Authentic, evidence-based research is a powerful tool for mobilizing communities. It provides direction and accountability to planning, inspires confidence in program participation, and attracts funding support.
The papers listed here detail research initiatives that are providing guidance to program and service providers working with children and families on the North Shore. Our aim is to present work that is particularly relevant to increasing the capacity of North Shore agencies to serve families well.
Our Children’s Voices: The Middle Years Development Instrument
A new tool – the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) – has been designed to fill in this gap. The MDI was developed via a partnership among individuals at the Vancouver School Board, the United Way of the Lower Mainland, and the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) of the University of British Columbia (UBC)
to collect population-level information on children. The MDI is a child self-report survey that gathers information from children on their social and emotional development, physical health and well-being, relationships and connectedness with parents, school and neighbourhood adults, and peers, school experiences, and how they spend their time during the after-school hours.
Kids Can Cope: Parenting Resilient Children at Home and at School is a publication from the Psychology Foundation of Canada. It defines resiliency, discusses how resiliency develops in children and how parents can support it, and looks at resiliency at school and for parents:
Reaching Families on the North Shore – Current Perceptions of Services and Needs
The finding of this report seek to understand what services and supports are being utilized by parents with young children (ages 0-6), their levels of satisfaction with supports and services, and their barriers and perceived gaps.
15 x 15: A Comprehensive Policy Framework for Early Human Capital Investment in BC.
This report dramatically illustrates why all of us –individuals, businesses, and governments –should care about the real brain drain in BC resulting from early vulnerability.