Collaboration Enhances Resiliency in Workers

1. Collaboration Enhances Resiliency in Workers

2. Young Parents No Fixed Address Working together to help young families survive and thrive.

3. YPNFA History • The Young Parents No Fixed Address network (YPNFA) was convened in 1997 to examine the increasing numbers of pregnant young women being seen by the agencies dealing with homeless youth in Toronto and following the death of a 5 week old baby while in the care of his homeless teen mother. • It is often a tragedy that brings groups of people together with a common focus. • Young Parents No Fixed Address (YPNFA) is now a collaborative network of 37 agencies and organizations from across Toronto (88 front line staff) dedicated to building strong community partnerships and innovative solutions to address the issues and barriers faced by young street involved / homeless pregnant and parenting youth as well as those who work with and for these families. • During the last 15 years our network has developed several innovative and responsive solutions to the issues faced by this population (Housing at 1900 Sheppard Ave W.; Respite Care at Jessie’s; Passport Program at St. Michael’s Hospital, a city wide Count of Births to Homeless Young Women, Wrap Around for Young Parents). • WE OFFER: Monthly network meetings. Regular and relevant email/information sharing. Sharing of resources, consultation, success stories. Project development and implementation. Advocacy and petitions/letter writing.

4. 15 years ago a tragedy15 years later a legacy

5. Birkdale Residence Children’s Aid Society of Toronto Catholic Children’s Aid Society Central Intake Central Toronto Youth Services Covenant House East Metro Youth Services Evergreen Centre/Yonge St. Mission EYET Early Years & RENT Family Residence Hospital for Sick Children, Young Families Program Humewood House Jean Tweed Centre / Pathways to Healthy Families Jessie’s -June Callwood Centre for Young Women LAMP Community Health Centre Literature for Life Macaulay Child Development Centre Massey Centre for Women Mothercraft / Breaking the Cycle Native Child & Family Services Oolagen Community Service Parkdale Community Health Centre Planned Parenthood of Toronto Queen W. CHC- Shout Clinic Regent Park CHC Renascent Centre Robertson House Rosalie Hall Rouge Valley-Centenary Second Base Youth Shelter St. Michael’s Hospital Toronto Public Health University of Toronto Woodgreen Community Services: Homeward Bound Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke Yorktown Child & Family Services Youth Unlimited: Time Out for Young Mothers YPNFA Members

6. IT TAKES A VILLAGE

7. Maya Angelou I'm not sure if resilience is ever achieved alone. Experience allows us to learn from example. …….it's easier to grow resilience, to grow belief in self, to grow self-esteem. And it's self-esteem that allows a person to stand up.

8. RESILIENCE • Resilience is both the capacity of individuals (WORKERS) to navigate their way to the psychological, social, cultural, and physical resources that sustain their well-being, and their capacity individually and collectivelyto negotiate for these resources to be provided in culturally meaningful ways." • Understood this way, resilience is a social construct that identifies both processes and outcomes associated with what people themselves term 'well-being'. It makes explicit that resilience is more likely to occur when we provide the services, supports, and health resources that make it more likely for the individual (WORKER)..to do well. In this sense, resilience is the result of both successful navigation to resources and negotiation for resources to be provided in meaningful ways. Taken from the Resilience Research Centre website http://www.resilienceproject.org/ This is What the YPNFA Network Aims to Do !!!

9. Collaboration = Support = Resilience • In the USA, a research study by Um and Harrison (1998) of over 160 clinical social workers revealed that social support, the role of coworkers, collectives and support groups had a particularly significant effect in mediating burnout, and also improved job satisfaction. Koeske and Koeske (1989), Himleet al. (1989) and Shin et al. (1984) were other American researchers to have emphasized the positive significance of social worker support groups compared with other forms of support. • The Children’s Partnership on Health in Ontario noted… Having such a diverse range of voices, speaking jointly, meant their voice was particularly powerful. “In the end, we just wrote one letter. That’s unusual for an NGO campaign! We wrote one letter to the minister, and we all signed it. And we got the policy change we asked for, because everybody was on board, from several different perspectives.” • “Through a collaborative partnership approach, the sharing of skills, resources and ideas strengthens the community as a whole and opens the door to innovation, change and growth. “ (Public Sector Digest: Strategic Investments & Partnerships June 2011, by Michelle Baldwin, Executive Director, Pillar Nonprofit Network, & GerdaZonruiter, Social Policy & Planning Researcher, the City of London)

