much of the youth crime is
committed by the larger group of adolescent-limited offenders, crime that is committed by adults
is often perpetrated by a relatively small group of chronic repeat offenders known as life-course
persistent offenders (Moffitt, 1993). There are many programs to help guide youth through this
often-challenging time while also aiming to reduce crime rates. In addition, youth are often
described as the generation of the future, and therefore youth engagement programs have a
unique opportunity to potentially influence society moving forward and decrease the number of
adult offenders. As such, police engaged in community and problem-oriented policing have
recognized youth as an important category for engagement and crime prevention work.
Youth engagement programs facilitated by police often include: school liaison officers,
youth mentorship partnerships, deterrence programs, and athletic initiatives (Leroux & McShane,
2017). The research on the outcome of these programs varies. However, of the studies reviewed,
the findings all indicated some positive correlation of youth engagement efforts by law
enforcement.
For example, one factor that may influence heightened youth crime rates is substance use.
Consequently, a very common youth deterrence program that is practiced in 53 countries,
including in North America, is the Drug Abuse Reduction Education (“D.A.R.E”) program
(Cohen, Plecas, & Watkinson, 2013). The D.A.R.E program was founded in 1983 by the Los
Angeles Police Department in collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District
(Montvilo, 2019). The program curriculum embodies First Lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No”

23

campaign, and as such strives to decrease the demand for alcohol and illicit drugs by informing
school-aged children and youth of the associated risks (Howell, 2003). This education is
provided in the classroom to students and their parents by specialized police officers (Montvilo,
2019). Cohen et al. (2013) completed a systematic review of the D.A.R.E program and found
that although evaluations differed in both their credibility and findings on whether the program is
achieving its desired outcomes, the vast majority of findings found that program participants
reported feeling better educated on drug resistance techniques and healthy stress management.
Of particular importance for this study, Donnermeyer and Phillips (2005) further found that
D.A.R.E participants had an improved perception of police.
Another similar youth deterrence program is the Gang Resistance Education and Training
(“G.R.E.A.T.”) program (Papachristos, 2013). G.R.E.A.T. followed in the footsteps of D.A.R.E.
in 1991 when launched by the Phoenix Police Department in conjunction with education and
state officials (G.R.E.A.T., N.D.). G.R.E.A.T prides itself on being evidence based and has
consequently had ongoing evaluations. The most recent evaluation found was completed by
Esbensen, Osgood, Peterson, Taylor, and Carson in 2013, which found that although G.R.E.A.T.
does not have a significant impact on the overall crime participation of its participants, the
program is achieving its primary goal of reducing gang involvement and again is reported to
improve the youth’s view of police.
It is therefore not surprising that Rabois and Haaga’s 2002 study, which reviewed a
police basketball program for at-risk youth, also found that although the program did not achieve
its overall goal of improving the youths’ perception of police as a whole, it did create a positive
connection between the youth and the specific officers in the program and had a more significant
positive impact on the officers’ perception of youth overall. When an officer has a more positive

24

view of the youth, they may be more compassionate should they encounter them breaking the
law. This is important as Fine, Cavanagh, Donley, Steinberg, Frick, and Cauffman (2016) state
that a way a youth is treated during their first arrest is fundamental in shaping their perception of
procedural justice, which is the degree to which one perceives that justice is being carried out
fairly. Overall, the studies reviewed on this subject (e.g. Cohen et al., 2013; Donnermeyer &
Phillips, 2005; Esbensen et al., 2013) share the overall theme that those youth who are exposed
to more positive contact with police are more likely to have a better view of police and work in
collaboration with them when necessary (Leroux & McShane, 2017). This is an important lesson
for the field of social work to attend to.
Social Media
A more recent strategy of community engagement by police is the use of social media
(Williams et al., 2018). The Federal Bureau of Investigation explained that the police need to be
where the people are, and the people are on social media (The Federal Bureau of Investigation,
2010). Perrin (2015) reports that 65% of adults across varying income levels are active on social
media, while Williams et al.’s (2018) study found that 95.4% of police departments used
Facebook and 66.4% used Twitter. According to Twitter, the RCMP “E” Division, which has
jurisdiction across British Columbia, launched their Twitter Account under the name ‘BCRCMP’
in 2009, and have subsequently made 22,300 posts to their 60,300 followers and the more
general public. Many of the municipal police forces in British Columbia are also on Social
Media. The Vancouver Police Department has social media accounts for their agency as a whole,
as well as for specific units and staff. To help manage all of these accounts Vancouver Police
Department employs social media officers who are specially trained on how to use the varying
platforms to their full potential (Vancouver Police Department, N.D.). The most common social

