Profile of an Inter-Sectoral Issue

Profi le of an Inter-Sectoral Issue: Children Not In School by Jenny Gold Community-University Institute for Social Research CUISR is a partnership between a set of community-based organizations (including Saskatoon District Health, the City of Saskatoon, Quint Development Corporation, the Saskatoon Regional Intersectoral Committee on Human Services) and a large number of faculty and graduate students from the University of Saskatchewan. CUISR’s mission is “to serve as a focal point for community-based research and to integrate the various social research needs and experiential knowledge of the community-based organizations with the technical expertise available at the University. It promotes, undertakes, and critically evaluatea applied social research for community-based organizations, and serves as a data clearinghouse for applied and community-based social research. The overall goal of CUISR is to build the capacity of researchers, community-based organizations and citizenry to enhance community quality of life.” This mission is refl ected in the following objectives: (1) to build capacity within CBOs to conduct their own applied social research and write grant proposals; (2) to serve as a conduit for the transfer of experientially-based knowledge from the community to the University classroom, and transfer technical expertise from the University to the community and CBOs; (3) to provide CBOs with assistance in the areas of survey sample design, estimation and data analysis, or, where necessary, to undertake survey research that is timely, accurate and reliable; (4) to serve as a central clearinghouse, or data warehouse, for community-based and applied social research fi ndings; and (5) to allow members of the University and CBOs to access a broad range of data over a long time period. As a starting point, CUISR has established three focused research modules in the areas of Community Health Determinants and Health Policy, Community Economic Development, and Quality of Life Indicators. The three-pronged research thrust underlying the proposed Institute is, in operational terms, highly integrated. The central questions in the three modules—community quality of life, health, and economy—are so interdependent that many of the projects and partners already span and work in more than one module. All of this research is focused on creating and maintaining healthy, sustainable communities. Research is the driving force that cements the partnership between universities, CBOs, and government in acquiring, transferring, and applying knowledge in the form of policy and programs. Researchers within each of the modules examine these dimensions from their particular perspective, and the results are integrated at the level of the Institute, thus providing a rich, multi-faceted analysis of the common social and economic issues. The integrated results are then communicated to the Community and the University in a number of ways to ensure that research makes a difference in the development of services, implementation of policy, and lives of the people of Saskatoon and Saskatchewan. CUISR gratefully acknowledges support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through their Community University Research Alliance program. CUISR also acknowledges the support of other funding partners, particularly the University of Saskatchewan, the City of Saskatoon, Saskatoon Health Region, Quint Development Corporation, and the Star Phoenix, as well as other community partners. The views expressed in this report, however, are solely those of the authors. Profi le of an Inter-Sectoral Issue: Children Not In School by Jenny Gold Community – University Institute for Social Research 289 John Mitchell Building 118 Science Place Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2 phone (306) 966-2121 fax (306) 966-2122 e-mail [email protected] www.usask.ca/cuisr Copyright © 2004 Jenny Gold Community-University Institute for Social Research University of Saskatchewan All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. In the case of photocopying or other forms of reprographic reproduction, please consult Access Copyright, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, at 1-800- 893-5777. CUISR acknowledges the following for their contributions to this publication: Nazeem Muhajarine, Academic Co-Director, CUISR; and Academic Co-Leader; Stephen Whitehead, Community Co-Leader, Community Health Determinants and Health Policy Module, CUISR Kate Waygood, Community Co-Director, CUISR Neil Soiseth, Editing, Interior Layout, and Design Printed in Canada by Printing Services, University of Saskatchewan ABSTRACT Through an examination of scholarly literature, Saskatoon-specifi c data, and interviews with key stakeholders, this report analyzes the factors that increase the likelihood of a child leaving school prior to completing his/her education. The textual analysis is buttressed by numerous charts and graphs and a thorough compilation of stakeholders and protective resources in Saskatoon. This report concludes with several recommendations for reducing or eliminating the risk factors that lead to this problem. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all those who contributed to the production of this profi le. With their assistance and insight, it was possible to provide a detailed profi le of the children not in school issue in a short time frame. I would especially like to thank Cory Neudorf, Michael Quennell, Gail Mckenzie Wilcox, and Leanne McLean for their guidance and knowledge of Saskatoon, and the Community University Institute for Social Research (CUISR) for funding this research. Thanks are also due to those who were interviewed, the Public and Catholic School Boards, and all those who provided reports, data, and technical assistance CUISR Monograph Series • INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND The Saskatoon community is increasingly concerned about the issue of children not enrolled in school, also known as “at-risk children.” Conferences and discussions held in the past several years have identifi ed several important areas: • the breadth and complexity of factors and needs; • a holistic approach, including collaboration among human services; • the involvement of families and children in solution seeking; • the importance of sensitivity and involvement of Aboriginal communities; • a variety of entry and re-entry points; and • a formal tracking system. The reasons offered as to why a child or youth may not attend school are numerous and varied. Intertwined factors, such as income, parenting/family life, quality of housing and surrounding neighbourhood, pre-school experiences, access to recreation, culture, school environment, and a sense of belonging to the community are repeatedly mentioned by key stakeholders—teachers, school administrators, human service workers, children, youth, and parents. These protective resources and others are believed to help determine and support a child’s entry and success at school. The wide range of determinants that infl uence school success indicates that many human service sectors need to be involved in planning and actions on the issue of children not in school. There needs to be inter- sectoral work on the issue. Those sectors that need to be involved include Education, Social Services, and Health, as well as other levels of government, such as municipal and First Nations. INTER-SECTORAL PLANNING AND INFORMATION SHARING Involving many sectors in planning and actions on inter-sectoral issues is challenging because of these issues’ breadth and the many intertwined factors. A key challenge is information sharing. This is important for both inter-sectoral planning and problem analysis. Decision-makers identify population needs, set priorities, and evaluate service outcomes through shared information. Concerns regarding information sharing include the means by which information is collected, used, and shared among other stakeholders. One-step to improve information sharing and inter-sectoral work is to build a Comprehensive Community Health Information System (CCHIS), a project started by Saskatoon District Health (SDH) and supported by the Regional Inter-sectoral Committee (RIC). The project would assemble, analyze, and disseminate information to decision-makers for planning related purposes. CCHIS is more appropriately called a comprehensive community information system (CCIS) because it would include local qualitative and quantitative data from many sectors. 2 Children Not In School • FOCUS OF CURRENT PROFILE This report seeks to build a city-wide and neighbourhood level profi le of the issue of children not in school. The profi le also demonstrates potential benefi ts of information sharing across human service sectors and communities for use in collaborative, broad- based strategies and evidence-based planning. In turn, the profi le demonstrates the importance of working towards implementing a project such as CCHIS. Also, the formal student tracking system proposed by the provincial government can benefi t from methodologies used and lessons learned from this formative exercise. Moreover, this report contributes to future resource-based planning through the indexing and mapping of key resources presently available. This profi le was created by assembling, discussing, and analyzing “available” information on factors that determine whether children aged 6 to 18 years are enrolled in school. Throughout the profi le, children who experience multiple factors are

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