A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Transcription

1

2 A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The beginning of 2013 was a difficult time for the Centre, we had significantly reduced our counseling services and supports to the community. Over a period of three years, we had been able to prevent the placement of any Muslim children entering care. In the first three months of 2013, six Muslim children entered the care of Children s Aid Society of London and Middlesex. We also found ourselves in a situation of financial crisis having to absorb the cost of counseling for an extended period over the 2012 year. Despite these challenges we have not given up and we have continued our work with great success over the past year. Recent support through the Nazem Kadri golf tournament has helped re-instate our counseling and support program in a limited capacity and provide social services. The six children who entered care have now returned home and we have provided support to them and their families to ensure successful integration. Our programs funded by provincial and federal government sources have had tremendous impact not only on our clients, but also on our community and mainstream service providers locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. Our recent grants allow us to measure the efficacy of our efforts and outcomes through research and show great promise and interest for future funding. MRCSSI prides itself on its ability to provide families with violence free outcomes through efficient, effective programming has been a year of great demands and great outcomes. We have seen overwhelming evidence that our culturally integrative collaborative approach is working very well and is attracting many mainstream service providers as well as other cultural communities who have all recognized that together there is a way to better outcomes. The key factors for our success are the passion, commitment and dedication of our staff, board members and our volunteers who have been sharing their wisdom, time and expertise. It is also important to mention here that the support received from the leaders of our community and our partners from mainstream services has played very significant roles in the Centre s success. I finally wish to thank all of our funders who believe in us and provide generous financial support to help achieve our dreams and support our community. We are very hopeful for the upcoming year as we move towards consolidating our different projects under one comprehensive program of Culturally Integrative Family Safety Responses (CIFSR). We hope we can find enough funding to move forward in our journey supporting our communities and creating a safe environment and violence-free homes for our families and children. Mohammed Baobaid, PhD Executive Director 1

3 PROGRAMS OVERVIEW FAMILY SAFETY PROJECT The main goal of MRCSSI s Family Safety Program is to ensure the safety of all family members and in particular those that are at risk of violence because of vulnerability. Through this program, MRCSSI intervenes and engages when there is a risk or an episode of violence within a family. As intermediaries, we facilitate the communication between mainstream mandated services, including child protection agencies and affected families. As a result of this program, 19 Muslim children, previously in foster care, have been able to return to their homes. During the program s tenure, no Muslim children have been placed under foster care. In consultation with the Children s Aid Society, we have also estimated a net savings for each child who has not required foster care of $46,000 per year. MRCSSI s Family Safety Program ensured greater safety within families and ultimately, yielded positive outcomes within the London community. SHARED JOURNEYS PROJECT Chiefly funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the purpose of the Shared Journeys Project is the transfer of MRCSSI s culturally integrative model of child protection to other Muslim communities as well as other collectivist communities in Ottawa, York and Kingston. Essentially, through this project, MRCSSI is facilitating the building of stronger ties and relationships between respected community organizations and child welfare agencies. Within the past year, the Shared Journeys project successfully launched in the York and Kingston region and within Ottawa. The Children s Aid Societies and their counterpart community organizations within each region have also appointed teams responsible for the initiative s development. Currently, situation analysis and community mapping is underway in order to compile and inform the project s curriculum development. Recognition of the Shared Journeys project has expanded to other Children s Aid Societies within the province, including that of Toronto, Durham and Windsor. SAFE INTEGRATION PROJECT PHASE III The Safe Integration Project addresses the lack of support and services for victims of violence who have emigrated from conflict zones. Principally, it seeks to better equip the service providers responding to these victims complex needs and their families. During Phase III of the project, MRCSSI designed a Tool Kit manual for service providers supporting victims. In addition, the Centre trained mandated and nonmandated service providers in a half day introductory training to the concepts of Safe Integration, including use of the Four Aspects Screening Tool, the structure and functioning of families of collectivist societies and the risk factors of pre-migration trauma in regards to family violence. Culminating in March 2013, the Safe Integration Project s Phase III has facilitated the coordination of intensive, strength-based service delivery. SAFE INTEGRATION PROJECT PHASE IV Initiated in October 2013, Phase IV of the Safe Integration Project builds upon the achieved results from Phase III. With the Ministry of the Attorney General s funding, MRCSSI is developing a workbook to help service providers engage in an efficacious, culturally sensitive and strength-based manner. This workbook will complement the SIP Tool Kit and be accompanied by training sessions for mandated service providers. Such comprehensive training strives to improve the service delivery and supports available to victims of trauma and family violence from collectivist communities. Phase IV of the Safe Integration Project will be in effect until April

