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
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.
Margaret Leslie, DipC.S., C.Psych. Assoc.
Margaret Leslie is Director of Child and Family Services at the Canadian Mothercraft Society. For the past 35 years, her clinical experience has been in the areas of prevention and early intervention services for families and young children living in conditions of risk. She was instrumental in the development and implementation of Mothercraft’s Breaking the Cycle program, a CAPC/CPNP project recognized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as a best practice program serving pregnant and parenting women with substance use problems, and their young children, and which partnered in the delivery of Building Connections She led the national replication of Connections, Breaking the Cycle’s trauma-informed intervention for mothers and children experiencing interpersonal violence.
Ms. Leslie is the community co-chair of Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP) and a member of the Province of Ontario’s FASD Expert Advisory Group, Ms. Leslie is the recipient of the National Harm Reduction Award for Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use Programming, the 2013 Elizabeth Manson Award for Community Service in Children’s Mental Health, and the 2014 City of Toronto Public Health Champion Award. Ms. Leslie is a member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario
