UNB’s Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre training social workers across country thanks to new funding

A funding announcement of just over $10,000 is going to help UNB’s Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research (MMFC) provide training to social workers across the country.

A memorandum of understanding signed between the MMFC and the Canadian Social Work Foundation (CSWF), will ensure that ongoing support through webinars can be provided by the local centre.

“With webinar technology we can reach social workers throughout Canada and help inform them of the latest research results concerning family violence in a variety of perspectives,” said Cathy Holtmann, the centre’s director.

Canadian Social Work Foundation president Morel Caissie said the partnership will ensure front-line workers across the country continue to receive up-to-date training.

“This agreement between the two foundations allows for the transfer of the sum total of current CSWF funds available to the MMFC and is intended to provide a legacy of continuing education through organizations with similar missions and purposes,” Caissie said in a news release.

Holtmann says researching and training social workers on an ongoing basis is important as new information is arising all the time and keeping up with it can be taxing on those serving the public.

“There’s tremendous pressure on professionals in the front line to do more with less,” she said. “This leaves them less time for professional development, less time to keep up with the literature.”

In addition to webinar training for social workers, MMFC is also looking to help third-parties better understand warning signs and instruct them on what to do in the event they know of an abusive situation.

That training includes obvious professionals such as police officers, as well as less obvious ones such as cosmetologists.

“We’ve had training programs with them to help them better respond to disclosures of intimate partner violence,” Holtmann said. “People in their everyday lives come across or have people throughout their friendship networks who are experiencing some form of abuse or violence but often don’t know how to respond appropriately … so we’re reaching out to different communities of practice.”