Four partnered research projects awarded federal funding through SSHRC

Building bridges between new immigrants and Indigenous youth. Understanding how Black youths and families interact with the child welfare system. Increasing the representation of deliberative mini-politics.

These three topics are among the four research proposals that were awarded grants through the latest round of funding from the federal research agency Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Social Science faculty members Maria Gintova, Clifton van der Linden, Christina Sinding and Jennifer Ma were the recipients of the Partnership Engage Grants awarded in February. These grants provide short-term and timely support for partnered research activities that will inform decision making at a single partner organization from the public, private or not-for-profit sector.

The small-scale, stakeholder-driven partnerships supported through Partnership Engage Grants are meant to respond to immediate needs and time constraints facing organizations in non-academic sectors. The partnerships let non-academic organizations and postsecondary researchers access each other’s unique knowledge, expertise and capabilities on topics of mutual interest.

Read descriptions of their research below.

Supporting a regional model of care for Medical Assistance in Dying: Responding to legislative changes and social contexts
Christina Sinding’s project was awarded $24,996 in funding.

User-centred policy design in child welfare
Maria Gintova’s research, in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) will seek to better understand how Black youth and families interact with the child welfare system in Ontario.

It will explore opportunities for coordinated service delivery between service providers in child welfare and other service providers (e.g. mental health, education, immigration). The project will simultaneously examine a user-centred design approach in the policy development process.

Funding awarded: $24,988.

Winning the Civic Lottery: Improving the representativeness of deliberative mini-publics
Clifton van der Linden and PhD student Joanna Massie’s project examines deliberative mini-politics, an increasingly popular method of gaining citizens’ input into important policy issues using a civic lottery. The project investigates whether the voluntary nature of these exercises results in a representative sample of the population, as well as what might be done to improve representation from different groups in society.

The project will work with MASS LBP, a private consulting firm specializing in deliberative mini-politics, looking for ways to enhance representation.

Funding awarded: $24,934.

The importance of building relationships and cultivating solidarity between newcomer and Indigenous youth
Jennifer Ma’s research will partner with Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto (NEW) to review and develop their Newcomer and Indigenous Youth Solidarity program.

Newcomers to Canada often come with little or highly distorted knowledge of Indigenous people, and the program uses workshops, discussions and events to teach new immigrants about Indigenous history and Canada’s colonial legacy.

Ma will work with staff at NEW to evaluate and build the program, and expand its reach.

Funding awarded: $24,876.