GS505: Research & Evaluation in Children, Youth, and Family Services Policies
GS505 is an interdisciplinary course that is open to all graduate students at UVic.
About the course
GS505: Research & Evaluation in Children, Youth, and Family Services Policies provides supervised opportunities for graduate students to work on applied research projects identified by and in collaboration with sponsors in the provincial Ministry of Children & Family Development (MCFD).
All projects are completed within one semester (12 weeks) and focus on text-based research methods to generate accessible knowledge products that will be used by MCFD and may be used by students as part of their own graduate research project/thesis.
Course format
The course is fully online and synchronous; students meet as a group via Zoom with the course instructor and coordinator to discuss topics in civically engaged and critically informed research.
Selecting a research topic
Before the course begins, research questions and projects are generated by policy stakeholders/project sponsors in different branches of MCFD. They are refined in collaboration with the UVic course instructor and coordinator to ensure that research projects are relevant and timely for the Ministry and can be completed by students within a 12-week course timeline.
Following an initial orientation to all of the projects with project sponsors, students are assigned a project that aligns with their research interests as far as possible. Students work closely with their Ministry sponsor/staff to plan, conduct, and present a research-informed project.
Explore past projects
Innovation, Communication and Collaboration: Understanding Family Group Decision Making Models in Canada and Beyond by Jasmine Ramsay, Political Science Master's student
Beyond the Office: The Role of Clinical Outreach Services in Counselling with Indigenous Children, Youth, and Families by Heba Elgharbawy, Clinical Psychology Doctoral student
Exploring Harm Reduction Strategies for Foster Parents Caring for Youth Who Use Substances by Luiza Cesar Riani Costa, Social Dimensions of Health Doctoral student
Thriving & Affirmed: Supporting Positive 2SLGBTQI+ Care Experiences in British Columbia by Annilea Purser, Political Science Masters student
Fostering engagement by working relationally: Supporting parents and caregivers following a substantiated child protection concern by Amber Lowdermilk
Healing through tradition: The role of Indigenous Elder support in child and youth mental health services in Canada by Maddy Doucette
How literature on family preservation can inform the child protection and early years’ service lines by Seagun Laboucane