Islands of Safety A Safety Planning Model for Urban Aboriginal and Metis Families in Cases of Violence

1. Islands of SafetyA Safety Planning Model for Urban Aboriginal and Metis Families in Cases of Violence by Cathy Richardson, Allan Wade Reframing Practice Women’s Council for Domestic and Family Violence Services Perth, November 25, 2010 © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

2. We acknowledge the traditional caretakers of this land,the Noongar people, the elders, the ancestors, all women everywhere, especially those recovering from violence. © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

3. Creating A Space of Safety & Dignity. Li Bon Jeu, Not Creatoeur, li courage miyinauwn, paraycheeitayhtamawk, kwayeshkapimouhayhk, marseecheeitwayak ka kishcheetaimoyak. Marseed’twnana. God, our Creator, give us courage, let us be of one mind, make us righteous, thankful and proud. Thank you and Amen! © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

4. Cree, Dene, Gwichin AncestryRed River MetisFort ChipewyanFur Trading FamilyHudson’s Bay Co. Cathy Richardson Kianewesquao © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

5. The Islands of Safety Team Cathy Richardson & Allan Wade Cheryle Henry Family Therapists The Couples’ Love Guru © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

6. Team Members Jeff Smith Audrey Chartrand Erica Briggs Music therapist SW Grant writer Researcher © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

7. Working with Metis Community ServicesThere are approximately 8,000 Metis people on Vancouver Island…here are two of them. © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

8. Islands of Safety is…. -An orchestrated positive social response to victims of violence -An intervention for Metis & Urban Aboriginal families referred to the Ministry for reasons of violence -An Indigenous systemic-family therapy, feminist-informed, dignity-centered safety planning process -Committed to including dads, extended family & mothers with a focus on maternal safety and perpetrator accountability © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

9. Today we will focus on.. • Introduction & Community collaboration • Dignity, Responses to colonialism • Attending to Language • Process – How we start, Safety, Preparation • Interviewing, Medicine Wheel of Responses • Engaging Dads, Moms, Children, Social Workers • Family Meeting (Intro + 4 rounds + plan) • Story of Chad & Karla © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

10. Child Welfare & Legislation • The model is used in accordance with the British Columbia Child and Family Services Act, Section 15, Mediation, Traditional Dispute Resolution • Fits with recent shifts to a Collaborative Practice mandate • Referrals come from the Ministry of Children and Family Development child protection workers or Aboriginal agencies © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

11. Consultation Process • Phase One involved a process of community consultations with mothers, fathers, social workers, agency workers, advocates, family group conference facilitators, administrators, cultural teachers, elders • Metis elder Maria Campbell shared Cree and Metis teachings, that form the central theme, layers of blankets representing “Islands of Safety” © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

12. Centered on Dignity What does dignity mean to you? © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

13. Dignity relates to… Respect Cultural pride Integrity Wholeness Autonomy Self-governance Caring for Others Spirit © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

14. Dignity • Avoids telling people what to do • Allows maximize freedom in appointments, topics of discussion • Always asks permission, renegotiates each time • Makes the spirit of safety explicit • Treats people as responsible, choice-makers, acting with deliberation © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

15. Dignity involves…. • Manners • Social protocols • Avoiding humiliation in all encounters • Repairing social harm & embarrassment • Daily acts of kindness & caring • Allan’s story © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

16. Nelson Mandela I learned my lesson one day from an unruly donkey. We had been taking turns climbing up and down on its back and when my chance came I jumped on and the donkey bolted into a nearby thorn bush. It bent its head, trying to unseat me, which it did, but not before the thorns had pricked and scratched my face, embarrassing me in front of my friends. Like the people of the East, Africans have a highly developed sense of dignity, or what the Chinese call "face". I had lost face among my friends. Even though it was a donkey that unseated me, I learned that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel fate. Even as a boy, I defeated my opponents without dishonouring them. (1994, p. 11-12) © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

17. RigobertaMenchu © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

18. RigobertaMenchu I was five when [my mother] was doing this work and I looked after my little brother. I wasn't earning yet. I used to watch my mother, who often had the food ready at three o'clock in the morning for the workers who started work early, and at eleven she had the food for the midday meal ready. At seven in the evening she had to run around again making food for her group. In between times, she worked picking coffee to supplement what she earned. Watching her made me feel useless and weak because I couldn't do anything to help her except look after my brother. That's when my consciousness was born. It's true. My mother didn't like the idea of me working, of earning my own money, but I did. I wanted to work, more than anything to help her, both economically and physically. (1984, p. 34) © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

19. . Vaclav Havel Something of that early self-awareness probably stayed with me: My bourgeois background . . . awakened (or, more exactly, strengthened) within me something like a social emotion, an antagonism toward undeserved privileges, toward unjust social barriers, toward any kind of so-called higher standing predetermined by birth or by anything else, toward any humiliation of human dignity. (p. 7) I've always understood my mission to be to speak the truth . . . to warn rather than hand out prescriptions for change (p. 8) . . . to nourish the plurality of social association from below. (p. 21). © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

