Reimagining Assessment in Social Work : Critical Approaches to Power, Culture, and Practice

Assessment is everywhere in social work. Done well, assessment advances the social worker's understanding of clients’ contexts and creates pathways for supporting their lives. Done poorly, colonialism and power take over the story, sustaining marginalization, disempowerment, and damaging outcomes.

This book considers the many ways assessment carries power, from the way information is reported, collected, and acted upon through to the clients’ interactions with adjacent systems and institutions. Authors in this volume tackle the troubled history of racist and Eurocentric assessment and engage critically with issues of colonialism, assumptions about the meaning of family, anti-Black racism, disability and neurodivergence, migration and citizenship, restorative justice and aging out of care. Focusing on pragmatic skills rooted in theory and connected to major social issues, this collection is an indispensable resource for social work students and practitioners learning to ground assessment in relational collaboration, reflexivity, and critical thinking.

With contributions from:  Dorothy Badry, Natalie Beltrano, Susan Burke, Victor Chikadzi, Peter Choate, Nancy Flatters, Jennifer Hedges, Leona Huntinghawk, Ashlee Homewood, Julie Mann-Johnson, Tammy Pearson, Desi Shebobman, Christina Tortorelli,  Carol Wade and Ajwang' Warria.

Peter Choate is a professor of social work at Mount Royal University, where he specializes in assessment practices, child and adolescent mental health, and simulation-based learning. He has played a leading role in developing simulation methods for social work education, including interdisciplinary applications and child intervention scenarios featuring mock court proceedings with members of the judiciary. Choate has been qualified as an expert witness in social work in more than 150 legal proceedings, with subspecialties in parenting capacity (including assessments related to risk, domestic violence, and addiction), fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and cross-cultural evaluations. He served as an expert panel member for the national study Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Canada: Current Knowledge and Policy, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2025). Recognized as Canada’s leading author in the field of parenting capacity assessments within the child welfare system, Choate’s research focuses on how systemic structures ― including child protection, justice, health, and addiction services ― reproduce historical and contemporary biases. His work critically examines how these systems obstruct anti-oppressive and culturally responsive practices in social work. Christina Tortorelli is an associate professor and academic director for Social Work at Mount Royal University. Bringing expertise in child welfare practice and research, complex trauma, child development and disabilities, she actively works to enhance the student learning experience. Utilizing engaging and innovative pedagogies that centre experiential learning, high-impact teaching practices such as simulation and strong community connections to practice are of primary importance. Her partnerships across sectors are well established, showing students that collaboration and connection are critical components of social work practice. Connecting theory to practice while incorporating current research and trends into the learning space develops social workers who are ready to practise and have the longevity required to carry out a diverse and meaningful career. This work builds upon a scholarly record of contributing meaningfully to the ongoing challenges inherent in child welfare practice. Through this platform, Tortorelli offers commentary on practice adaptations, policy and regulation adjustments and guides post-secondary social work educators to contemplate our role in the evolution of improved social work engagement and practice in support of communities. Jennifer Hedges is an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Social Work Inner City Social Work Program. She worked in the Ontario child welfare system for many years before entering academia full-time. Her research examines how transformative learning experiences can prepare students for working in child welfare and addressing systemic challenges in this system. Hedges is committed to transformative education that is relational and rooted in critical and feminist pedagogies. Current research interests involve exploring moral courage in social work and allyship in child welfare. She is also engaged in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research, examining curriculum and learning through reading. She is the co-chair of the Prairie Child Welfare Consortium and co-chair of the International Association of Schools of Social Work Research Committee. Terri Pelton holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Regina and completed the Senior and Executive Management Development Program for the Alberta Public Service. Terri was appointed as Alberta’s Child and Youth Advocate in 2022. Terri has worked in the social services sector for over 30 years, helping to create positive outcomes for young people, their families, and