June 29, 2016, THUNDER BAY, ON – The Native Child and Family Services program at Confederation College has earned approval as a program equivalent to a Social Service Worker program.
This approval was issued by the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers after a comprehensive review process and means graduates from 2015 and 2016, and all future graduates, are now eligible to apply to become registered social service workers.
Confederation joins just one other Indigenous-focused post-secondary program to be recognized in the province.
“This is a huge endorsement of the rigor and quality of our program, which meets the mainstream criteria while retaining its distinct Indigenous focus, perspective and approaches,” said program coordinator Barbara Walberg. “This distinction is widely recognized as the standard for practice in social service agencies that are both Indigenous and mainstream.”
Gail Murdock, Vice President, Academic added “We applaud Barbara and all of our faculty and staff who support the program for their continued commitment to program excellence. This recognition further validates the good work that they have been doing for some time and will open up new and important doors for our graduates.”
The Native Child and Family Services program has been offered at the College in some form since almost 30 years ago.
It was redesigned in 2013 to create the current two-year diploma program. It focuses on how graduates can help children and families effectively overcome cultural, geographical and other barriers often faced by Indigenous communities. In addition to being offered on campus, the program has been offered twice through distance education to reach people in both the northwestern Ontario and southern Ontario regions.
The program has seen much success over the years with many students securing employment by the time they graduate. Alumni of the program work in a range of social service agencies that provide family support, child welfare, addictions, mental health and youth programs.
For more information about the Native Child and Family Services program, visit www.confederationc.on.ca/nativechildfamily. It’s not too late to apply for the 2016 fall intake.