25

media platforms used by police are Twitter and Facebook (Williams et al., 2018), however, other
social media networks used by police include: YouTube, Flickr, Ning and Instagram
(Demircioglu & Chen, 2018).
Social media is a tool that assists with quick and broad information dissemination. As a
result, police have leveraged their social media accounts to assist with: public safety
announcements, community engagement, public relations, and notification of community event
occurrences (Williams et al., 2018). Williams et al. (2018) further found that these different types
of posts yield different responses; for example, posts familiarizing the community with police
staff were found to be the most ‘liked’. However, the reactions to all types of posts have been
found to be generally positive or neutral according to Hofmann et al. (2013). In fact, Porumbescu
(2016) and Grimmelikhuijsen and Meijer (2015) found that police social media use aided the
public perception of law enforcement agencies and consequently improved the legitimacy and
trust of the police. This may be because the public has long valued transparency (Demircioglu &
Chen, 2018). Social media allows for strategic transparency, as police and businesses alike can
use it to share the information that they wish, to help shape their image and improve their brand.
This can be especially helpful to get out in front of a negative media report or to clarify
inaccurate information provided by another source (Williams et al., 2018).
Those who see the police in a positive light are more likely to follow law enforcement
activity online (Williams et al., 2018), which has resulted in some research questioning how
effective social media is in actually changing the public’s opinion of police (Grimmelikhuijsen &
Meijer, 2015). However, even if not shifting public perceptions of the masses, social media is an
inexpensive tool for sharing information and building or further enhancing relationships with the
community (Meijer, 2014).

26

The effectiveness of the dissemination of information on social media has also assisted in
solving crime and locating individuals (Hertzberg & Steinberg, 2012). As the greater public
make use of social media, these platforms may also be a means of intelligence-gathering for law
enforcement. Furthermore, when an individual is missing or at large, police can upload their
photograph to motivate the public to help locate the individual. The RCMP provide a success
story of this strategy on their website where they explain that in 2014 they posted a photo of a
man by the name of William Holt who was wanted on numerous warrants, and upon seeing his
own photo all over Facebook, William chose to turn himself in (Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
2015).
Although not as thoroughly researched, social media use by police may be especially
helpful in rural areas, as the internet could help reach those individuals in areas that would be
geographically challenging for police to engage with. Another potential unintended positive
outcome of police social media use is a spark of healthy competition and camaraderie with
fellow police agencies. An example of this competitive camaraderie is explained by Dangerfield
and Bartko (2017); in the spring of 2017, Manitoba was struck with a late-season snowstorm.
Vancouver Police Department saw this as an opportunity to turn to Twitter with the following
message: “Dear Manitoba, we’re sorry to hear you’re still having snow. Sincerely,
Vancouver. P.S., did anyone mention we’re hiring?” and a variety of photos flaunting
police enjoying the sunny weather in British Columbia. Manitoba Police Department did
not skip a beat and quickly responded with a tweet stating: “Dear Vancouver Police
Department, it’s okay, the snow melts quickly off the lawns of our affordable houses.”.
This banter continued and pulled Edmonton Police Department into this entertaining

27

interprovincial communication across police forces that is often otherwise unseen by the
public but when they do so, it can make the police seem more approachable.
Culturally Sensitive Initiatives
Community policing recognizes that for policing to be effective they need to be seen as
part of the community (Giwa, 2018). Pan et al. (2013) state that police efficacy also hinges on
being viewed as unbiased and fair administrators of the law. Unfortunately, the bond between
police and the Indigenous communities of Canada was severed for many Indigenous peoples and
their families when police were used to enforce unjust policies stemming from the Indian Act of
1876 (Pan et al., 2013). Therefore, it is not surprising that 57% of Indigenous people report a
lack of trust in the police (Environics Institute, 2010), compared to 25% of the rest of the
population (Latimer & Desjardins, 2007).
Based on the above information, and a national effort towards reconciliation, many
Canadian police agencies have focused on partnerships with Indigenous communities as part of
their community policing initiatives (Giwa, 2018). Some of the most notable efforts to work in
collaboration with Aboriginal communities are those of the Vancouver Police Department
through their Diversity and Indigenous Relations Section (Giwa, 2018). This designated section
is committed to working in the best interests of Indigenous people. The Vancouver Police
Department is attempting to demonstrate this intent through programs such as: SisterWatch, a
program designed to reduce the risk of violence against women in the Downtown East Side;
Pulling Together Canoe Journeys, a culturally based canoe journey where police and Indigenous
families work together; and the Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society’s
youth cadet placement, a three-month internship for an Indigenous youth to work towards a
career in law enforcement (Vancouver Police Department, N.D.). Furthermore, the Vancouver

