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A celebration took place at Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health in Kitchener on Wednesday, July 10. At least 24 individuals came for a roundtable discussion, a light lunch catered by Crushed Almond, and a tour of the facility.
The celebration was centred around the success of our first ever secondment partnership with Coalition of Muslim Women (CMW) of K-W. Since April of 2023, we have enjoyed having two members from CMW, Bouran Abbas and Munazza Abbasi, on our team as frontline support workers.
Beyond team members from CWC and CMW, attendees represented partner organizations, such as Family & Children’s Services of the Waterloo Region, Family Violence Project of Waterloo Region, and Waterloo Regional Police Service. It was also greatly appreciated that a handful of local dignitaries and community leaders came out.
The Partnership Benefits Kids and Families
Discussed at the event were the benefits, learnings, and opportunities that came out of the secondments for our clients, our agencies, and the community. As we pivot our ability to more fully meet the needs of minority groups, the extensive list of benefits was openly shared and discussed.
Our frontline workers in attendance pointed out that young people coming for support are already in stressful and anxious situations. If these same individuals can meet with someone who they more quickly feel comfortable with, that goes a long way towards a better outcome. This can include speaking the same first language (such as Arabic, Urdu, or Hindi) and meeting with someone who has similar cultural and life experiences.
Staff and partners noted the many times they’ve found Bouran and Munazza a huge asset for providing cultural insights. This has helped them to work through complex cases more effectively and respectfully.
Robin Heald, Executive Director of CWC, stated that "Having the gift of secondments from CMW has been a tremendous gift for child victim services in our area and our wraparound team. I feel this is a breakthrough for our agency, to better help minority groups. These sorts of partnerships bring amazing benefits, and I would really like to see this pivot in our services to catch on in other organizations, the judicial system, and beyond.”
Fauzia Mazhar, Executive Director of CMW, also views the secondments as a "Win-win outcome.” She feels it means better care for those in need, while also providing two members of their team with new opportunities to serve. The overwhelming upsides of the partnership were expanded upon by Wisam Osman, Director of Programming & Services at CMW, and Sarah Shafiq, Director of Advocacy, Research & Outreach, at the event.
A Large Need for Child Victim Services
It is likely that most people aren’t aware of how much hurt and harm occurs behind closed doors in our communities. Last year alone, we served 1,011 children and youth, and their families.
Our support begins at the Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) of Waterloo Region, which began in 2016, and is located within Camino. The CYAC collaborative is a best practice child and youth friendly model for investigating allegations of abuse and crime. The multidisciplinary team ensures a child and family-centred approach to the process that is trauma-informed and culturally responsive. As the lead agency in establishing the CYAC, our role is to provide oversight of the centre and services through our Child and Youth Advocate Program.
For situations where criminal charges have been laid, our Child Witness Program provides support through the justice process in Waterloo Region, Guelph, and Wellington County. Due to high demand and stretched resources, we were forced to start a waitlist in 2022 – for the first time since our organization began in 1981. The waitlist volume has surpassed 200 kids in the past year, and currently stands at 144.
Rebecca Heibein-Kursikowski, Partnership Coordinator for CWC, pointed out that adding staff like Bouran and Munazza is helping to get our waitlist down. But there is still much work to be done to gain sufficient and sustainable funds to be adequately staffed to meet the demand. That's why we are running our “Child Victims Can’t Wait” campaign to overcome the waitlist completely.
A mutual hope and dream of those who attended on July 10 is that the services we provide wouldn’t be required in the first place. But we are committed to being there for the most vulnerable, as long as needed.
How Support for Young Victims Benefits our Society
In discussing young victims getting support in their critical time of need, there was plenty of discussion about the value of CWC’s services for society.
One major area is mental health. When young victims receive help, statistics repeatedly show they move more rapidly on an upward trajectory towards positive wellbeing and spend less time in crisis – thus reducing their trauma. The community leaders in the room shared how they could see when young people get into 'positive spaces', they are far less likely to get involved in crime and other detrimental behaviours down the road. While speaking of mental health, there was also caring conversation and empathy for the mental health of our frontline staff – who are often at risk of experiencing vicarious trauma in their roles. Munazza shared about a sign about self-care, located in a lunchroom, that she finds a helpful reminder for her.
Also discussed was the financial return of trauma-informed supports, that is often unrecognized. Research shows child victims services are truly an investment in dollars and cents – not only towards physical and emotional wellbeing. This is due to the dramatic decrease found in the need for downstream services and costs related to mental health struggles, homelessness, substance abuse, violence, and other issues. When young victims are supported, they are more likely to stay in school, experience more success in their career, and experience brighter futures overall.
Moving Forward on this Path
With this success and our strong equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) values, we are committed to better reaching more marginalized groups. We feel every child and youth survivor of abuse and crime, regardless of their personal characteristics, should be helped in the justice system. We believe no child should experience barriers towards receiving support because of their race, ethnicity, creed, or other factor.
To ensure no hurdle exists, our services are also provided free of charge to clients. Robin noted having a price for services such as crisis counselling is a barrier for most young people and families who come to CWC – as they are often underprivileged. And even asking financial qualification questions for potential economic subsidies would drive some away from the critical care they desperately need.
To further solidify the partnership between CWC and CMW, Bouran and Munazza have recently been hired by CWC in longer-term contracts. While Munazza will solely be at CWC for the next few years, Bouran will remain part-time with both organizations, thereby providing greater wraparound services to the Muslim community.
In summarizing this new path forward, Bouran shared, "I feel it's very important that children, youth, and families have someone welcome and be with them throughout the entire process of the investigation – especially someone who shares the same language and culture." Similarly, Munazza expressed, “This allows for greater representation and familiarity. It presents the opportunity for children coming into our services to be greeted by someone similar to them. It is allowing me to give back to the community.”
Both CWC and CMW look forward to seeing more EDI shaped partnerships between organizations and within the community in the future.