4 FAMILY HONOUR PROJECT The MRCSSI Family Honour project is comprised of two main components: The first portion was funded by the Department of Justice. Based on Chicago s successful Cure Violence model, the MRCSSI s Family Honour Project seeks to reduce the occurrences of honour-related violence within the London community. In the past year, Muslim community organizations and mainstream services participated in MRCSSI s workshops discussing the topic of honour-related violence and its culturally appropriate responses. Throughout the development of the project, the MRCSSI increased awareness and understanding about the subject matter, engaged service providers and community stakeholders and initiated the development of culturally appropriate responses to honour-related violence. This project was completed in October Due to its success, stakeholders involved in project during the last two years recommended the formulation and implementation of a multi-year strategy in order to ensure a long-term impact. The second segment is funded by the Status Women of Canada. Similar to first component, this project is largely a community-based initiative that utilizes participatory strategies to engage the London community. Most recently, twenty-one young and talented Muslim women were hired to develop and launch the project. Through their participation, MRCSSI will raise awareness, engage other young women and increase public education about the issue of honour-related violence. Ultimately, it focuses on creating a safe space for young women to develop community awareness strategies. In order to further facilitate this project, an expansive needs assessment about the issue of honour-related violence was also conducted. An impressive 160+ community members and service providers responded to MRCSSI s online survey with and participated in focus groups. The Family Honour Project will remain operative until Summer

5 GRANT PROPOSALS JOURNEY HOME The Journey Home project focuses on immigrant youth and families who have experienced chronic trauma and violence within conflict zones. Despite the heightened risk of violence, there are nevertheless no local initiatives that address pre-migration trauma. Therefore, the MRCSSI s Journey Home project will be the first of its kind to tackle such violence in the context of migratory experiences. Presently, the proposal for the Journey Home project has been submitted to the Crime Prevention Action Fund and is pending approval. FORCED MARRIAGE The Forced Marriage Response project seeks to address the issue of forced marriages within the Canadian context. Through this initiative, MRCSSI intends to increase awareness and understanding of the prevalence of forced marriages in London and develop necessary responses. Submitted in November 2013, the Forced Marriage s project proposal is presently pending approval from the Department of Justice. CULTURALLY INTEGRATED FAMILY RESPONSE The goal under the MRCSSI s Culturally Integrated Family Safety Response is the consolidation of all the Centre s services under this single model. With a proposal submitted to the Ontario Trillium Foundation, a grant will allow MRCSSI to prepare a manual of service delivery which will be informed by input from the community and mainstream service providers. In addition, a service delivery manual will be developed and then presented in the form of training workshops to both the community and mainstream service providers. 4

6 MAIN DELIVERABLES Within the past two years, the Muslim Resource Centre organized twenty-one extensive presentations, public forums and a symposium to better educate mainstream service providers and Muslim community organizations about a range of significant topics. The attendance totaled an impressive 2,500 participants from various locations including Toronto, Ottawa as well as London. In order to ensure capacity building in London s Muslim community organizations, MRCSSI s three intensive workshops trained 87 stakeholders how to better prepare for situations involving family violence including child abuse and honour-related violence among other topics. Most recently, a total of 164 stakeholders, including individuals from the Muslim community and service providers, completed a survey and 78 stakeholders participated in focus groups in order to assess the topic of honour-related violence within the larger London community. With respect to sharing knowledge gained from our models with other professionals, the Muslim Resource Centre successfully organized three workshops with an attendance of an astounding 500 representatives from numerous organizations, including Children s Aid Societies and the Social Service Network. Muslim Resource Centre facilitated a great number of training workshops in order to better equip mainstream service providers and offer them the necessary tools to respond in a culturally appropriate manner. Within the past two years, the Muslim Resource Centre organized thirty-one comprehensive training and education workshops with more than 1,780 service providers participating in a number of cities. In the past year MRCSSI has developed research and manuals for: Gender-based needs assessment on Honour Related Violence Honour Related Violence study for the Department of Justice Safe Integration Project Tool-kit 5