28

Police Department works closely with the Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre
and other related agencies. Vancouver Police officers make it a priority to attend Aboriginal
cultural events alongside their community partners, when appropriate to do so (Vancouver Police
Department, N.D.).
It should be noted that Indigenous culture is one of the many cultures that make up
British Columbia’s diverse population and similar initiatives can be found to help build rapport
with a variety of different ethnic and cultural groups (Vancouver Police Department, N.D.) For
example, the RCMP developed a “newcomers” guide in 2015, following British Columbia and
Canada as a whole becoming home to many refugees fleeing countries that may have different
laws and views of the police (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2017). To ensure the guide was
evidence based and crafted with empathy and understanding, four Arabic speaking RCMP
members went to Jordan to gather first-hand information (Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
2017). The guide is now available in French, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Punjabi, and Farsi
(Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2017). Surrey RCMP has also expanded the guide into live
information sessions where community members are able to directly interact with their local law
enforcement. As of 2017, these information sharing events and relationship building events have
been offered in Arabic and Korean (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2017).
Multi-disciplinary teams
Police cannot tackle the issues of any given community on their own and as such it is
recognized that at times collaboration with outside sources can be tremendously helpful in
combating community concerns that overlap with criminal justice (Hickle, 2018). As the idea of
collaboration has gained more traction, police partnerships with other community agencies are
becoming a best practice recommendation (Cohen, Plecas, McCormick, & Peters, 2015; Hickle,

29

2018). Although this type of partnership is not a true form of community policing, it does create
healthy networks of professionals that can better implement comprehensive community
programs (Hickle, 2018).
Child and youth advocacy centres, which have been found to greatly improve child abuse
investigations (Shaffer, Smith, & Ornstein, 2018), are an example of a multi-agency partnership.
Child and youth advocacy centres emerged out of Alabama in the mid-1980s and consist of
multi-disciplinary teams often including police, social work, victim services, probation, and
medical professionals who work in a trauma-informed and child-focused location (Department of
Justice Canada, 2018; Shaffer, Smith, & Ornstein, 2018). There are currently over 300 child and
youth advocacy centres across the United States and approximately 35 centres across Canada
(Shaffer, Smith, & Ornstein, 2018). The number of child and youth advocacy centres has risen
considerably since the opening of the first Canadian child and youth advocacy centre, the Zebra
Centre, in Edmonton, Alberta in 2002 (Shaffer, Smith, & Ornstein, 2018). The growing
popularity of these types of centres is encouraging as this approach to working with children and
families during what is often one of the most vulnerable times of their life has yielded
considerably different results of satisfaction from the families receiving service compared to
regular child protection or police involvement. For example, the Department of Justice Canada
(2018) completed a survey of 36 clients who had accessed a child and youth advocacy centre and
found that 83% reported a “good” or “very good” experience and that 100% of the participants
reported that the centre was welcoming, including those who voted their experience as “not
good”. Increased satisfaction is likely related to the convenience that a co-located centre provides
families by decreasing time spent with different players of an investigation and the travel time
required to see those varying professionals (Shaffer, Smith, & Ornstein, 2018). In addition, those

30

who receive service through a child and youth advocacy centre have substantially increased
access to service for the child including better access to forensic medical examination, mental
health services, and faster criminal justice results (Shaffer, Smith, & Ornstein, 2018). Improved
service delivery may be the result of increased productivity resulting from minimizing the
duplication of work. For instance, the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre in Calgary,
Alberta states that the centre enables increased productivity estimated to save $550,000 annually
(Shaffer et al., 2018).
Similar teams have been curated to help respond to and reduce the risk of domestic
violence, such as the Regional Domestic Violence Unit in Victoria, British Columbia or
HomeFront in Calgary. These are co-located teams of police, victim services, and child
protection social workers that share a focus on victim support and offender management for the
highest risk domestic violence files (HomeFront, 2015; Saanich Police Department, N.D.).
Similar teams exist in New Westminster and Abbotsford (Rossiter, 2011). Whetstone (2001)
reviewed 4,000 domestic violence police files, some of which had been handled by a specialized
unit while the others were responded to by patrol members and found that dedicated units
achieved increased arrest and conviction rates as well as improved victim satisfaction when
compared to the patrol response approach. This is consistent with the findings of Grasely et al.
(1999), who reported that 83% of victims who received service from a specialized domestic
violence unit that partnered with additional supports felt they received quality service, compared
to only 38% of victims supporting similar satisfaction when patrol members responded to an
incident of intimate partner violence.
Much like domestic violence, homelessness is a growing concern facing many Canadians
(Hipple, 2017). Individuals suffering with mental health and addiction are at an increased risk for

