Chiefly funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Shared Journey Project (SJP) is the sharing of the experience of engagement between community and mainstream child protection services in London, Ontario to keep families safe and in their community. The purpose of the Shared Journey Project is the transfer of MRCSSI’s “culturally integrative model of child protection” to other Muslim communities as well as other collectivist communities in Ottawa, York and Kingston. The Child Welfare League of Canada as well as the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies have recognized that the partnership between MRCSSI and the CAS of Middlesex and London is a model that should be transferred to other metropolitan centres in Ontario.
Expected Outcomes of SJP
• Successful collaborative local relationships will be established between the respective Muslim communities, South Asian communities, and Children’s Aid Societies
• Improved child protection services capacity and responses to working with Muslim and South Asian immigrant and refugee families
• Increased capacities within the target Muslim and South Asian community organizations to support families and children at-risk of violence. Early intervention will reduce the potential of escalation of family conflict
• The project will also lay the foundation for building effective relationships with other cultural communities, especially those from immigrant collectivist cultures