7 DIRECT SERVICES During 2013, our caseload went from a low in February of 6 cases to a caseload of 31 cases at the present time. We have closed 11 cases and assigned 35 cases over the year. During the year, we have also seen 15 cases for up to 2 sessions but they did not engage in services beyond these two sessions. We have therefore been involved with 66 families in The average size of family 4.5 members with a total of 297 individuals who were involved with our services. This was a very trying year in meeting the needs of the community. After over three years of not having any Muslim child enter care, we saw 6 Muslim children placed by Children s Aid Society (CAS). Due to a lack of placement resources, they were all placed in non-muslim homes. We nevertheless through intensive engagement through our protocol with CAS were able to have all these children return to their families. We attribute these events in part to budgetary restraints and the consequential reduction of services and supports as well as counseling services. MRCSSI is now engaged with the CAS of London and we have signed an additional protocol of understanding to recruit Muslim families to become kinship providers and foster homes should a crisis necessitate the removal of a Muslim child from their family. 6

8 London CAS represents 45 % of our referrals for services. We expect the demand for service to grow as we have increased our available hours. We now offer an additional day of counseling and are currently providing services to the London Islamic School and the London Muslim Mosque on Oxford St. We are also working with Family Service Thames Valley to coordinate an effective response to the Muslim and Arabic community of London. The goal is to work jointly at outreach and clearly differentiate our complementary roles. The counselor of the Muslim Family Support Services of Family Services Thames Valley is attending our office for a half day once a week and is available to provide intake services out of our offices. We are now receiving referrals of cases from Family Services Thames Valley, and are now identifying cases that we have been involved in on an extended basis for transfer to Family Services and linking to other resources in the community. We anticipate that as demand grows for counseling from our community, we will begin to limit the number of sessions that we provide. We also anticipate that we will focus specifically on situations where there is a risk of violence or a risk of placement. As a result we will be increasing our role as case consultants to mandated service providers and high risk. We have also had the honour of having Dr. Sohail Makhdoom serve as consultant psychiatrist for cases at our Centre. He has provided consultations to situations of parent child conflict, severe psychiatric psychosis of a traumatized young newly arrived refugee. Dr. Makhdoom will also make himself available for out of region consultations for our Shared Journeys Project. Dr. Makhdoom s expertise further increased the depth of situations that our centre can now handle and service. We look forward to his continued contribution. 7

9 IMPACT The Muslim Resource Centre has provided intensive early intervention service for families and individuals coming from collectivist background and conflict zones helping them overcome the challenges related to their pre-and post-migration trauma which could impact their family safety. We additionally bridged the existing gap in the mainstream service delivery by providing service providers with culturally integrative response measures. We have facilitated the return of Muslim children, previously in foster care, to their homes while also preventing the potential placement of Muslim children in the foster care system. The Muslim Resource Centre has initiated the conversation of honour-based violence and woman abuse to the consciousness within the London community by engaging Muslim leaders as well as prominent community members and mainstream service providers. The work of MRCSSI has built a foundation for developing a different way of responding to family violence in the context of collectivist communities. We are in the process of developing a culturally integrative family violence response strategy. MRCSSI facilitated the building of stronger ties and relationships between respected community organizations and other mainstream service providers. Our services have been able to prevent and reduce the incidents of violence within a family context through appropriate and culturally competent strategies. MRCSSI has become a safe place to initiate and nurture dialogue and partnership between different groups within the Muslim community towards maximizing the impact of Muslim community response towards family violence. 8

