The Peel Children and Youth Initiative (PCYI) aims to support all children and youth in reaching their potential through collaboration with over 100 partners. A study assessed parents' perceptions and experiences regarding formal services and supports, highlighting that immigration status and ethnicity significantly affect service usage, particularly among newcomers. The findings reveal four main themes impacting parents' engagement with services: realities of life in Canada, access and availability of services, relevance and quality, and promotion and engagement.

1. Understanding Diversity & Participation;
Learning from Parents and Youth in Peel

2. Peel
Children
and
Youth
Ini1a1ve
(PCYI)
» Backbone
organiza/on
working
with
over
100
partners
in
Peel
to
achieve
“System
Integra/on”
for
child
and
youth
serving
organiza/ons
through
collec/ve
impact
» Established
in
2011.
Has
grown
out
of
Success
By
6
Peel
and
collabora/ve
organiza/ons
with
a
rich
history
in
the
Region.
» Mission
is
to
ensure
that
all
children
and
youth
have
the
opportunity
to
reach
their
poten/al
as
they
grow
from
infancy
(0)
through
to
young
adulthood
(24)
» Roles
include
research,
capacity
building,
advocacy
and
government-­‐
rela/ons,
system
planning,
youth
advisory
» 100+
members,
24
Board
Members,
11
staff
(7.5
FTEs),
collabora/ve
funding
structure

4. What we asked
• Study
assessed
parents’
percep/ons
and
experiences
around
the
formal
services
and
supports
available
to
parents
and
their
children
• How
important
parents
find
these
supports
• How
aware
parents
are
of
the
range
of
supports
• How
frequently
parents
use
these
supports
• Barriers
(prac/cal,
social,
cultural
or
other)
parents
face
• Other
sources
of
(informal)
supports
parents
use
in
their
role
as
parents

5. • We
Who we asked
sought
'all
parents'
in
this
work,
not
exclusively
those
who
are
ac/vely
engaged
with
various
programs
and
services,
but
also
those
who
are
not.
• This
work
adopted
a
popula/on
health
approach:
• While
low
income
families
or
those
with
special
needs
o]en
face
a
dispropor/onate
burden
of
challenges,
the
greatest
number
of
parents
who
struggle
comes
from
the
wider
popula/on
• We
are
commi^ed
to
improving
outcomes
for
all
parents
and
children,
including
a
commitment
to
providing
focused
efforts
to
those
groups
in
need
of
special
considera/ons

6. • Analysis
What we did with their answers
was
conducted
through
a
series
of
sta/s/cal
models
(mul/level
logis/c
regression
models)
• Regression
models
are
methods
of
using
all
the
informa/on
you
have
about
your
par/cipants
to
understand
how
the
parental
characteris/cs
are
working
together.
This
is
very
different
than
looking
at
tables
that
contain
basic
raw
counts
of
the
responses
• All
modeling
controlled
for:
household
income
gender
ethnicity
immigra/on
status
marital
status
municipality
of
residence

7. Key Overall Findings
The
most
important
parental
characteris1cs
are
immigra1on
status
and
ethnicity.

8. Barriers and Usage Rates
Among Newcomers
In
general,
newcomer
parents
tend
to
have
their
highest
levels
of
program
and
service
usage
within
their
first
year
in
Canada.
Their
usage
levels
drop
gradually
as
they
are
in
Canada
for
more
extended
periods
of
/me.
These
drops
in
usage
cannot
be
a^ributed
to
the
aging
of
the
children.
Why
are
parents
of
young
children
and
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
4-­‐5
years
less
likely
to
use
Early
Child
Development
services
and
supports
than
parents
of
young
children
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
1
year
or
less?

9. Why
are
parents
of
young
children
and
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
4-­‐5
years
less
likely
to
use
Early
Child
Development
services
and
supports
than
parents
of
young
children
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
1
year
or
less?

10. Why
are
parents
of
young
children
and
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
4-­‐5
years
less
likely
to
use
Early
Child
Development
services
and
supports
than
parents
of
young
children
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
1
year
or
less?

11. Why
are
parents
of
young
children
and
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
4-­‐5
years
less
likely
to
use
Early
Child
Development
services
and
supports
than
parents
of
young
children
who
have
lived
in
Canada
for
1
year
or
less?

12. Four
Broad
themes
1. Reality
of
life
in
Canada
2. Access
&
Availability
of
Services
3. Relevance
&
Quality
of
Services
4. Promo/on
and
Engagement

13. Four
Broad
themes
1.
Reality
of
life
in
Canada
Newcomers
are
highly
mo/vated
during
their
first
six
months
a]er
arrival
in
Canada.
This
enthusiasm
wanes
and
they
become
disillusioned
when
confronted
by
the
demands
and
stresses
of
life.

14. Four
Broad
themes
2.
Access
&
Availability
of
Services
◦ Travel
◦ Cultural
prac/ces
◦ Ineligibility

15. Four
Broad
themes
3.
Relevance
&
Quality
of
Services
◦ Lack
of
energy
for
parental
involvement
◦ Concern
over
loss
of
culture:
integrate
but
not
assimilate
◦ Feeling
judged

16. Four
Broad
themes
4.
Promo/on
and
Engagement
◦ Lack
of
awareness
◦ Too
much
reliance
on
word
of
mouth
◦ Missed
opportuni/es
to
connect

17. Summary
In
designing
supports
for
parents
–
the
combina/on
of
their
immigra/on
status
and
ethnic
heritage
are
crucial
Newcomers
are
uniquely
vulnerable
a]er
their
first
year
in
Canada
.

18. Thanks.
Heather
Krause,
Research
Manager
PCYI.org
@pcyi_org
hkrause@pcyi.org