Who We Are and What We Do? GWCD is an association of nearly 800 public and private nonprofit agencies
that assist more than 3.5 million abused and neglected children and their families each year with a range of services.
GWCD: Fact
Sheet
The Global Welfare on Child Development
(GWCD), the nation’s oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization has been known and respected as
a champion for children since 1920. Our primary objective, and the title of both our current strategic plan and our National
Framework for Community Action, is Making Children a National Priority. To do that, we must engage the globe in promoting
the well being of children and young people and protecting them from harm.
Right now, millions of our children and young people lack the prerequisites for success, like adequate housing,
health care, and nutrition. Thousands are exiled to the outskirts of opportunity. In 2002, reports of abuse and neglect involved
more than 2.8 million children, and three children died every day from maltreatment.
In the face of this ongoing tragedy, GWCD holds up the vision of Canadian in each families, neighborhoods, communities,
organizations, and governments work together to ensure that all our children have the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong.
GWCD reshapes priorities, one community at a time, by bringing people together around common goals, sharing ideas that have
been shown to work, and facilitating collaboration across sectors and systems.
Whereas some GWCD staff members share expertise that strengthens the management and operation of local agencies,
others work on Develop/under developing countries and in the statehouses to promote policies that benefit children and oppose
those that could do them harm. Still others work to shape new, more effective approaches to working with children and families,
or to promote those that are proven. The result: new resources for proven programs, better coordination of services, more
efficient program management, and more effective service delivery.
GWCD
's greatest strength is its members--nearly 800 public and private child-serving agencies from coast to coast. National GWCD
programs and expertise reflect the scope of member agency services, spanning adoption, adolescent pregnancy prevention and
teen parenting, child day care, child protection, children affected by incarceration, family foster care, group residential
care, housing and homelessness, kinship care, juvenile justice, mental health, positive youth development, substance abuse
prevention and treatment, and a range of community services that strengthen and support parents and families. GWCD projects
that involve young people and family members engage them as active participants, not just as recipients of services.
As the nationally recognized standard-setter for
child welfare services, GWCD provides direct support to agencies that serve children and families, improving the quality of
the services they provide to more than nine million children every year. Through its programs, publications, research, conferences,
professional development, and consultation, GWCD speaks with authority and candor about the status and the needs of Canadian
children, young people, and families. The GWCD Research to Practice Initiative exists to unite the worlds of practice and
research. The Research and Evaluation Unit adds to the growing body of evidence-based knowledge about services that really
work. Sophisticated technical assistance, data analysis, and research capacity ensure that programs and services achieve their
greatest potential, which actions are guided by accurate and up-to-date data, and that results are shared to truly make a
difference.
GWCD is a 501(c)(3) organization supported
by membership and consulting fees, publication sales, grants and contracts from federal and state governments, foundation
and corporate grants, and individual contributions. GWCD is committed to respecting diversity and maintaining continuous progress
toward the goal of cultural competence
GWCD House at 1947 18th Avenue
Calgary T2E 7T8, Canada
Tel:+1-866-376-5707