10 FINANCIAL STATEMENT Statement of Revenues and Expenditures Year Ended December 31, Revenue Grants $ 149,027 $ 162,012 Donations $ 67,289 $ 10,812 $ 216,316 $ 172,824 Expenses Salaries and wages $ 240,475 $ 188,048 Fundraising $ 10,633 $ - Overhead (Rent, utilities, Insurance, etc.) $ 21,584 $ 29,185 Professional fees $ 10,016 $ 40,234 Travel $ 8,271 $ 1,224 Interest and bank charges $ 2,705 $ 140 Advertising and promotion $ 1,548 $ 5,135 $ 295,232 $ 263,966 Deficiency of Revenue Over Expenses $ -78,619 $ -91,142 CONTRIBUTIONS KADRI CHARITY GOLF CLASSIC On August 11 th 2013, the Nazem Kadri Charity Golf Classic raised an impressive $50,000 for the Muslim Resource Centre. The donation will be allocated to community programs, outreach and clinical services. Such a contribution ensures MRCSSI s ongoing support to the London Muslim Mosque, the London Islamic School and the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario. This was facilitated by the London Muslim Mosque and the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario. AL-MEHDI AL-MUNTATHAR UNION Al Mehdi Al-Muntathar Union contributed a $1,800 cash donation to the MRCSSI in The community s generous donation will support the Centre s community programs and its clinical services. As a result of their contribution, the Muslim Resource Centre is capable of continuing to provide its ongoing support and services to community members in London. 9

11 RECOGNITION AND AWARDS MRCSSI has received provincial and national recognition in addition to invitations to several government experts committees at the provincial level and the federal level. We also have been invited by several communities to consult on the development and launching of programs for the Muslim and Arabic communities across Ontario. These communities include Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor, Brantford, Owen Sound, Woodstock, and St. Thomas. We have established successful and thriving relationships with several educational institutions including University of Western Ontario, Kings College, the Center for Research on Violence Against Women and Children, University of Guelph, University of Ottawa and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Our Safe Integration Project (SIP) was featured on the United Nations website for migration and integration programs. Our Cultually Integrative Family Safety Response model attracted the editors of a new book titled Critical Issues on Violence Against Women: International Perspectives and Promising Strategies. The book will include a chapter authored by Dr. Baobaid on Promising Practices, which will highlight MRCSSI s innovative approach in responding to family violence in the context of collectivist cultures. In April 2013, a documentary was completed on one of the families in the Muslim Resource Centre s Safe Integration Program. Within the body of this documentary, a simulation of MRCSSI s Safe Integration model was recorded and captured on film as part of the documentary. This 90-minute documentary done in French was presented on television for the CBC network. Most recently, on November 19 th, 2013 the Muslim Resource Centre received the award for Community Impact at the Pillar Non-Profit Community Awards. The Centre was highlighted for our work in supporting immigrant families, our unique models addressing collectivist cultures, and our ability to forge strategic relationships between mainstream service providers and community organizations. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Zan Saleemi, Chair Saleha Khan, Vice Chair STAFF Salim Chahbar, Treasurer Melikie Joseph, Director Barb MacQuarrie, Director Awad Hilal, Director Mohammed Baobaid, PhD, Executive Director Eugene Tremblay, M.S.W., Program Manager Mavis Lau, Office Manager Hassna Nassir, Social Worker Alia Badri, PhD, Researcher Yasmin Hussain, Project Co-ordinator Gina Kayssi, Project Assistant A special thank you to all of our past staff and the many volunteers for helping us achieve what we have today! 10 9

12 Thank you to our funders Status of Women Canada Condition feminine Canada Department of Justice Canada Ministère de la Justice Canada The Kadri Charity Golf Classic And our community partners Children s Aid Society of London and Middlesex London Cross Cultural Learner Centre London Muslim Mosque Changing Ways Family Service Thames Valley York Region Children s Aid Society Family and Children s Services of Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington Children's Aid Society of Ottawa Muslim Family Services of Ottawa Al-Mehdi Islamic Community Centre Social Services Network Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario Islamic Society of Kingston Women s Community House London Police Services Muslim Resource Centre For Social Support and Integration 111 Waterloo Street, Unit 211 London, ON, Canada N6B 2M4 P: E: admin@mrcssi.com