Walking This Path Together

Sohki Aski Esquao, Jeannine Carrière is Métis and was raised in St. Adolphe Manitoba. She has been teaching social work since 1994 in Alberta and at the School of Social Work, University of Victoria, since 2005. In 2024 Jeannine is retiring from her academic career after many years of service to Indigenous social work education. Her research contributions have included topics such as Metis children’s identity, and needs for cultural safety in adoptions and child welfare services.Susan Strega taught in the School of Social Work, University of Victoria, until her retirement in 2021. Susan is a former youth in care and former child protection worker.

• : Introduction: Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare (Susan Strega & Sohki Aski Esquao [Jeannine Carrière]): Indigenous Children in the Centre: Indigenous Perspectives on Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice (Kundoqk [Jacquie Green] & Qwul’sih’yah’maht [Robina Thomas]): Meeting Here and Now: Reflections on Racial and Cultural Differences in Social Work Encounters (Donna Jeffery): Can Family Group Conferencing Engage Indigenous Families in Child Protection Work? (Tara Ney, Kinewesquao [Cathy Richardson] & Maureen Maloney): Race Matters: Social Justice not Assimilation or Cultural Competence (Sarah Maiter): Critical Well Being in Child Welfare: A Journey Towards Creating a New Social Contract for Black Communities (Nicole Bonnie & Gordon Pon): There Is No Anti-Oppression Without Service Users’ Voice (Gary Dumbrill & Winnie Lo): Preparing Social Workers to Support Métis Families (Kinewesquao [Cathy Richardson]): Anti-Oppressive Approaches to Child Protection Assessment and File Recording (Michele Fairbairn & Susan Strega): Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare Practice (Christopher Walmsley, Leslie Brown, Susan Strega, Lena Dominelli & Marilyn Callahan): Taking Children’s Resistance Seriously: A Response-Based Approach to Children Experiencing Violence (Kinewesquao [Cathy Richardson] & Shelly Bonnah) : Indigenous Families, Substance Use and Child Welfare (Charlotte Loppie & Bernie Pauly) • Creating Places of Belonging: Expanding Notions of Permanency with Indigenous Youth in Care (Sandrina de Finney & Lara di Tomasso): Towards Anti-Oppression in Indigenous Adoption (Otiskewa¯pit [Raven Sinclair] & Sohki Aski Esquao [Jeannine Carrière]): Practising from the Heart (Sohki Aski Esquao [Jeannine Carrière] & Wa Cheew Wapaguunew Iskew [Carolyn Peacock]): References: Index

“This is a timely book as many child welfare agencies are beginning the journey of implementing an anti-oppressive framework into practice. With several chapters by Indigenous scholars, the plight of our children remains in the spotlight. An underlying message in this book is that if the challenges for Indigenous child welfare can be properly addressed, then those of all other marginalized populations will follow.”