The Role and Importance of Data in our Work
As a Data and Research Coordinator with CWICE, my primary responsibilities are to assist in data management and reporting. I work to provide quality assurance for various reporting purposes and to identify trends for internal purposes, research needs, to evaluate service volume, and I collaborate with CWICE Child Welfare Immigration Specialists and Child Protection Workers. Additionally, I coordinate joint research projects with external partners, as well as internal service projects and research projects.
As CWICE is constantly evolving, responding to trends and innovating, this role and my contribution allow me to learn about myself, and highlight levels of personal resilience and skills hidden inside me. It is an absolute privilege to work with colleagues involved in families and children's lives, often at times of crisis. I feel we are, most importantly, making a difference and achieving positive changes in their lives. This something to be proud of at CWICE and I’m grateful to be a part of measuring these outcomes and successes.
One of the most surprising findings, from the comparative analysis over the years, is regarding the diversity of and distinct identities of clients served. In the 5th fiscal year (2022-2023), my colleagues worked with 917 individuals connected to 89 countries across 6 continents. The previous year (2021-2022), the teams provided service to 650 individuals from 82 countries across 5 continents. This growth highlights the important role child welfare and CWICE services play. Our work allows us to reveal barriers children or youth face and be better able to meet their needs across the provinces in Canada.
If I was to give any advice to those who provide direct services, it would be about ensuring data integrity and using anti-racism data standards. This has been of great importance to CWICE for maintaining the accuracy and consistency of data throughout its life cycle and usage. One of the most important and sensitive data sets for analysis includes consent-based and standardized identity-based demographic data of individuals (child/youth/caregivers) with consideration of data confidentiality and security. While the entire sector moves ahead with child welfare redesign, the importance of data reporting and dis-aggregated data reporting continues. By pursuing these ends, child welfare professionals will better understand issues and unmet needs, and whether our services have adapted to meet those needs. I encourage all child welfare workers to consider racial equity in every part of data integration in their work and through the different stages of the data life cycle, such as planning, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
I am thankful for my previous work experience abroad. This prepared me to work specifically with social and humanitarian workers, and taught me how to work within a great multi-disciplinary team of people from diverse backgrounds. As a member of CWICE, I understand what it means to be a part of something bigger than myself, where a team contributes to positive change in the lives of people in the wider society.
About the author:
Ghezal Wallid is a Data and Research Coordinator at Peel CAS in the Child Welfare Immigration Centre of Excellence. She holds a Master of Development Policy and has over 5 years of experience in the humanitarian and social services sectors. She has experience working with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and CORDAID to create a safe, positive, and caring environment for the community, with expertise in coordinating program and response plans and researching evidence-based practices and interventions to improve the quality of services to the vulnerable.
