After months of planning, Phase II of the One Vision One Voice project is officially underway.
The goal of Phase II is to work with societies towards achieving child welfare service excellence and eliminate disproportionate and disparate outcomes of African Canadians involved in the child welfare system by implementing the 11 Race Equity Practices outlined in the One Vision One Voice Practice Framework.
Specifically, all societies will be asked to complete an organizational anti-Black racism needs assessment. Upon completion, each organization will receive a report card, as well as a tailored implementation plan to address the findings and gaps identified in the needs assessment.
The One Vision One Voice team is also focused on working with societies to create a provincial Black service directory, which agencies can use to direct Black families to racially and culturally responsive e community resources. In addition, a variety of supportive tools and templates to encourage practice enhancement will also be shared.
The launch also marks the initial steps towards the creation of an African Canadian Provincial Advisory Council, which will work directly with the OACAS to represent and reflect the needs and concerns of the community. In addition, One Vision One Voice will be working directly with those agencies who participated in the community consultations for Phase I of the project to set up Local African Canadian Advisory Councils. All CASs will receive a support document to assist them in setting up their own Local Advisory Councils (LACs).
As we work together to implement the Race Equity Practices during this phase of work, we know that the collection of data will be critical to informing policy and practice to improve outcomes for African Canadian children, youth and families.
