Evidence of meeting #8 for Justice and Human Rights in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was aboriginal.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ed Fast
Thank you.
Is there a short question from one more government member?
Mr. Woodworth.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Thank you.
I wanted to thank you also, all of you, for attending today.
In particular I was interested in the comments you made, Ms. Redsky, about the question of how to account for your work. You made a number of comments, one of which was that sometimes the reporting requires counting heads and counting problems and that really doesn't jibe with what you're doing. I understand that, because your goals are empowerment, purpose, and acceptance. It's hard to measure those things. On the other hand, you gave a nice image about filling an empty bucket with a hole in it and wondering where the sand is going, so you can understand that people do need a sense of accomplishment and a sense of measurement.
Your centre has been in action since 1984, so I would be grateful if you could tell us how you measure your success. How do you measure your outcomes, and how can we report back and say this is what this agency has done to make things better?
12:40 p.m.
Director of Programs, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc.
We have been moving towards a reporting framework around looking at how people change and how the types of programs, opportunities, and things that we offer have made a difference in their lives. That always starts with a strength-based approach. So when people walk in, we're not checking the boxes: this is how many alcoholics we have, how many criminals, and how many people who lost their kids to child welfare. We have boxes that say this is how many people are carpenters, this is how many work well with children, this is how many are a Mr. or Mrs. Fix-It, and this is how many play music.
So we're looking at the strengths, and that's one of the key shifts we've made from really a deficit-driven kind of reporting. We find that kind of reporting harder to do than the capacity-building, strength-based approach. Collecting that data, we value every person who comes in because they're a human being with something to offer, and as we value people with their strengths, they feel they have the confidence and the self-esteem to do that.
What we do is monitor the programs and services that they're accessing and their role in the community. While everybody does it, some people do it faster and some people take a little longer. We report on people's activities and how they end up being involved in the community, how they end up doing things for themselves to better their family, whether it's going back to school or whatnot, and we create those opportunities within the organization.
So when people come in, they volunteer for a bit, and then they work part-time for a bit, and then they're going back to school or they're working full-time. Our organization is made up of all those people who have come in at one point in time for service. So it's documenting those. For us, it's not how many alcoholics we served and who may have changed or not; it's how many people have come in, were honoured for who they were, the types of opportunities they accessed, and then how they gave back.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
If there were more time, I'd ask a little more, but I think I'm out of time.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Ed Fast
Thank you.
Thank you to all of you for your unique insights into this problem. We're going to be preparing a report probably over the next couple of months, which will hopefully address at least some aspects of organized crime, and you provided a unique perspective on that whole very pressing problem.
So, again, thank you to all of you.
We're adjourned.