31

homelessness (Hipple, 2017). Sadly, children who have aged out of care are also more likely to
experience homelessness as pointed out by the 2014 Representative for Children and Youth
Report titled “On Their Own”. Therefore, when teams of mental health workers, social services
and police were created, for example, the Homelessness Protection Unit in Indianapolis, they
were found to be better equipped to work with this at-risk population. Scott-Parker et al. (2019)
found similar results when reviewing the North Coast Interagency Road Safety Working Group,
which brought together police, city council, transportation professionals, and the local university
to target reducing driving offences committed by youth. These are some examples of a variety of
multi-disciplinary teams that police participate into help better interact with the community. As
noted, child welfare workers are also members of some multi-disciplinary teams, which may
indicate that the child protection profession is beginning to acknowledge that they too must make
efforts to better interact with the communities in which they work. Furthermore, as active
members of these teams child welfare workers will likely be exposed to the community
engagement initiatives discussed above.
It is clear that there are a number of examples of community policing initiatives that can
be easily adapted by the field of social work to enhance the relationship with the community.
However, as there is limited to no research on the current appetite for this type of work approach
in child protection, the following section of this paper presents the current study that seeks to
understand if there is a need and want for enhanced community engagement efforts in child
welfare from a professional lens.

Current Study
Methods
The aim of the current study is to identify the existing perceptions of child protection
social work in British Columbia and explore how adopting initiatives similar to community
32

policing could impact this perception and child protection social work as a whole. The above
literature review provided a strong foundation for this study. However, there is a lack of research
on the direct link between community policing and child protection that would help to examine
how these initiatives can directly enhance the connections between child protection social
workers and their communities. In an attempt to explore this association, this study used semistructured interviews to gather qualitative data on the topic. These interviews were conducted
between March 4th, 2019 and March 18th, 2019 and were completed one-on-one between
participants and the primary researcher. Due to the potentially sensitive subject matter, all
interview participation was kept confidential. Participants were informed that their involvement
would be preserved as confidential on the information sheet provided prior to the
commencement of any interview (Appendix 1). The information sheet also outlines that all
participation is voluntary and as such, is followed by a written consent form.
The interviews were structured around 11 open-ended questions that allowed the
participant to provide detailed responses (Appendix 2). The interviews began with gathering
some contextual information around the background of the participant, then transitioned to
focusing on current perceptions and initiatives, and concluded with forward-thinking questions.
The final question then allowed participants to provide any relevant thoughts that they wished to
share that may have not been provoked by the previous questions. The researcher manually
transcribed all interviews to capture all information provided. The answers that were gathered
were then analyzed and coded to group similar answers in an effort to find themes in the data and
to produce the findings that have been summarized in the following chapter.
Sample
As the primary researcher on this project works in the field of child protection in the area
where the research was conducted a decision was made to collect participants using a snowball

33

sampling method to avoid bias (El-Abed, 2009). Therefore, each participant recommended others
who they thought would be valuable contributors for future interviews. Using this process
minimized the risk of selection bias that may have impacted the validity of the findings.
Interviews were conducted with five participants for this study. All participants were
from British Columbia and either worked in the South Vancouver Island or in the Lower
Mainland. Participant’s roles ranged from front line child protection social workers, policy
analysts, and police officers. Years of experience in these roles ranged from a year and a half to
30 years, with the average number of years being 12.

Results
Current Perception of Child Protection Social Work
There was a consensus from all participants that the current perception of child protection
social work is overwhelmingly negative. The respondents elaborated that there continues to be a
lack of information on the modern role of child protection and as a result misinformation is
distributed, which fuels stereotypes. One respondent explained that social workers are labelled as
“baby snatchers”, which demonstrates that child protection is not seen as helpful but is instead
viewed as a threat. Four out of the five respondents mentioned that this sense of obstructive
invasiveness holds especially true for Indigenous communities. One respondent explained that
the sense of “theft and lack of care” was cultivated from the previously mentioned decades of
mistreatment involving child protection including Residential Schools, the 60s Scoop, and what
is now being referred to as the Millennial Scoop. Another respondent explained that these
discriminatory practices have resulted in a deep-rooted fear that child protection is an ongoing
effort of colonization. The findings also suggest that this is the image that is portrayed in the
media and that MCFD does nothing to defend their reputation and any promotional efforts are
non-existent. Consequently, this negative perception continues to flourish. With that said, two of
34

