Canada Webinar: Re-Imagining Children's Rights Through a Family-Centred Lens

Every child has a right to a life free from harm within a community that supports them and their family to thrive.

But does every child get to experience these rights?

Join Starlings Community and their partners at Family Advocacy Support Centre, as they recognize National Child Day in a special webinar that will inspire a society that supports children to experience their rights through a Family Centred lens.

This 90-minute webinar will utilize lived experts along with professionals working within the youth and family advocacy sector to explore how substance use stigma affects youth whose parents have unaddressed trauma and problematic substance use, how the "child welfare" family policing system can impact families, and will ultimately empower a society that has the capacity to support EVERY child to experience their rights by applying a family centred lens.

Who should attend:

Any community member (including service providers) who is interested in removing barriers that harm families and who are eager to re-create a society that supports whole families to thrive.

SPEAKERS:

Agnes Chen , RN, Founder and Executive Director at Starlings Community

Agnes Chen is a proud mom of 4, a Registered Nurse, and the founder and Executive Director at Starlings Community, a not-for-profit whose mission is to protect the health and promote the healing of youth exposed to the stress and stigma of a parent’s substance use. Over the last 5 years, she has utilized her personal and professional experience to lead a national movement that recognizes the harm that substance use stigma imposes on the health and well-being of Canadian youth. Today, as a passionate advocate, she aims to ensure that families affected by intergenerational trauma and problematic substance use are protected from systemic harm and have equitable access to barrier-free resources that support their well-being within a compassionate society.

Rebecca Foshole-Luke: RSW, Founder and Executive Director at FASC

Rebecca Foshole-Luke is a forensic social worker who is passionate about the intersection of social work and the law. Her work is currently focused on systems change within the “child welfare” family policing system and ensuring more equitable outcomes for families that are in crisis. She is the founder and Executive Director of the new organization Family Advocacy Support Centre (FASC). FASC provides support, education, and advocacy for parents and caregivers impacted by the system. Rebecca is passionate about exploring how trauma-informed, antiracist community-centered, and equitable approaches can transform the way we provide social services. She is deeply invested in prioritizing individuals with lived experiences in her approach to systems change. Rebecca uses her lived experiences, education, and skills to find ways to influence anti-racist and anti-oppressive organizational and policy changes.

Cassandra Bandura, Criminology Student, Starlings Volunteer

Cassandra (she/her) is a volunteer with Starling's community and a student studying criminology at the University of Alberta. In light of her lived experience, vulnerability, and passion for social justice, Cassandra is paving the way for a society that supports youth who are impacted by the stigma of a parent's substance use. Based on her own experience as a youth losing her father and uncle to an overdose, finding a peer mentor group through Starlings Community has positively impacted her life and she encourages others to seek out people who understand, accept, and validate them and their experiences. Her hope is a future that has more resources and supports for youth and families impacted by the stigma of SUDs.

Kloey Cook, Indigenous Advocacy Student, Starlings Volunteer

Kloey Cook (Kawanáte) is a strong, proud Kanien’kehá woman and post secondary student who is studying Aboriginal Community Advocacy. As a child who was involved in the child welfare system and, today, as a youth of two moms who use substances, she is determined to use her strength and healing to break the stigma and shame that can come with parental substance use.

Lynne Marshalsay, Founder of Preserving Families Group, FASC Board Member

Lynne is a parent and grandparent, fierce advocate, and community leader with lived experience with the child welfare system. She is the founder of Preserving Families, a group for people that have been impacted by the child welfare system. Group members provide support to each other, share advice, educate and advocate for each other. Her biggest hope is for parents to feel valued and not judged, and that their voices be heard. She believes that the current system does not support parents or include them in decision-making around the care and well-being of their children. Parent's voices should be the loudest, and they should be involved in every aspect.

Alexandra Zybinova, Starlings Volunteer

Alexandra is a passionate advocate and volunteer at Starlings community who applies her lived experience of having a parent with substance use disorder to advocate for youth. By centering lived experience, utilizing anti-oppressive approaches and community owned scholarship, Alexandra hopes to empower people marginalized due to substance use stigma to share their truths. She believes that focalizing lived experience on a systemic level is the cornerstone of effective social change.