NACY NEWS

 

NACY's Organization in Transformation Series

We will be sending out articles over the next few months with a view of sharing interesting stories and encouraging others to share their own transformation experience and advice. At the same time, this research has suggested a number of ways in which NACY can help its members to work together to be more effective, both in terms of sharing resources, building capacity, and creating collective approaches to public policy in support of children and youth. In this first article, about Organizational Resilience, we explore how NACY might be an ideal vehicle for its members to work collaboratively towards a new policy agenda. If you would like to share your Organizations in Transformation story, please don't hesitate to write to us at [email protected].

  

Vancouver Child & Youth Think Tank Summary Report

NACY held its fourth Think Tank Session in Vancouver, BC last month and gathered over 40 colleagues. The theme - Inform, Inspire, Innovate - aimed to assist the sector in developing a series of strategies and best practices for dealing with and overcoming organizational and sectoral challenges.

 

These sessions have provided a unique opportunity for child and youth leaders to gather and to take stock of the sector in Canada, to share their knowledge and experience, and to provide guidance and advice that will be shared nationally on how to survive and grow during challenging times. In the meantime, you can read the summary report of the Vancouver Think Tank. 


Does Canada work for all generations? Dr. Paul Kershaw answers, "no"

Dr. Kershaw has been traveling across the country asking Canadians to carefully consider what can be done to address the reality that Canada has become a country in which it is harder to raise a family today than it was a generation ago. With Lynell Anderson, he released 10 reports last October --one for each province-- which show that incomes have stalled for young Canadian couples even though far more young women contribute employment income than they did in the 1970s. With stalled household incomes, young families must pay for higher housing prices. This leaves a generation raising young children that is squeezed for time at home, squeezed for income after housing, and squeezed for services like child care.

  

NACY hosted a policy dialogue with Dr. Kershaw and Ottawa-based colleagues in February. We were able to record the session with a flipcam, so for those who have not been able to see Dr. Kerhaw's presentation, it is worth a listen. View the Video. He will be in Toronto next, on March 15. More details can be found here. 

 

Leading Women Building Communities Recognition

NACY would like to extend heartfelt congratulations to Amanda Mayer - one of our own. Amanda received the 2012 Leading Women Building Communities Recognition Certificate from Minister Laurel Broten (Ontario Women's Directorate) for exceptional leadership in working to improve the lives of others in her community. Amanda was nominated by MPP Yasir Naqvi for her work and volunteering to enhance the well-being of children and youth (NACY) and to build capacity in the nonprofit sector (MESH Network, Imagine Canada). Amanda, from all of your colleagues at NACY, CONGRATULATIONS!

 
Child & Youth Sector News


CWLC Achievement Awards

Join the CWLC in celebrating the winners of the 2011 achievement awards on March 27 from 5 to 7 pm at the Lord Elgin Hotel (Ottawa, ON). With special guest: Her Excellency Sharon Johnston, C.C. RSVP by March 16 by email. 

 

Municipal child care in Alberta: An alternative approach to the funding and delivery of early learning and care for children and their families
Report from the Muttart Foundation outlines the history of municipal involvement in early learning and care in Alberta, describes the current four municipal models, and aims to promote discussion on the potential for such models to play a greater role in the Alberta early learning and care landscape.

 

Manitoba equality report card 2012
Child care gets a failing grade in UNPAC's 2012 report card on women's equality in Manitoba.

 

Ontario Budget 2012: Austerity is bad for our health

Sheila Block from the Wellesley Institute explains how implementing the Drummond Report's recommendations on program spending will diminish services and reduce incomes for marginalized children and adults. Read more

 

Next Phase of Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF) is launched
Shelly Glover, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for Saint-Boniface (Winnipeg), on behalf of the Honourable Vic Toews, Canada's Minister of Public Safety, today announced that the next phase of the Youth Gang Prevention Fund Program (YGPF) has been launched. The YGPF specifically targets youth with a demonstrated history of serious violence and/or who are clearly at risk of joining gangs and/or are already in gangs.

 

"Canadian Foster Care in Crisis", The Canadian Press, Feb 19, 2012
Peter Dudding, NACY Board Chair, was interviewed by the CBC on the state of the foster care system in Canada. This article highlights the very real and difficult problems faced by front-line workers and the urgency with which Canada, as a nation, need to address them.  


One of CWLC's priority projects is working specifically toward province-specific solutions to the challenges faced in the foster-care system.  The 3-year project, which is called Every Child Matters (ECM), was launched in 2010 and seeks to address foster care re-branding as well as foster family recruitment and retention issues. Learn more about ECM.

  

Child Care is a Right: Update from Geneva

On February 6, 2012, Lynell Anderson and Susan Harney, two child care advocates representing the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, appeared in Geneva, Switzerland before the United Nations Pre-sessional Committee on the Rights of the Child. The report, A Tale of Two Canadas: Implementing Rights in Early Childhood, formed the basis of the presentation highlighting Canada's failure to uphold the rights of women, children and families with regards to providing affordable, accessible, quality child care. More information on the Child Care is a Right project.

 

Early childhood education and child care - STILL central to women's equality
CRRU has updated their Issue File on ECEC and Canadian women. This Issue File collects selected readings that describe and document the importance of accessible ECEC to women's economic equality and to their opportunities to fully engage in society. 

