In partnership with the Regional Municipality of Durham – Social Services Department, Durham College hosted a research workshop on June 18 investigating improved methods of measuring the impact of social services. The workshop, titled Capturing the Significance of Social Service Work: From Experience to Impact, was an experiential event focusing on engaging participants in a space where everyone could be actively involved in input and feedback and was a follow-up from an innovation forum held in November 2012. 

Participants at the workshop included Durham College staff and faculty, Regional Municipality of Durham – Social Services Department staff, local community members and social service providers including representatives from the Canadian Mental Health Association and Hillsdale Terraces in Oshawa, Ont.

Randy Uyenaka, professor and program co-ordinator for the Social Services Worker program at Durham College, detailed the importance of their partnership with various social service providers throughout the community that will continue to benefit the student experience.

“Both Durham College and the region, we work with these community service providers,” said Uyenaka. “From the Durham College standpoint a lot of the programs that we have here; Practical Nursing, Social Service Worker, and Personal Support Worker; these community agencies actually host our students for field placements and in a lot of cases end up hiring our students.”

Darren Levine, Research and Innovation manager with the Regional Municipality of Durham – Social Services Department, also stressed the significance of partnering with Durham College.

“It’s been a wonderful partnership both with the School of Health & Community Services and the Office of Research Services and Innovation,” said Levine. “It’s allowed us to bring faculty with expertise in their fields of work and staff members with expertise in service delivery together to look at opportunities to collaborate and share experiences and ideas.”

Levine also indicated that the potential is there for future research opportunities for students as the Region looks to continue its partnership with the college.