the five respondents mentioned that although the overall opinion of child protection is
unfavourable, there can be recognition from the community for individual social workers who go
above and beyond to best serve the families that they work with.
Similarly, when the participants were asked if they thought MCFD was currently
implementing any community engagement initiatives, three of the five respondents stated that
some social workers will attend community events but that this is not common practice for the
ministry as a whole. One respondent pointed out that even when these workers do attend events
it can often go unnoticed as, unlike police or paramedics, social workers do not wear a uniform,
making them less identifiable. Another respondent stated that even when MCFD has been invited
to attend community events there are times that they do not even reply, suggesting that they have
no time or interest in community engagement.
Some respondents recognized that MCFD does liaise with other community partners
through multi-disciplinary units and shared assessment teams. As explained above, this is not a
direct form of community engagement but is a complimentary practice as it demonstrates a
willingness to collaborate and a recognition that no one agency can comprehensively support the
needs of a community on their own.
Views of Community Engagement Initiatives
Despite the apparent lack of current community engagement initiatives, there was a
consensus across all of those who engaged in this study that community engagement initiatives
would have a positive impact on both the perception of child protection and the safety of
children. The reasoning for these beliefs varied. The themes that arose in relation to the
improvements on perception were that it would demonstrate that child protection agencies are
willing to be a part of their communities, instead of outsiders waiting to swoop in to blame and
intervene, and would allow for opportunities to educate the community on how child protection

35

is meant to be a helpful service. However, the answers gathered stressed that it is imperative that
child protection agencies are open to two-way communications with the community. As phrased
by one respondent:
“I think that part of [community engagement] is that it demonstrates a shared commitment to
community wellness and healing, so instead of the child protection social worker being the
interloper coming in to do a removal and leaving, it seeks to achieve a long term sustained
relationship and seeks to ensure the well-being of the child and the family and the community.
[It] also offers the opportunity for people impacted by our work to share what their
experiences are, and the more that people feel their voices are being heard, the more they feel
that they are shaping the work that is being done. It is really important to create and hold a
space for people to be heard and for what they are saying to be meaningfully addressed.”
Therefore, the findings suggest that relationship building has to be at the core of
community engagement for child protection agencies. Further, these relationships must be
mutual and genuine, which would require a shift from a top-down to a bottom-up approach to the
work. The findings suggest that a change of this nature could have a constructive impact on the
reputation of child welfare services both in British Columbia and beyond.
Establishing a healthy relationship between the community and child protection services
was also mentioned by two of the five participants as a factor that could result in improved child
safety. These respondents each explained that with relationships come trust and when people
begin to trust child protection agencies, they will be more likely to report concerns for child
safety, which would allow for more opportunities to provide support and safety planning with
families in need of the service. When this response does require the serious intervention of
needing to remove children from the home, one respondent stated that should child protection
agencies develop a network of relationships that this would also help them ensure enhanced
emotional and physical safety through finding placement options with healthy kith and kin.
Other respondents stated that improved child safety correlates with child protection
community engagement initiatives as it allows for more opportunities to provide support and

36

education to families that could result in the prevention of abuse or neglect in some families. One
of these respondents further explained that this shift towards preventative practice and away
from solely reactionary responses would allow for some families to address their areas of risk
without the full involvement of a MCFD incident. Avoiding a child protection incident would
not only reduce risk of harm for the children involved but would also promote the independence
of family. In addition, avoiding the need for an incident allows for the resources that would have
needed to be allocated to that family to be redistributed to other families or areas of need.
It is perhaps not surprising then that when the participants of this study were asked what
type of community engagement initiatives may be the most successful for child protection
agencies one of them mentioned providing education on supports and resources. The answers
gathered suggest that this can be done in both a formal and/or non-formal way. However,
regardless of the formality, it is important to be mindful of how people are invited to participate.
One participant explained that “being intentional about invitation and the work that is intended to
be completed reinforces that their participation really matters and that we want to hear what they
have to say, and we are making a commitment to them”. Two of those interviewed stressed that
this invitation to engage with the ministry must be cast wide, which one participant stated must
include those who do not have transportation or childcare as those are often the voices that go
perpetually unheard. Therefore, another participant explained that it is hard to pinpoint which
community engagement service would be most effective for child protection as different
initiatives will appeal to different people, and consequently variety is fundamental. Some
potential programs mentioned include canoe pulling, youth programs, and multicultural supports.
All of the participants indicated that they would personally be interested in playing a role in child
protection community engagement initiatives if they were given the opportunity. The desire to

