Connections for Breaking the Cycle (C-BTC) of Violence
The Canadian Mothercraft Society (Mothercraft) is working with diverse partners to scale up and continue evaluating their group intervention for mothers and children experiencing violence in relationships. The initiative enhances access to an interpersonal violence group intervention for pregnant women and mothers of young children experiencing family violence in 15 communities across Canada. The evaluation of C-BTC will help to increase the evidence base for the program and its approaches, confirm its impacts over time, and identify the mechanisms of change observed among pregnant women and mothers who are engaged in the intervention.
Website: mothercraft.ca
Evaluation Reports
Building Connections - What We Learned
Building Connections - Technical Evaluation Report
This in-depth presentation on the Building Connections initiative (2016-2020), aimed at enhancing community capacity to identify and respond to interpersonal violence affecting mothers with infants and young children. This initiative emphasized the importance of systematically engaging community partners with the necessary capacity, resources, and support systems to safely deliver and evaluate interventions.
Key highlights of the presentation will include:
- An overview of the initiative's goals and achievements.
- Insights into the development and testing of the Your Starting Point Story (YSPS) tool.
- An explanation of how trauma-informed and relational approaches were integrated into the YSPS tool.
- A discussion on the usefulness of the YSPS tool in assessing projects' readiness to provide trauma-informed services to vulnerable families with complex needs.
Learn how the YSPS tool can help communities enhance their capacity to support vulnerable families and address interpersonal violence effectively.
Community of Practice members:
Mary Motz, Ph.D.,C. Psych.
Dr. Mary Motz is a Clinical Psychologist at Mothercraft’s Breaking the Cycle program in Toronto and an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at York University. Since obtaining her degree in clinical-developmental psychology at York University in 2003, she has been working with pregnant people, mothers, as well as their infants andyoung children who are at risk for maladaptive outcomes because of challenges related to substance use and mental health difficulties, interpersonal violence and trauma, marginalization by society and systemic violence, and poverty.
In collaboration with internal and community research partners, Dr. Motz has led the program evaluation and research at BTC, including Connections for Breaking the Cycle (C-BTC), and has supervised numerous research and clinical practicum students. Dr. Motz has authored numerous academic publications and technical reports, as well as provided training nationally and internationally related to promoting healthy infant and child development, supporting children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and providing trauma-informed interventions for families with infants and young children who have complex needs.
Bhupinder Heer
Bhupinder Heer is a Registered Social Worker and Director of Child and Family Services at the Canadian Mothercraft Society and her portfolio includes leading and overseeing the early childhood programs and services which includes Breaking the Cycle Program and Connections for Breaking the Cycle Program (C-BTC). She is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW).
Bhupinder has over 25 years of experience in children’s mental health clinical service delivery, early childhood development, early identification, early intervention and prevention for families and young children. She has extensive experience fostering strategic partnerships and engaging in system-level collaborations to ensure services meet the needs of children and families, are better integrated and rooted in evidence to ensure quality.
Bhupinder is the recipient of the 2018 Mary Neville Award, in recognition of her clinical leadership and commitment to inclusion, collaboration and early identification which supported to enrich Peel Region’s child and youth mental health system as well as the 2008, National Health Service, UK, Collaboration and Partnership Award.