10. Collaboration = Support = Resilience • “workers’ support groups encouraged discussion, built consensus, coalitions and networks, helped members articulate agency demands, enabled them to be clearer about explicit and implicit rules and role conflict issues—encouraging movement towards resolution of these issues, while clarifying the workers’ own sense of role and mission. Furthermore, a high note of personal accomplishment and rewards came through involvement in group membership. Therefore, the clear message from most research studies of stress and social workers is that support from colleagues is a significant buffer against stress.” (Stewart Collins: British Journal of Social Work (2008) 38, 1173–1193 Statutory Social Workers: Stress, Job Satisfaction, Coping, Social Support and Individual Differences. ) • Gibson et al.’s (1989) work with social workers in Northern Ireland indicated that colleagues were a primary source of support for 80 per cent of the respondents—way ahead of support from one’s own organization (3 per cent) and professional organizations (2 per cent).

11. Collaboration = Support = Resilience • in Competencies for Practice in the Field of Infant Mental Health (IMHP 2002). This document acknowledged that the level of knowledge and skills differ by discipline and area of practice, and that no individual service provider is expected to have all the competencies. Instead the document recommended that:all practitioners have access to consultation and collaboration through individual supervision, other team members or experts from other agencies in the system in order to meet the variety of needs of high-risk families and children. • No one can do this work alone. Integrating teams of professionals and paraprofessionals who have passion for this work, ensuring training and supervision for all, and consultation from experts allows for the provision of the variety of the intervention strategies needed by high-risk families. (from: Best Start Resource Centre. (2012). When Compassion Hurts: Burnout, Vicarious Trauma and Secondary Trauma in Prenatal and Early Childhood Service Providers. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: author.)

12. Collaboration = Support = Resilience • Although the members of YPNFAmight not identify it as a Support Group they would most certainly identify it as a Supportive Network. • At every monthly meeting workers from a variety of agencies meet and have the opportunity to network, provide agency updates and also to discuss any barriers/challenges/frustrations that they or their clients may be facing in accessing supports and resources. And we create solutions to these barriers. • We also share success stories. Professional and Personal ones !!

13. DOES COLLABORATION ENHANCE RESILIENCY??? What Our Members Have to Say…..

14. What Our Members Have to Say: YES,networking/collaboration enhances worker resiliency! There are a number of reasons I can think of off the top of my head, not least of which is that it de-isolates workers, who often feel, or find, that they are working alone to further a clients' interests.  As we know, front line work can be draining, and it is as important to support workers as it is to support those on whose behalf they work.  A close second would be that collaboration helps ensure that clients get the best services that we, on the whole, have to offer.  This, too goes to build/support workers' resiliency  -- workers want what's best for their clients, even when this isn't always something they as individuals can deliver.  When we work in collaboration we can all do the thing or things we're best at, and rely on our colleagues to do the thing or things they're best at.  This does not mean we don't strive to learn and develop new competencies, but that we learn from those who've gone before us and mastered these.  Inasmuch as we seek to role model for our clients, we depend on our colleagues to be our own mentors and teachers. H.K.

15. What Our Members Have to Say: • “fostering a sense of 'team' for workers who often work autonomously is an important tool in fostering worker satisfaction and, I would say resiliency to perform tough jobs a bit easier.” • “It permits a more complete review and allows for inclusion of full options re: intervention. It can also serve as an opportunity to vent and serve as being emotionally cathartic for the worker in some instances.” • “Definitely for me as a researcher. I feel that results are channelled directly to those on the front lines. Equally, if not more important, is the fact that I can sit at a meeting and learn about the current issues in the field, which is so much more effective, interesting and meaningful then learning about the area from journal articles.” • “ABSOLUTELY!!! Like, DUHH! Right!”

16. Practice What We Preach • Expression of Feelings: In mental health, one of the most common goals for clients/patients, whether children or adults, is being able to identify and express feelings. We know the value of this and the cost of keeping feelings in, or ignoring feelings. • Service providers may also need to work on expressing feelings. (from: Best Start Resource Centre. (2012). When Compassion Hurts: Burnout, Vicarious Trauma and Secondary Trauma in Prenatal and Early Childhood Service Providers. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: author.) And I would add they need to be given the time & space to do this. This is Also What the YPNFA Network Aims to Do BECAUSE: ……

17. IT TAKES A VILLAGE

18. Contact Us Young Parents No Fixed Address Coordinator: Yvette Roberts c/o Oolagen Community Services 65 Wellesley St E. Suite 500 Toronto, ONT. 416-395-0660, ext. 238 yvette@oolagen.org www.ypnfa.ca