Luna Centre and UCalgary lead national movement in transforming child advocacy landscape

In Canada's child and youth advocacy landscape, where young individuals seek refuge from abuse and maltreatment, the Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (Luna) stands out as a beacon of hope and progress. 

Luna serves as a physical haven for children and youth who have experienced abuse. A recent partnership between the University of Calgary and Luna promises to improve the lives of young people by using research and evaluation to understand questions that are critical to those on the front line. 

The partnership forged between Luna and UCalgary’s  Faculty of Social Work, and in collaboration with other Child and Youth Advocacy Centres across Canada, has evolved into a groundbreaking initiative to establish a national research and knowledge hub for child advocacy — a development that underscores the transformative power of collaboration.

Project leads Naomi Parker, Luna’s director of research, and Dr. Gina Dimitropoulos, PhD, associate professor with Social Work, aim to identify gaps in the bodies of knowledge emerging from Child and Youth Advocacy Centres (CYACs). Their goal is to ensure researchers’ questions are embedded in the reality of daily experiences and the various perspectives of providers at CYACs. 

This approach enriches the researchers’ ability to add context and approach solutions/methods to better support children and adolescents who have experienced abuse, shaping a better future for those youth.

Luna's local impact

For the past decade, Luna has been a prominent child- and youth-advocacy centre in Canada and embodies excellence in CYACs across the country. Luna's collaborative model, which includes a dedicated team of 130 individuals, brings together professionals from various disciplines, ensuring holistic support for children experiencing abuse and maltreatment.

Comprising Calgary Police Service child-abuse detectives, the RCMP, Crown prosecutors, victim supports, physicians specialized in child abuse, and a large team of therapists from Alberta Health Services and various children’s services centres around Alberta, Luna is a central hub designed to support affected children and youth in one location, while working together in an integrated fashion so children only have to tell their story one time.  

“We work hard to ensure the child has everything they need so that the system wraps around them, rather than having the child navigating all of those systems on their own,” says Parker.

“Luna is a safe, comfortable and inviting space. We are very child friendly; nobody is in uniform, and the goal is that only one interview is done that gathers all the information that everybody needs.”

Designed as a sanctuary for children, Luna's trauma-informed approach and child-centred practices exemplify its commitment to fostering safety and well-being.

Luna-UCalgary research partnership

Luna and UCalgary began by identifying critical knowledge gaps within CYACs through collaborative research initiatives and extensive consultation. This agenda-setting research was conducted by a multidisciplinary UCalgary team that included researchers from Social Work, Psychology, Law, the Cumming School of Medicine, and Science, as well as a Scientific Advisory Committee that includes international child maltreatment experts. The research and consultation identified areas of focus for evidence-based interventions and transformative practices. 

The genesis of Luna's evolution into a community-based hub for national research and knowledge started with a conversation between Luna's CEO, Karen Orser, BSW’05, MSW’10, and Dr. Ellen Perrault, BSW’93, MSW’95, PhD’09, UCalgary's dean of social work. The idea was supported by an Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute Catalyst Grant, which has helped to make the hub a reality.

The shared vision between everyone involved in the unique was to bridge the gap between research and theory and front-line practice in child advocacy. 

“It was important that the values drive the work, rather than us starting with the work without community engagement,” says Dimitropoulos. “Our approach was to start with identifying the values that are going to guide this, especially by hearing from those on the front line who deal with child abuse daily.”  

The research hub transformation underscores the growing recognition of Luna and UCalgary as national leaders in child and youth advocacy. Their collaborative efforts, in partnership with other Canadian CYACs, are set to catalyze national and international policy and practice.

“Centres like this don't just magically happen,” says Parker. “It takes a lot of work and effort to sustain the multidisciplinary team and the integrated approach, and to monitor those outcomes for kids to change the trajectory.”

Growth into a national research and knowledge hub

What began as a localized initiative between Luna and UCalgary soon evolved into a national endeavour thanks to to a Transdisciplinary Connector Grant from the Office of the Vice-President (Research) at UCalgary. The grant allowed the fledgling hub to establish a national network, that provided researchers from across Canada to collaborate in the project.

"We are immensely grateful for their support," says Dimitropoulos. "Without them, this vital work would not have been possible."

Dimitropoulos says critical research areas will include how integrated care works within the context of a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre. 

“How,” adds Dimitropoulos, “does having all these different providers under one roof improve outcomes for young people who are accessing these services for child maltreatment?”

In bridging the gap between research and practice, the hub should provide better outcomes for the children and youth that Luna serves. For example if the specialized teams at Luna have questions about unique child-abuse circumstances, they can turn to researchers for help assessing the best way to respond, which will help to drive the research side of the partnership.

“One experience from one child can become the catalyst for researchers to begin to explore the best approach to provide the child with the best possible support,” says Dimitropoulos.

Parker adds, “Practitioners don't necessarily know the research process, and researchers don't necessarily understand the lived context. The richness of this comes when you put them in the same room; that's the value of this partnership.” 

The Luna-UCalgary Faculty of Social Work partnership is a testament to collaboration’s transformative power. Rooted in trust, shared values and a relentless commitment to children's well-being, this partnership transcends geographical boundaries, fostering dialogue, innovation and progress.