Share your thoughts on a potential national child, youth and family hub

Inspiring Healthy Futures and The Sandbox Project are working together to gather feedback from the Canadian child and youth sector on a potential national child, youth and family hub (“network of networks”).

Mobilized communities around children, youth and families is one of the 5 Priorities for Systemic Change that emerged from the Inspiring Healthy Futures conversations:

One possible approach is the creation of a national child, youth and family hub (“network of networks”), to connect a community of care spanning research, policy, systems, advocacy and services around children, youth and families. Building on and connecting existing networks and platforms, the purpose of this hub could be to:

► Engage children and youth through creative outreach and embed their voices in the centre of the network.

► Create communities of practice, advocacy and support (e.g., mental health, childhood disabilities and rare childhood disease, community resources for early learning, anti-racism in school curricula, etc.).

► Develop mechanisms to share data and resources and to mobilize knowledge.

► Build capacity for integrating anti-racist practices, decolonizing structures and working in full partnership with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

Why we need your feedback

We would like to learn more about the needs and opportunities within our networks, and explore the different ways that a national hub can mobilize communities around children, youth and families.

We know there is a need for more collaboration and community across sectors and places. But where are the opportunities? How would a national hub or “network of networks” do this? Here are a couple of ideas that have come out in the discussions so far:

• A directory that helps everyone to navigate who is doing what in child and youth well-being

• A platform for conversations that bring in many multi-sectoral and intergenerational perspectives on a given topic

• An inventory of research focus areas

• Or perhaps something else, or a combination of tools

Who should participate

All Canadians can provide their input. In particular, we would like to hear from stakeholders in the child and youth sector, including but not limited to:

• Youth

• Parents/caregivers

• Researchers

• Service providers

• Healthcare professionals

• Children and youth-serving organizations

• Indigenous communities and organizations

Key questions

Through conversations with stakeholders, we seek to understand:

• Participants’ general experience with networks/hubs

• Value of a child and youth sector hub

• Usability factors

• Barriers and accessibility factors

From July 15 to August 4 2021, we conducted a survey and held a series of conversations over Zoom to gather the perspectives of individuals, families and organizations. While the formal part of this consultation is finished, we would still welcome additional input around a national child, youth and family “network of networks.”

• Email us at info@sandboxproject.ca. We appreciate the opportunity to connect with you!

• Engage with us on social media! If you have a thought, tweet us at @SandboxCanada.