Child and Family Policies

Strategies, Struggles and Options

Edited by Jane Pulkingham, Gordon Ternowetsky

The papers in this collection address the changing context of child and family policies which have been ushered in by the Liberal government’s Social Security Review (SSR). The contributions analyze the implications of government policy shifts showing how they are particularly devastating for children of low income, welfare, first nations and single parent families. They suggest policy options and some directions that advocacy groups might take in developing a politics of influence.

Contents

• Introduction: The Changing Context of Child and Family Policies (Pulkingham and Ternowetsky)
• Part 1: Feminist and First Nations Critiques of Child Welfare
• Portraying Child Welfare in the Press (M. and K. Callahan)
• Least Disruptive and Intrusive Course of Action...For Whom? Insights from Feminist Analysis of Practice in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse (Julia Krane)
• The Gove Report and First Nations Child Welfare (Glen Schmidt)
• Decentralized Social Services and Self-Government: Challenges for First Nations (Diane Gray)
• Connecting Policy and Practice in First Nations Child and Family Services: A Manitoba Case Study (Brad MacKenzie)
• Part 2: Child and Family Poverty
• Evaluating Income Support Programs and Policy Options–Campaign 2000: Child and Family Poverty (David Hay)
• Identifying Low Wage Workers and Policy Options (Clarence Lochhead)
• Fighting Child Poverty with Parental Work Income Supplements (Steven Kerstetter)
• Part 3: Advocacy and the Politics of Influence
• Advocacy, Political Alliances and the Implementation of Family Policies (Maureen Baker)
• Child Poverty Advocacy and the Politics of Influence (Susan McGrath)
• “My Kids Come First”: The Contradictions of Mothers’ Involvement in Childcare Delivery (Susan Prentice and Evelyn Ferguson)

About the Authors

Jane Pulkingham is a Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh in Sociology and Social Policy. Her work adopts a critical social policy focus and concentrates on contemporary welfare state restructuring, social policy and inequality particularly as it relates to women’s income security and well being, broadly defined. She is actively involved in a variety of research, service and policy networks within and outside the university setting. These include the Institute for Critical Studies in Gender and Health (ICSGH) at Simon Fraser University; Feminist Studies in Law and Society (FISLS) at Simon Fraser University; the Canadian Council on Social Development (member, Board of Directors) and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, B.C. Office (Research Advisor and Research Associate). She serves on the editorial board of Canadian Public Policy.

Jane’s publications include: Public Policy for Women; Living on Welfare in British Columbia (with S. Klein); Remaking Canadian Social Policy; Child and Family Policies: Struggles, Strategies and Options (both co-edited with Gordon Ternowetsky)