Prevention Team

Our Wise Practice is:

‘Lum-stam’sh’ - ‘show me' so I can show my children

The Prevention Team provides delegated services to respond, assess, address and enmesh positive behavioural change in care practices for children and youth. The Prevention Team’s  mandate is to provide applied responses to the Cowichan community’s needs, through preventative, planned and preservation-based wrap around supports to stabilize the family environment of care around children while children are in the parent’s care. This includes services and needs-based programming that are embedded in Cowichan Teachings and available to Cowichan families both on and off reserve.

The team utilizes aspects of MCFD Protection Policies, however, has primarily utilizes a culturally respectful protocol and standards called R.A.A.E.

“Responding-Assessing-Addressing-Enmeshing”

R.A.A.E. embeds strengthened parenting behaviours to encourage the parent and child’s relationship to one of supportive, culturally rooted and attuned caring. Our goals and values are related to the preservation of Cowichan culture and we believe that starts with strengthening families and walking with families to navigate challenges and manifest already existing strengths.
“Prevention will be able look at the roots and ecological factors that brought us into the families lives and … be able to take necessary steps to explore and support those rooted and underlying factors more intensively…Prevention utilizes relational, trauma informed practices by meeting families where they are at, in homes and community every single day for extended periods of time to increase capacities and resilience.”

Prevention Manager – responsible for the overall functioning of the team, adherence to the policies and legislation currently governing the delegated work of the team, meeting audit standards for service delivery, ensuring the Rights of Cowichan Citizen’s is upheld, ensuring the comprehensive illustration of the RAAE protocol and reporting on activities, service delivery and statistical data, consults regularly with the Quality Assurance Manager on practice, reports to the Executive Director and maintains the daily operations of the prevention services  for the Agency.

Transitions Social Worker – responsible for the ‘journey through care’ of children and youth involved with child welfare services through Lalum’utul Smun’eem CFS. This role carries the responsibility of maintaining the integrity and applicability of services (medical, educational, specialist) through a child or youth’s movement in, out, and between care providers. Tasked with the responsibility of Life Books for all children under any legal orders to be out of a parent’s care, the role ensures the child’s best interest as well as consistency of services for children and youth. This role participates as an advocate for the child’s voice in case planning, care plan development, child plan development and supports rescindment transitions back into family care.

Cultural Rights Worker (CRW) – in respect of the inherent right of all Cowichan children and youth to be connected to their culture and community and in acknowledgment of the responsibility of Lalum’utul Smun’eem CFS to ‘take care’ of Cowichan children and youth, the CRW role on the Prevention team applies a Roots perspective to Cowichan children and youth residing in other communities across British Columbia. This role is responsible for the ongoing community connections for sibling groups and children and youth in care residing ‘away from home.’ This role works with the Agency teams to provide an annual ‘Honouring Our Children’ ceremony to welcome identified children and their care family’s home to Cowichan territory. 

Family Development Social Worker(s)– The role of the Family Development Social Worker (FDSW) is to support and respond to families with low to moderate risk of further involvement with child welfare services without intervention and support from a Family Development or Voluntary Services perspective. The FDR worker carries a small caseload and supports families in achieving goals to successfully overcome concerns and support needs as identified by the Child Safety social worker. This role is expected to be primarily community-based, working with families and children in their homes and in the community

Intensive Prevention Social Worker(s) - The Intensive Preservation Social Worker (IPSW) provides concentrated prevention services to children and families where a child is at imminent risk of coming out of parental care due to a high vulnerability rating as assessed by the Child Safety Team. Responsibilities include delegated case management, inclusive of identifying escalations in risk to children in the family home, as well as screening new protection reports on open cases; engaging with families on an intensive and at times, daily basis; and identifying if further assessment/intervention is required. This position utilizes the Family Development Response (FDR) model of intervention 

Community Resource Outreach Worker – works in direct support to families by providing community service navigation through the Prevention Library resources and assists them in accessing services available in the community to strengthen the environment of care around their children. This position is responsible for advocating and connecting families, children and youth to services to support their wellbeing and encourage safe, secure, and supported care of children within their families and onsite referral supports. As education is a key responsibility of the Community Resource Outreach Worker, this role is available for all community education campaigns, community programming.