Intersectoral Collaboration

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Intersectoral Collaboration

• An Initiative
• Promoting collaboration among the three sectors
  of the social work profession

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• The Three Sectors
• Practice Sector Education Sector
• Carries out social work Prepares
  students for
• practice in diverse fields skilled
  and ethical
• social work practice
• Regulatory Sector
• Protects the public interest
• by ensuring skilled and ethical
• social work practice

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Background

• Social Work Forum sponsored by CASW in Montreal
  in 2001
• Goal to foster better understanding of, and
  respect for, the social work education,
  regulatory and practice perspectives of the
  profession and how they intersect, in order to
  ensure that the public is well served.

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Objectives

• To encourage and enable communication among the
  three sectors of the profession
• To jointly identify and prioritize common issues
• To explore potential joint plans of action to
  address priority issues
• To explore how to make the Forum an on-going
  activity

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Priorities Identified in 2001

• Better links among three sectors
• Protection enhancement of professional identity
• Promotion of human rights social justice
• Definition clarification of competencies
• Working in a social order based on exclusion
• Development of practice-based research
• Problems of deterioration of the workplace

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Outcomes of Forum

• Plan of action not fully developed
• No formal commitment made to collaboration
• Numbers involved made follow-up cumbersome
• Agreement on Internal Trade became major focus
• No subsequent Forum was held

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History of this Initiative

• June 2006 CASW board discussed renewing
  initiative
• November 2006 CASW and CASWE (CASSW) signed MOU
  agreeing to communicate and collaborate on issues
  of joint concern
• Intersectoral Collaboration Working Group
  established with CASW and CASWE
• Initiative incomplete without participation of
  regulatory sector but no equivalent national body
  

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History of this Initiative (contd)

• Working group held teleconference with
  representatives of all regulatory bodies
• All invited to participate in face-to-face
  meeting in PEI, June 2007
• Strong consensus on issues but not on
  representation/participation
• Working Group established a small task group to
  summarize issues draft MOU
• Voluntary participation in task group invited
  from regulators

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Intersectoral Task Group

• One person from each sector
• Worked from July September 2007
• Prepared background document summarising history
  of initiative to date, including issues and
  recommendations from PEI meeting report
• Drafted Memorandum of Understanding

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Memorandum of Understanding

• Draft circulated in fall 2007
• Teleconferences October 2007 and February 2008
• Feedback from all sources incorporated
• Representation of regulatory sector the most
  difficult issue
• Representation finally agreed on
• 4 CASW
• 4 CASWE
• 4 free-standing and 4 CASW regulators, pending
  formation of National Council of SW Regulators

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Memorandum of Understanding

• More formal than previous initiative
• Sets out
• Purpose
• Principles
• Commitments
• Structure
• Operational Guidelines

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• Purpose
• to promote communication, connection and
  collaboration among the three sectors (education,
  practice and regulation) of the social work
  profession in Canada.
• Principles
• The social work profession is committed to the
  fundamental goal of advancing social justice.
• All clients have the right to receive skilled and
  ethical social work services.
• All three sectors share the goal of collaborating
  to fulfill these roles. 

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• Commitments
• To work collaboratively to identify and
  prioritize issues of shared concern to all three
  sectors
• To recognize and respect the specific roles
  played by each individual sector
• To recognize that differences exist in
  legislation and policy within different
  jurisdictions
• To promote communication and collaboration among
  the sectors at the national, provincial and
  territorial levels.

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• Structure
• Steering Committee to identify priority issues
  equal representation from CASW, CASWE, CASW
  member regulators, and free-standing regulatory
  bodies
• Task Groups to work on priority issues equal
  sectoral representation, chaired by Steering
  Committee member but may draw participants from
  member groups
• Consultative processes and feedback loops at both
  levels

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• Criteria for Deciding Priority Issues
• Does this issue affect all three sectors?
• Is there consensus that this issue needs to be
  addressed?
• Is there a role for each sector in addressing the
  issue?
• Will addressing the issue serve to unify and
  strengthen the social work profession?
• Will addressing the issue have a public
  education/promotion component?
• Will addressing the issue serve to build
  commitment among members of the profession?

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Some Identified Issues

• Disconnect between training/education and
  conditions of work/expectation of employers
• Generalist versus specialist skills
• Issues of multidisciplinary practice
• Lack of mentoring and clinical supervision for
  many social workers
• Recruitment and retention, particularly in remote
  areas
• Special needs of aboriginal communities
• Globalization and changes in national social
  policy
• International mobility and credentialling.

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Potential Areas for Collaboration

• Professional education strengthen the
  curriculum to prepare social workers for the
  environment they will work in
• Scope of practice of the social work profession
• Competencies and standards of practice (a) for
  entering the profession and (b) for specific
  areas of practice
• Continuing education delivery, evaluation,
  monitoring
• Research on external challenges (such as
  globalization and international mobility).

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Where Are We Now?

• Face-to-Face Meeting May 2008
• All three sectors participating
• Focus on deciding structure for collaboration
• Prioritize an issue of concern to all
• Move forward into action!