Transforming Child Welfare: Queering Child Welfare and Child Well-Being (Part 1)

Embedded Research and Evaluation in Integrated Youth Services with Foundry

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Skye Barbic and Dr. Julia Langton from Foundry, which offers integrated youth services through a province-wide network of health and social services for young people and their families in British Columbia. Skye is an Associate Professor in the University of British Columbia’s Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and Foundry’s Head Scientist. Julia is the Director of Research, Evaluation and Data at Foundry. In this episode, you’ll hear about Foundry’s embedded program of research and evaluation and how youth and families are involved in both research and service design; how COVID-19 shaped their work and relationships with communities; and how research supports accountability to young people and communities in BC.

Transforming Child Welfare: Queering Child Welfare and Child Well-Being (Part 2)

This episode is Part 2 of a special two-part feature from the Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families’ annual Transformative Child Welfare Panel, held on February 27, 2026.   In this second half, we move into an open and unstructured Q&A with panelists Kayla Kenney, Kristi Pinderi, Marko Aguilar Maurer, Emma McIlroy, and Kyle Turone. Building on the research and reflections shared in Part 1, this conversation creates space for deeper dialogue on practice, policy, and lived experiences related to 2SLGBTQ+ children and youth in the child welfare system; offering further insights and considerations for how child welfare systems can continue to evolve in more inclusive, affirming, and responsive ways.   If you haven’t yet listened to Part 1, we recommend starting there for the full introduction and overview of the panel.

Transforming Child Welfare: Queering Child Welfare and Child Well-Being (Part 1)

This episode is a special edit of the Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families’ annual Transforming Child Welfare Panel event which was held on February 27, 2026. This year, the panel presentation focused on queering child welfare and child well-being, and featured researchers and graduate students whose research examines the experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ children and youth. The topics ranged from foster caregivers supporting 2STNBGD youth in care, the experiences of former 2SLGBTQ+ youth in care, queering children’s rights, to challenging assumptions of the child welfare system, and healthcare social work practice with younger trans and gender diverse people. Joined by Kayla Kenney, Kristi Pinderi, Marko Aguilar Maurer, Emma McIllroy, and Kyle Turone, the panelists share their findings from their research and discuss the ways in which the child welfare system has evolved, and the ways that the system can continue to still evolve to better support 2SLGBTQ+ children and youth.

Rahi Care: Supporting Punjabi and South Asian Communities

In this episode, we’re joined by Gary Thandi and Dr. Nitasha Puri. Gary is a social worker with over twenty years of experience in social services and counselling, and he is the Executive Director of Moving Forward Family Services, a non-profit counselling organization. Dr. Puri is a family physician with training in addiction medicine. She works with Fraser Health, and she is also a Clinical Associate Professor in UBC’s Department of Family Practice. Their conversation centers on their decade-long partnership and the Rahi Care Program (RCP), a community co-created initiative supporting Punjabi and South Asian communities impacted by substance use. You’ll hear how they bring social work, primary care, and community organizations into the same room to reduce barriers; how the program is designed with community members; and how they find a way to make support happen in real life for individuals and families.

Seeing the Whole Person: What Students Learn When Patients Become Mentors

This episode features Mandy Young, parent of a medically and behaviourally complex child and a long-time partner with the University of British Columbia’s Patient and Community Partnership for Education (PCPE). Mandy has volunteered for over a decade in the Interprofessional Health Mentors Program, both as a Health Mentor for health care students and as a Community Engagement Coordinator. Joining her is Lelainia Lloyd, a rare disease and disability advocate with 13 years of experience as a Health Mentor. Also with us is Pooja Kadakia, now a first-year internal medicine resident in Winnipeg, who joined the program as a student mentee three years ago. Together, they reflect on how the Health Mentors Program fosters interprofessional learning, reshapes students’ professional perspectives, and improves the way that healthcare providers can interact in the system with their patients and with their colleagues.