Voices of Family

Susan Gamache, Registered Psychologist shares with us information and tips on what to expect as a family navigates separation, Divorce and remarriage.

Susan Gamache, Registered Psychologist shares with us information and tips on what to expect as a family navigates separation, Divorce and remarriage.

Canada is witnessing a significant change to the delivery of services for families and children says Janice MacAulay, Executive Director of FRP Canada. This shift towards more of an educational model of care for younger children seems to make a lot of sense to many individuals as it is thought that children will then have a good sound bases for later learning. But what are the long-term impacts of a system that asks parents to take a backseat in their roll as parents and leave parenting and learning to the professionals?

Does Canada work for all generations? Intergenerational tensions are emerging across Canada, and especially in BC. The generation raising young kids today is struggling with a serious decline in the standard of living since the 1970s, and within this generation some struggle more than others. Compared to the previous generation, young families have less time together, less household income after housing, and insufficient services to balance work and young kids.

Today's Parent columnist John Hoffman is never one to shy away from controversy. John contends that there is currently such a vast amount of information about parenting practices floating around that it is often difficult for parents to sift through it and determine what is relevant to them. And it's not just that there's too much information out there, according to Hoffman, it's that too often the latest scientific studies are being misrepresented -- their findings oversimplified, or taken out of context. John's conclusion? Listen in to find out!

Janene Swalwell, a Parent-Child Mother Goose leader from Australia shares with us the joys and challenges of working with families in the Parent-Child Mother Goose program. The program has been wonderful success in Australia and Janene tells us why. Listen in!

Program Coordinator Ruby Banga chats with Christine Colbert, Director of Projects and Research at Family Resource Programs of Canada about the FutureSave Program. FutureSave uses a train-the-trainer approach with the aim of preparing family serving practitioners to provide information to parents about RESP’s, grant and bond programs and to share tips and tools on savings and basic financial literacy.

Mimi Hudson, President of the BC Association for Family Resource Programs, reminds us that "parents are their children's first and most important teachers". That's why FRP-BC is proposing a strengthened system of family resource programs in our province, through linkage with Strong Start early learning centres.

"Anger shows up to give you energy to create change,"explains Laura Calderon de la Barca. An anger management therapist, Calderon's unique perspective on anger will suprise and inspire you, and change the way you work with parents and families who experience anger.

Just in time for Fathers Day, we talk to Brian Russell of the Ontario Father Involvement Initiative about the secrets to successful programs and services to dads, and about the recent launch of the website 24-Hour Cribside Assistance -- an online how-to manual for new dads.

Celebrating teen parent success! That's what Mary Dolan and Kathy Payne are doing, following the release of the Growing Together Child and Parent Society Longitudinal Follow-Up Study documenting the effects of the Cowichan Valley's young parent program. David Sheftel interviews Mary and Kathy, the former and current directors of the program.

Abbotsford Community Services is a BC pioneer and a leader in providing support and services to fathers in their community. David Sheftel met with Jeff Mclean, Ed Friesen, and Louise Smith to discuss the recent Vancouver Foundation funded 3 year evaluation of Abbotsford’s fathering programs, which sheds light on the strategies the programs have used to ensure success, and offers recommendations for building long-term sustainability in fathering programs and services.

What do youthful survivors of suicide need and want from professionals, family members, and concerned adults in their lives? Dr. Jennifer White, Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria's School of Child and Youth Care was closely involved in the development of the recently released youth suicide prevention video, "Left 2 Live." In this interview, she shares what she has learned over the course of a twenty year career in suicide prevention -- and what she has learned from bereaved youth.

Program Coordinator David Sheftel sits down with Betsy Dew, Executive Director of Great Kids Inc to talk about the theory and practice of home visiting. Listen in for tips and best practices for Home Visitors.

David Sheftel chats with UBC Associate Professor Kimberly Schonert-Reichl about Vancouver’s groundbreaking 2010 Middle Years Development Instrument.

In our latest Voices of Family podcast we catch up with Dr. Carol Matusicky, the Council’s beloved former executive director, to find out what she’s been up to lately (as usual, she’s been up to a lot!) and talk with her about the health of the family serving sector.

Busy working parents, more involved fathers, new pressures on kids, the advent of technology. What does it all mean for parenting education? Renowned Canadian researcher, writer, and family educator Betsy Mann shares her insights on how to support families in a rapidly changing world.  What are the keys to reaching the hard to reach? How can we communicate the value of parenting education better?  What do people just entering the field need to know?  Listen in for intriguing answers to these and other topical concerns.

We sit down with Sandy Shuler, co-creator of the acclaimed parenting program "Effective Co-Parenting: Putting Kids First", to discuss the role of the family professional in supporting children and parents through divorce and separation.

Rachel Epstein, researcher, advocate and author, joins us for a discussion of the evolution of queer parenting in Canada, and about our changing ideas about family in this country. Ruby Banga, Provincial Coordinator of the BC Nobody's Perfect Parenting Program, hosts.

Join us to hear Dr. Berna Skrpnek discuss the findings of her extensive, three-year evaluation of the effectiveness of popular Canadian parenting program Nobody’s Perfect. Do parenting programs really make a difference in families? We’ll find out. David Sheftel, provincial coordinator of the Father Involvement Network of BC and an experienced Nobody’s Perfect facilitator and trainer, hosts.

Listen in as noted Canadian fathering researcher Dr. David Long discusses the challenges of modern fatherhood and the keys to building effective community supports for fathers. Hosted by Father Involvement Network of BC's David Sheftel.