Service Accessibility and the Multiracial Community
in Canadian Welfare

Publisher:  Cross-Cultural Communication Centre, Toronto, Canada
Year Published:  1977
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX913

Abstract: 
Wilson Head points out in this article that, While keenly aware of the limitation of many community health, recreational, social and other agencies and institutions in serving the special needs of their own groups, many ethnic groups, including Blacks, feel that it is desirable that appropriate services should be available from the agencies serving the entire community, These services should be geared to meet the specific meeds of immigrant groups: information services, English language training, help in interpret ring various forms, help in obtaining the initial employment, and other appropriate skills. Equally important, newcomers must feel that the community agencies serving the general public are interested in helping them meet their needs. The reluctance of many community service agencies to make the necessary effort to obtain that type of staff is painfully apparent to the knowledgeable observer. It is also apparent that many Blacks, both immigrant and native born, believe that they are not welcome as clients of some social service agencies.
Unless this situation is significantly changed, we will continue to witness the proliferation of poorly staffed and under-financed ethic organizations and agencies, each struggling to provide necessary services to members of its own group. these small groups and organizations serve as effective reminders of the inability or unwillingness of many established agencies to respond appropriately to the varying needs of the new multicultural, multi- racial, reality in Canadian society.