 

Work it! A game about work, life and balance
Web-based video game from the Canadian Labour Congress highlights the challenges women face in balancing work and family life and links back to web-based resources about the real-life challenges facing working women in Canada.

 

NEW in the CEECD Encyclopedia

Social violence (new topic) and Child maltreatment (topic update).


OTHER NEWS
 

New tool provides easy access to charitable information - CharityFocus.ca

In March of 2010, a private members' bill titled Bill C-470 received a second reading in the House of Commons. This bill proposed to cap salaries in the charitable sector. The bill eventually died on the table due to a federal election, but the issue of transparency in the charitable and non-profit sector has not. Read more

 

Nonprofit Newswire 
Sign up and receive daily emails on the latest sector news stories.

 

There's Strength in Numbers: Join the Community Data Program!
For over 15 years, the Canadian Council on Social Development's Community Data Program has served as a gateway for community networks of municipalities and voluntary sector organizations to access customized data from national statistical agencies in order to monitor and report on local social and economic trends. What can your organization do with data from the Community Data Program? You can generate neighbourhood maps, provide research for long-term social plans, and create poverty profiles of targeted populations! CCSD is now accepting applications from organizations or community networks interested in joining the Community Data Program for the 2012-2017 Membership Agreement.

 

National Summit Report
The National Summit for the Charitable and Nonprofit Sector took place in Ottawa from November 28 to 30, 2011. The culmination of discussions and activities are now available in the National Summit Report which documents five key outcomes from the Summit. It also charts the path forward for each of the four Priorities for Action that were considered and advanced by more than 500 leaders in-person and online during the Summit. The information and calls to action presented in the report are not just for Summit attendees; they are for all who engage in the advancement of the charitable and nonprofit sector. 

 

Charities Information Webinar Series
The Charities Directorate of Canada Revenue Agency will be presenting the following topics for March 2012: Completing the Registered Charity Information Return (T3010-1), Orientation for new board members, and Updated fundraising policy. Register or learn more.

 

Francophone Webinar Series: Spring 2012
This FREE series of francophone webinars focuses on topics that are relevant to all charitable and nonprofit organizations: Youth Volunteer Engagement, Risk Management 101, Changes to Accounting Standards for Nonprofit Organizations, and The REAL VALUE of your Image. Each topic is presented by specialists in their respective fields. Since these webinars are FREE space is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Registration deadline is March 23, 2012. Register or learn more.

 

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?
Students (Verb) Charities is an AWESOME CONTEST where students create public awareness campaigns in any form about how charities impact the quality of life in Canada. Help get out the word! Share this video with your networks and any post-secondary students who would like a chance to win up to $50,000! Current
  
State of Skills Development: The Canadian Nonprofit Sector
A sector-wide leadership and skills development strategy is critical if the sector is to continue to grow and play a vital role not only as major sources of employment but also as agencies responsible for a growing role in the delivery of services. This Report is designed to develop a strategic skills development plan for the nonprofit sector in Canada.
 
Driving Change: A National Study of Canadian Nonprofit Executive Leaders
The HR Council is asking an important question: Is there a leadership deficit? As the HR Council points out, there have been several Canadian and American studies conducted that highlight concerns about leadership success, and where the future leaders of nonprofits will come from. They highlight that there are many questions about the executive director occupation, but there has been very little evidence to either confirm the existence of the issue, or build strategies to address the problem. To provide this necessary information, the HR Council wished to understand more about the people currently occupying the executive director or equivalent role within Canada's nonprofits. Learn more.

 

 

 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
  

 

First National Parental Mental Health Conference. First International Young Carers Congress, Third International World Congress on Children of Parents with Mental Illness

Vancouver, British Columbia - May 6-8, 2012

Conference Brochure and Registration now available.

 

International Social Service Assembly and Conference

Banff, AB - May 23-25, 2012

www.issbanff2012.com

 

Models of Early Childhood Services 

Montreal, QC - June 5-6, 2012

What does it take to implement effective early childhood programs in Canada or in another country? How can countries maintain and fund these programs? What are the challenges met and the lessons learned?

Through keynote presentations, workshops and discussions, discover the challenges that governments and foundations of Canada, New Zealand, Finland, Brazil, Ireland and Great Britain have faced while implementing best ECD practices. The conference Website will soon be available. For more information, visit www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca and www.skc-ecd.ca

 

EUSARF 2012 - "All our children: positive experiences, successful outcomes for looked after and other vulnerable children"

Thistle Hotel, Glasgow - September 4-7, 2012

This conference aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, managers and policy makers, to address topical issues facing vulnerable children and young people, and their families. The programme will highlight three overarching themes: perspectives of children and young people; organisational change and effective intervention. The call for papers will be available shortly and they will be accepting abstract submissions from the 31st January. www.eusarf2012.org

 

 
The National Alliance for Children and Youth (NACY)
is a nonprofit umbrella organization which brings national organizations
together in a collaborative network dedicated to enhancing
the well-being of children and youth in Canada.
 

National Alliance for Children and Youth (NACY)

130 Albert Street | Suite 1705 

Ottawa, ON | K2P 1G4 

613.292.0569 | [email protected] | www.nacy.ca