37

want to be a part of this type of practice ranged from believing that working in collaboration with
the community is the best way to support families, to hoping that it would reduce the fear
associated to child welfare, which may result in an enhanced ability to provide service.
Furthermore, two of the five respondents stated that they would want to be involved as they felt
it would improve their own wellbeing. As one worker phrased it “the political and the
professional become the personal” and therefore, both workers mentioned that finding aspects of
child welfare that are supportive and recognized as such are “what fills their cup back up”.
Therefore, one respondent theorized that providing more opportunities for this type of work
within child welfare could potentially reduce burnout and staff turnover.
Two of the five respondents acknowledged that building the relationships and community
connections that are needed for establishing effective community engagement initiatives for
child protection will take significant time. During this time, it would be near impossible to not
make missteps along the way. Therefore, acquiring the patience and the perseverance needed on
both the individual and organizational level to let these bonds form is one of the challenges noted
by the participants of this study. It is wallowing in this stage of discomfort and risk that led to at
least one of the five participants noting that they think gathering the support from leadership that
would be needed to get the initiatives off the ground would be a significant challenge. Other
respondents noted that should that support be obtained, there will be additional bureaucratic
hurdles to overcome, such as the passing of policy amendments. One participant explained that
achieving policy changes will be difficult as relationship building is complex unique work that
cannot often be simply summarized into a document format. Therefore, the government must
find a way to “hold the space for complexity and ambiguity”.

38

As such, child welfare agencies will need to put themselves in a fairly vulnerable position
to explore the possibility of additional community engagement initiatives. One participant stated
part of this vulnerability needs to be understanding that not all communities may want further
community engagement initiatives from their local child welfare agency. As a result, this
respondent suggested that agencies would need to be cautious to avoid pressing an unwanted
agenda, especially within Indigenous communities where this could be perceived as further
colonizing. The same participant encouraged mindfulness around confidentiality, as if the
community begins to know the faces of the social workers in their area, it could become more
apparent who in the neighborhood they are going to see. It is important to recognize the potential
challenges and shortcomings of community engagement initiatives to ensure that these areas can
be adequately addressed.

Discussion
This major paper sought to understand whether the commonly found negative views of
child welfare services exist in British Columbia and if the application of community policing and
problem-oriented policing initiatives to the province’s child welfare services would be a feasible
option for repairing this image and ultimately the relationship with the public. As speculated,
findings from this study are aligned with the themes that emerge from the literature. There is a
consistent understanding that the perception of child welfare services is poor and has damaging
impacts on the ability to practice as a child protection social worker in British Columbia. The
results of this study suggest that community engagement initiatives are an untapped resource that
could be leveraged to help genuinely improve the relationship between child welfare services
and the community.

39

As previously mentioned in the literature review, the primary areas of successful
community engagement initiatives evidenced in policing are social media use, youth engagement
programs, cultural programs, and multi-disciplinary team participation. It should be noted that
multi-disciplinary teams are not directly community driven (Hickle, 2018). Multi-disciplinary
teams are also the only initiative that child protection service agencies in British Columbia are
commonly involved in, according to this study. However, multi-disciplinary team participation
could be a gateway to adopting other community engagement initiatives. For example, the multidisciplinary team at Zebra Centre Child and Youth Advocacy Center in Edmonton has a strong
social media presence and has posted positive messages about social work on their Instagram
account (Zebra Child Protection Centre, N.D.). However, at this time there is no ability to fully
recognize any of the child welfare agencies that they work with, as they do not have their own
social media accounts that can be linked to. As a result, it is recommended that child welfare
agencies, such as MCFD, create their own social media accounts. As the Government of British
Columbia already has their own Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts, there are already
policies and practice guidelines written on how to start a government social media account which
could be applied to MCFD (Province of British Columbia, N.D.). The type of social media
account recommended by this study should not be confused with the covert social media
accounts created under pseudonyms that Breyette and Hill (2015) explain are commonly used by
social workers to monitor the activity of their clients. On the contrary, the social media accounts
recommended by this study would be public accounts created for the purpose of information
sharing. As such, once these accounts are established MCFD and DAAs could use social media
to share their messaging to a broader population, including harder to reach groups.

40

One part of the population that could be highly impacted by a child welfare social media
presence is youth, as Lenhart (2015) explains that 92% of youth are online daily. This is
important as another key finding of this study is that some of the most promising community
engagement work is done with youth. Therefore, child protection social workers should not only
be getting to know the youth in their community during times of duress and instead should carve
out time to develop relationships with a variety of youth in the community. As social workers
and youth get to know each other through participating in activities such as recreational sports or
cultural events, it is suspected that similar outcomes experienced by police who engage in these
types of activities would emerge including enhanced views of the other groups and lasting
relationships outside of the context of the program.
Some youth programs may benefit from being culture specific. The findings of this study
suggest that this may be especially true for Indigenous teens as the programs will need to create
space to acknowledge the hurt and distrust that lingers between child welfare services and
Indigenous communities. Furthermore, it is recommended that culturally specific community
engagement programs offered by child welfare services are offered to Indigenous communities
as a whole. It is imperative that these programs are offered and not imposed to ensure that they
are not viewed as a new effort of colonization.
Acknowledging that social workers are already burdened with more work than they can
complete (Gibson, 2017), should child welfare services in British Columbia wish to adopt
community engagement initiatives it may be beneficial to create specific positions designed to
lead this reform. The individuals in these positions should be highly skilled in relationship
building as they will need to not only build connections with those in the community but also
with their colleagues to help ensure a variety of child welfare professionals are able to engage in

41

community initiatives as incorporating community work into a child protection caseload may
help increase job satisfaction (Canadian Association of Social Work, 2018).
Increased job satisfaction could result in enhanced morale within child protection
agencies, which may have a positive impact on staff retention. This consistency of workers could
then have a positive ripple effect back on the relationship with the community. Therefore, this
study has promising implications for the field of child welfare and those they seek to serve and
protect. However, any community engagement initiatives that are implemented should receive
evaluation to ensure that there is transferability from police community engagement initiatives to
child protection community engagement initiatives. Measuring outcomes and sharing results will
also help areas beyond British Columbia assess if a similar adoption of community engagement
initiatives could be effective in their jurisdiction.
Limitations
Although the findings of this study were informative and could have a meaningful impact
on child welfare practice, it is important to identify the limitations of this study to help guide
future research in the area. The primary limitation of this study was the small sample size.
Although a small sample size was ideal for conducting one of the first studies on community
engagement initiatives in child protection, as it allowed for findings to be produced in a short
period of time without the expenditure of a surplus of resources, we must consider that these
findings are not representative of the views of all British Columbians working with child
protection services. In fact, although the research attempted to avoid participant selection bias by
using a snowball methodology, the ultimate elimination of bias is unlikely. When participants
were asked who they thought should be considered for future interviews they may have
intentionally or unintentionally picked individuals whose views and values were aligned with
community engagement, which would create a lack of diversity in the sample.

42

This sample also only spoke to those involved with child welfare in a professional
capacity. In the essence of community engagement, it will be important for future studies to
canvas the public on their views of the strengths and concerns associated with child welfare
adopting community engagement initiatives. It is also recommended that future studies explore
alternative child welfare models as we must consider that although the response to adopting
community engagement initiatives was overwhelmingly positive in this study, it was the only
potential solution offered.
One area where the sample certainly lacked diversity was the geographic location of
participants; all participants were from South Vancouver Island or the Lower Mainland and
therefore the sample represented a more urban population. In future studies, it will be important
to capture the voices of those working and living in the remote areas within British Columbia to
ensure that community engagement strategies are reflective of the needs of all areas of the
province.

Conclusion
The purpose of this major paper was to establish an understanding of any parallels that
exist between the perception of police and child welfare services and if similar initiatives could
be used to engage with the communities in which they work in a positive way. A review of the
literature highlighted that police and child welfare agencies have shared comparable challenges
in reference to community perceptions and relationships. Based on this finding, this study sought
to determine if community policing initiatives that have been used to reconcile community ties
could be applied to child protection services. The findings suggest that child welfare services
could benefit significantly should they borrow a page out of the book of community policing.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel and instead with some minor adaptations the community

43

engagement strategies used by police could be adopted by child welfare services. Therefore, it is
recommended that child welfare services develop their own versions of the effective community
policing initiatives that have been reviewed in this paper, including developing youth and
cultural engagement programs, creating a presence on social media and participating on teams
focused on responding to the needs of the community. The outcomes of this study suggest that
adopting these community engagement initiatives in child protection would improve the
perception of the profession, which could result in improved staff retention, reduced trauma and
ultimately enhanced child safety, making this a strategic approach that should not be ignored.
Furthermore, much like community engagement initiatives in policing, this model should be
partnered with other strategies to ensure a comprehensive approach to practice. Therefore, it is
recommended that future research and practice directives focus on community engagement
initiatives in a child protection context to ensure that we continue to gather evidence that can be
used to help guide a better relationship between child protection services and the community.

