“We put great emphasis on ensuring that children can stay with their families, be safe and thrive.” – Lynn Dunlop, CASDSM
The narrative surrounding Children’s Aid Societies has changed over the years. At the very core, all Children’s Aid Societies aim to protect children & youth. This has meant that over the years we have questioned and learned from our past and made changes to continue protecting children and youth to the best of our ability.
Here is a story highlighting the important work that the Children’s Aid Society of the District of Sudbury and Manitoulin (CASDSM) continues to do for the well-being of children, youth and families in our community.
This Is Lynn’s Story
Lynn has spent her entire career working with the Children’s Aid Society of the District of Sudbury and Manitoulin. For almost 30 years she has held many different roles throughout the organization, helping children, youth and families in her community.
In Lynn’s current role, she works with families to keep them together through a process called family meetings. When speaking about CASDSM, Lynn mentions, “We put great emphasis on ensuring that children can stay with their families, be safe and thrive.” Throughout her different roles, one thing that remained consistent was the need to find a way to keep families together whenever possible.
The Tools for Success
In Lynn’s current role, she describes the work she does as problem-solving with families to keep them together. A common misconception is the idea that Children’s Aid Societies want to remove children from their families, and the reality is the exact opposite.
“We want to strengthen Families. We want to give them the tools to be successful so they do not need to come back to us.” – Lynn Dunlop, CASDSM
Our goal is to promote the wellbeing of children and we know that removing children from their families can have a negative impact. That is why we work with families to provide them with support, programs and resources so that we can prevent that from happening.
Making Change Possible
During her time with CASDSM, Lynn was very involved with the devolution process involving our sister Indigenous well-being agencies. Throughout her career, pushing for change has always been important to Lynn.
Being located on the traditional territory of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, the introduction of a system that is committed to supporting and promoting the well-being of Indigenous children and youth was incredibly important to the organization. Lynn supported this change through a secondment with one of the Indigenous well-being agencies.
With the well-being of children and youth at the forefront of the organization, the ability to listen, learn and adapt is incredibly important. Lynn considers this to be a highlight of her position with CAS.
“I enjoy having the opportunity to mentor new staff and have conversations with them about how things could be different or could change.” – Lynn Dunlop, CASDSM
Seeing things from new perspectives, learning from new people and pushing for change has been an important part of Lynn’s time with CAS.
Building a Strong Community Together
The well-being of children and youth is a community effort. Working with CAS has meant that Lynn has collaborated with many different people in her community. Lynn has built relationships with social services, mental health services, police officers and many others in their collective effort to support families.
And the important work of CASDSM employees like Lynn does not go unnoticed or forgotten.
“I’ve run into many people that I have perhaps crossed paths with years ago. And I’ve had many experiences where they have come up to me in a grocery store or in a community setting and say, ‘hey, I remember you, you helped me with…” – Lynn Dunlop, CASDSM
Leaving children, youth and families with positive memories of their challenging time with CASDSM is a highlight of Lynn’s career. Whether it be providing resources to parents or support to families, the work that CASDSM employees undertake impacts children and youth and it stays with them into adulthood.
Working to keep children and youth with their families wherever possible is always a goal for the Children’s Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin. We know that no family is perfect and we meet families where they are so that we can keep families together.
If you are interested in helping in your community, we encourage you to apply to volunteer with us.