their communities. At the beginning of her career, Terri served as a frontline child protection worker and supervisor, and later worked for the Ministry of Children’s Services as an analyst. Through these early experiences, she saw firsthand the challenges young people in government systems encounter and became a strong advocate for meaningful change. Dorothy Badry (PhD, MSW, RSW) is a professor in the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. Her primary research focus is on FASD and risks and vulnerabilities in child welfare systems, disability, FASD prevention from a women’s health lens, loss and grief, suicide prevention and FASD. She is a disability scholar and the child welfare research lead for the Canada FASD Research Network and has focused her research on the examination of early deaths of children, youth, and young adults with FASD involved with the child welfare system in Canada. Dorothy is an adjunct professor at Curtin University, School of Medicine in Western Australia. Natalie Beltrano (MSW, RSW, PhD candidate) is a social work educator, researcher, and clinician committed to dismantling oppressive systems through critical theory and praxis. With nearly two decades of practice and leadership experience in child welfare, her work interrogates how structural racism and classism shape risk assessments and service decisions. Natalie’s doctoral research at the University of Windsor applies critical race feminist theory to explore anti-Black racism and classism in Canadian child welfare workers’ clinical decision making. Her academic contributions span peer-reviewed publications, interdisciplinary teaching, and national conference presentations, all rooted in critical, trauma-informed, and anti-colonial approaches. Natalie has led and collaborated on numerous community-based and SSHRC-funded projects addressing family violence, equity in child welfare, and systemic advocacy. Her work centres the lives and voices of those most impacted by systems of surveillance and control, while advancing critical, justice-oriented responses in social work education and practice. Susan Burke (PhD, RSW) is an associate professor with the University of Northern British Columbia, School of Social Work. She is Métis and a proud member of Métis Nation BC, grateful to have lived her life in Northern BC on the beautiful traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh people. She is privileged to be an active member of the Métis community and to have worked alongside Métis and First Nations peoples throughout her life. Her career has included 20 years as a child welfare social worker, during which she assessed and supported many Indigenous and non-Indigenous kinship care families and developed a passion for contributing to children remaining with their families and communities. Her research interests include Indigenous child welfare, kinship care, and social work practice and education. Victor Chikadzi is an accomplished social work professional with over 15 years of academic and leadership experience and a recent return to frontline practice in England. He holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Fort Hare and pursued advanced studies as a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, earning an MA in Social Development and Social Policy from the University of the Witwatersrand. His doctoral research at Wits focused on social entrepreneurship within the NGO sector. Victor's extensive academic career includes roles as a lecturer and senior lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, director of the School of Social Work at Midlands State University, and an associate professor at the University of Namibia, demonstrating a profound commitment to social welfare education and practice. Nancy Flatters was appointed to the Alberta Court of Justice in July 1996 and served for 19 years in Calgary’s Family and Youth [Criminal] Court. Drawing on her background in family and civil law, together with extensive mediation experience, including as a mediation skills trainer in private and public spheres, she worked to foster increased and responsive access to justice. She established the Calgary Family Court’s Judicial Dispute Resolution/ Settlement Program in Family and Child Protection and taught negotiation and client skills in the Law Faculty, University of Calgary for 20 years. Since retiring from the judiciary, Nancy has continued to practise law and to provide mediation and dispute resolution skills training. Her commitment to volunteerism is reflected in her leadership service on various boards at the Albertan, Canadian and international levels. Nancy remains devoted to fostering creative and systemic access to justice, encouraging collaboration, and building bridges throughout all aspects of her professional and volunteer pursuits. Leona Huntinghawk is originally from Rolling River First Nation in Manitoba. She is an adoptee of the Sixties Scoop and was raised in Neepawa, Manitoba. Leona holds a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Social Work from the University of Manitoba. She is working toward a PhD in Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba, where her research is focused on Indigenous fathers and child welfare. Leona is the internal reviewer at Peguis Child & Family Services in Manitoba, which was the first Indigenous child welfare agency in the province to enact their own child welfare legislation, the Honouring Our Children, Families and Nation Act, in 2022. Leona is conducting a full-scale agency review at the request of the board of directors. Leona has worked in child protection for over 24 years and provides consulting services to CFS agencies. She has taught students in the Social Services Worker program at Assiniboine College and in the Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba. Ashlee Homewood is a dedicated social work professional based in Calgary, Alberta, with a career spanning over 17 years. Ashlee graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Social Work. Throughout her extensive career, she has held diverse roles within child welfare practice, including leadership roles supporting child and adolescent mental health and Indigenous youth and families. Most recently Ashlee’s focus is on organizational change and enhanced practice support. Whether developing innovative solutions, mentoring frontline practitioners, or leading system-wide improvements, she maintains a consistent focus on achieving positive, sustainable outcomes for vulnerable children, youth, and families. As an instructor at Mount Royal University, she is passionate about cultivating strong leadership and equipping the next generation of social workers with the skills and confidence needed to advocate for children, youth, and families. Julie Mann-Johnson (MSW, RSW) is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, auntie, niece, cousin, friend and neighbour living in Mishitihi Sakaikhan (St. Albert, Alberta) in Treaty 6 territory. She is the associate director of Field Education and an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary’s Central and Northern Alberta Region. She has worked most of her 25-year social work career in various areas of child welfare practice. This experience has led her to be particularly passionate about supporting feminist, anti-colonizing, and anti-racist practice as well as ensuring meaningful kin connections for children and youth within that system. Julie is also particularly interested in socializing new social workers to the social work profession, community partnerships, and social work education. She is completing doctoral studies in educational research with a specialization in adult learning. Tammy Pearson brings extensive practical and professional experience in the delivery of child welfare services in British Columbia. Tammy serves as an associate professor in and chair of the School of Social Work at the University of Northern British Columbia and is a registered social worker in BC. For 20 years, she has taught child welfare courses in the Social Work program. Before joining the UNBC faculty in 2009, she held various roles within the Ministry of Children and Family Development across BC. Her career in child welfare began 25 years ago as a frontline child protection social worker, where she conducted assessments and investigations. Later, she served as a senior practice analyst in the Division of Quality Assurance at the Ministry. In that capacity, she led child welfare practice audits to evaluate compliance with policies, standards, and procedures guiding the work of delegated child protection social workers under the Child, Family and Community Service Act. Desi Shebobman is an Anishnabe (Ojibway) originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Desi has persevered through the Sixties Scoop. His 24-year social work career has included addictions, family violence, cultural support and trauma therapy. He has created and delivers an eight-part trauma series that explains how trauma shows up in our daily lives. Through psychoeducation and processing in ceremony he works to bring healing to Indigenous people and communities. He is in his third year of the Clinical Master of Social Work program specializing in counselling at the University of Calgary. Carol Wade, PhD, assistant professor of Social Work, University of Windsor with over 25 years of experience in social work practice, education and community engagement including in various capacities within the child welfare sector. She has developed and facilitated workshops and other training opportunities for youth workers and social workers with a focus on centering Black youth wellbeing, family engagement and self-reflexivity practice.    Ajwang' Warria (PhD) is a registered social worker and an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary and a research fellow at the University of Johannesburg. She holds a University of Calgary Research Excellence Chair, is an Institutes of Transdisciplinary Scholarship co-lead for Cities and Societies and a co-chair of the Olympic Refuge Foundation Think Tank. Her research interests in Canada and sub-Saharan Africa focus on violence, child and youth wellbeing, and transnational migration (and communities). She has published over 55 peer-reviewed journal papers and book chapters. She is a co-editor of the book The Palgrave Handbook on Modern Slavery. The lessons on reciprocity, appreciation, and finding strength in adversity continue to guide her and are a constant reminder of the richness and depth of her African roots.