44

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Appendix 1 – Information Sheet and Consent Form
Information Sheet for Participation
Application of Community Policing Initiatives to Child Protection Social Work Project
My name is Caleigh West, and I am a master’s student from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at
the University of the Fraser Valley. For my major paper, I am examining whether concepts from community
and problem-oriented policing could be applied to child protection social work. As part of this project, I will be
conducting one-on-one interviews with individuals working in the criminal justice system in positions that
often provide services that relate to child protection. You have been identified as a potential participant for this
project.
The information you share during the interview will be an important part of analyzing whether elements of
community policing that have helped enhance the relationship between police and the community could be
applied to child protection social work. However, participation in this project is voluntary and you will need to
provide written or verbal informed consent to participate prior to us beginning the interview today. You are
free to decline participation without penalty by your superiors; all participation will be kept confidential.
Your participation in this project will involve the completion of a one-on-one interview concerning your
experience with child protection social work and using these experiences to consider the application of
community engagement initiatives. The interview questions will focus on the related themes of potential
strengths and challenges of applying community engagement initiatives to child protection social work.
It is anticipated that the interview will take approximately 60 minutes of your time. You can withdraw your
participation and information from this project at any point, and you can choose not to answer any questions
that you do not feel comfortable answering. You can withdraw your information following the completion of
this study by contacting myself, Caleigh West, or the supervisor for this project, Dr. Amanda McCormick using
the contact information below. Please note that you can only withdraw your information up until March 15,
2019 as at that point, the data will be anonymously aggregated and analyzed to inform the final report.
The interview will not be electronically recorded, and you will not be personally identified in the final report
or any publications or presentations associated with this project. Your individual responses will be kept
confidential and your name, position, and organization will not be directly linked to any information that you
provide today. The signed informed consent sheets will be stored in a locked cabinet only accessed by Caleigh
West until they are confidentially shredded one year after the completion of this project. The information you
provide during the interview will be transcribed into an electronic file where we will assign you a unique
identifier that only the researchers will be able to associate with your name; this information will be kept in a
separate password-protected excel spreadsheet accessible only to the university researchers. The electronic
datasets will be retained by the researchers indefinitely to allow for academic publications and presentations
to be developed.
Any information that you can share based on your experiences will help to inform the final report and
presentations regarding the community engagement in child protection process in British Columbia. The final
report will be posted on our website for public download, at http://cjr.ufv.ca. The information you provide may
also be used to develop future academic articles and presentations. There are no anticipated risks to your
participation.
The ethics of this research project have been reviewed and approved by the UFV Human Research Ethics Board.
If you would like more information about the methods or results of this study, please contact myself, Caleigh
West at
or
or Dr. Amanda McCormick at 604-557-4081 or
Amanda.McCormick@ufv.ca. If you have any concerns regarding your rights or welfare as a participant in this
research study, please contact the Ethics Officer at 604-557-4011 or Research.Ethics@ufv.ca.
- Please separate this page and leave it with the participant -

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Participant Informed Consent
Application of Community Policing Initiatives to Child Protection Social Work Project
Your signature on this form will signify that you have received the Information Sheet that describes the
procedures, risks, and benefits to your involvement in this study, that you have had an adequate
opportunity to consider the information in the document, and that you voluntarily agree to participate in
the project. Please carefully review the following:


I have read and understood the procedures, risks, and benefits of this research as described in the
Information Sheet.



I understand that this interview will take approximately 90 minutes of my time today.



I understand that once I have completed the interview today, my participation in this project has
finished.



I understand that I can withdraw my participation from this project up until January 30, 2019 and
if so, the information I provided will not be used to inform the final report and presentation.



I understand that the research material will be held confidentially by the University of the Fraser
Valley and that I will not be personally identified in any way by the research project.

I agree to participate in this research project:
Name (please print)
___________________________________________________________________
Today’s Date

Signature

|____|____| |____|____| 2019
D D
M M
________________________________________________

- Please separate this page and seal it in the UFV envelope for return to UFV -

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Appendix 2 – Interview Questions
1. What is your role?
2. How long have you been in this role?
3. What do you think the current public perception of child protection social work is?
4. Do you think MCFD currently uses community engagement initiatives? If so, what are
they?
5. Do you think that increasing community child protection initiatives would have a
positive, negative, or no impact on the public’s perception of child protection social
work?
6. Do you think that increasing community child protection initiatives would have a
positive, negative, or no impact on the ability to ensure child safety?
7. What are the potential benefits of increased community engagement initiatives for child
protection?
8. What are the potential challenges of increased community engagement initiatives for
child protection?
9. Are there any community engagement initiatives that you think may be more beneficial
than others?
10. Would you want to be involved in child protection community engagement initiatives?
What is your reasoning?
11. Do you have any final thoughts or comments that you would like to include?

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