20. Dignity and Resistance For many victims, humiliation is the primary affront, the most lasting and painful injury “The bruises go away but you never forget what he said to you.” “He got my body but he didn’t get me.” Responses and resistance are often oriented to preserving, asserting dignity The violence may be only the first in a series of indignities delivered through social responses Our central task, whatever else we do, is to acknowledge the dignity to the victim © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

21. Signs of dignity © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

22. Dignity Across the Lifespan How do we attend to the dignity of the person at all ages? -before conception & birth? -in infancy & toddlerhood? -in childhood? -in adolescence? -in adulthood & in elderhood? © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

23. Acknowledging Cultural Perpspectives • Safety or Risk – Who gets to decide? © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

24. Dignity Through Attending to Language • Contesting the Colonial Code of Relations • Contesting the Parallel Objectifying Practices • Reversing the Four Operations • Awareness of embedded pre-suppositions & Advice-giving © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

25. Four Operations of Language Conceal Resistance Obscure Responsibility Blame Victim Conceal Violence © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

26. Reversing the Four Operations Clarify Responsibility Reveal Resistance Align with Victim Expose Full Extent of the Violence © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

27. Structure - Four Stages 1. Agency referral 2. Preparation & pre - planning meeting 3. The “Islands of Safety” meeting - a one day process (with similarities to FGC, but with an accentuated attention to safety where there has been violence) 4. Follow up meeting © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

28. Safety Criteria • The perpetrator has demonstrated . .. • that no immediate threat exists, as evidenced by others and those who have been harmed • a willingness to discuss the specific aspects of the violent behaviour • responsibility for the violent actions, acknowledged the actions as wrong, apologized to those harmed & taken steps to restore safety and recovery for the victim • a desire to become accountable, via a counsellor or third party • a desire to participate in child safety planning and contribute to child safety © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

29. Working with Family • Working with Dads • Working with Moms • Working with Children • Working with Social Workers © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

30. The Safety Conference • Introduction • Four Rounds of Structured Conversation • The Planning Process • Closure © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

31. The Safety Conference • Preparations are lead by those who are most vulnerable • Family invites family & support people • Children are invited to participate, in varying ways • The role of the social worker is to document the presence & signs of dignity for the family • Those who have committed violence attend if they meet the safety criteria © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

32. Introduction to the Day • Acknowledging the land, the ancestors, the diaspora • Introduction to “Islands of Safety” meeting and agenda • Introductions & acknowledging absent family members • Settling in, attending to comfort and psychological & physical safety (no rules) © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

33. Round One • Topic: Family History • Traditional or regular family life • Roles of family members • Underlying Assumption • Families have pre-existing ability © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

34. Round Two • Topic - Family History With Professionals • How is everyone doing now? • What do the facilitators/participants need to do to make this successful? • Underlying Assumptions • Attending to processes that reassert affronted dignity from past encounters • Avoiding the replication of dominance & colonization © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

35. Round Three • Topic: Family Responses to Violence & Threats • Protection concerns for the child (re: The Act) • Safety of the mother/non-offending parent • Underlying Assumptions • Safety is promoted through accurate accounts & through eliciting safety knowledge and responses to violence • Risk,safety & capacity can be viewed through responses © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

36. Round Four • Topic: Social Responses to Family Members • What kinds of social responses have the family received? • How do family members respond to the social responses? • Underlying Assumptions • Social responses are predictors of outcome • Resilience & Capacity are “group projects” • Pre-existing ability & family success can be eroded by negative social responses, particularly after disclosures of violence & requests for help © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

37. Private Family Safety Planning Time • Questions for Consideration • What is the family already doing to increase safety? • Who, what, where, why & how often? • Plan & Trial run • Plan presented to facilitators • Plan presented to child protection worker © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

38. Closing the Meeting • A plan is finalized which addresses the safety of the child, the non-offending parent, and the commitment of others to upholding safety, unity responsibility to upholding safety • The plan will be typed up by a facilitator and sent to the child protection worker & others chosen by the family • The facilitators and family select a communications committee date is chosenfor the follow up meeting, approximately three weeks in the future © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

39. Follow Up Meeting • Held approximately three weeks after the initial meeting • Communication team attends, consisting of the mother/non-offending parent, a facilitator, the child protection worker • Assess ongoing community supports to ensure family safety • Plan for closing the file © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

40. Interviewing For Accurate Accounts Identification Possible Change Responses & Resistance to Event Responses to Social Responses Social Responses To Event & To Family Event Dignity Safety Dignity Safety Dignity Safety © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

41. © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

42. Rabbit Proof Fence By Doris Pilkington Garmiara Activity: Medicine Wheel of Responses Contesting passivity Listing safety knowledges & responses to violence © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

43. The Story of Chad & Karla & Their Family © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

44. Making it safe enough to keep children at home © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

45. © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

46. The next time you look at a clear cut and see the destruction, consider all the parts of that ecosystem that are disrupted or destroyed. Nothing there will be the same again. That is what you do to us when you take our children away. Metiselder Angie Crear, Metis Nation of Alberta © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

47. Islands of Safety is an orchestrated positive social response to violence & a means to restoring dignity. © Catherine Richardson, November 2010

48. Thank you for listening! All our relations! © Catherine Richardson, November 2010