Dr. Oleksandr (Sasha) Kondrashov

Today I finally submitted grades for approval, just a few hours before the deadline. I am very proud of students, who despite multiple challenges were working extremely hard to complete their social policy papers and addressing concerns with affordability, accessibility, adequacy and other social policy “A”s to improve services for diverse populations in Canada through the lens of social work values. In New Year I will put a call for the new issue of student social policy journal and hope to publish 8 students papers to highlight their exceptional research skills to generate the needed change. For now, I will take a break for a few days and celebrate before I go back and check hundreds of e-mails that were accumulated when I was focusing on grading. Here are some of the topics that kept me busy over the last few weeks and students for the last few months. I know students will keep learning and building their skills to address those concerns in the future. This year one of the students reminded me of one of the phrases I often said in class: Keep it going! Students will keep their passion going and bring the needed changes through their lifelong work. Happy holidays to all. My 16th year of teaching in Canada is now coming to the end. I still love it, no matter how challenging teaching becomes in times of pandemic, students allow me to have hope that all will be OK!

Social policy concerns that keep students busy and require me to keep up with all the current research on each topic:

• Accessibility of Funding Services Available for Indigenous Governments to establish and maintain their own child welfare agencies in BC     
• Accessibility of Inclusive Community Supports Following the Deinstitutionalization of Adults with (dis)Abilities in BC
• Accessibility of Indigenous Healing Methods in Substance Use Treatment Centers for Youth and Young Adults in Canada
• Accessibility of Mental Health services available to Adults in Nunavut
• Accessibility of mental health services for homeless individuals in British Columbia    
• Accessibility of Mental Health Services for Seniors in Canada            
• Accessibility of Substance Abuse Treatment Services in rural Indigenous communities in BC
• Accessibility of substance use treatment for youth in BC     
• Accessibility to Housing for individuals experiencing homelessness in BC       
• Accessibility to Interpreters in BC court systems for deaf individuals 
• Accountability for Indigenous Youth Aging out of the System in British Columbia
• Adequacy and availability of diversion programs for youth in BC through the YCJA      
• Adequacy of accessibility services for post-secondary students with diverse abilities in British Columbia
• Adequacy of accessibility services for university students in British Columbia
• Adequacy of food security programs for Indigenous peoples living in remote Nunavut communities.     
• Adequacy of Gender Expression Policy for Incarcerated LGBTQ2S+ Individuals             
• Adequacy of Gender-Based Sexual Violence Health Services in Rural Alberta
• Adequacy of Health Care in British Columbia for Indigenous People
• Adequacy of Indigenous Professional Representation in the Health-care Field in Canada              
• Adequacy of Long Term Care for Dementia Patients in Canada          
• Adequacy of Mental Health Care for Indigenous Youth Living in BC  
• Adequacy of Perinatal Depression Supports for Women in BC
• Adequacy of Personhood within Residential Care Regulations for Older Adults using Long-Term Care facilities in Long-Term Care in British Columbia   
• Adequacy of Protecting Sex Workers Rights in Canada         
• Adequacy of Residential Services for Youth in British Columbia
• Adequacy of Services for B.C. Youth Ageing Out of Care                      
• Adequacy of Services for Newcomer Survivors of Gender-based Violence in British Columbia            
• Adequacy of Supports for Persons who have Experienced Psychiatric Deinstitutionalization in British Columbia
• Affordability of Addiction Services for Young Adults in British Columbia
• Affordability of pet-friendly Housing for low-income British Columbians        
• Appropriate services for the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system
• Appropriateness of services for people experiencing homelessness in the city of Kamloops              
• Appropriateness of the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care in Canada 
• Availability of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous Communities
• Availability of land rights protection for Indigenous peoples in the unceded Secwepemc territory.
• Availability of neurodivergent friendly adventure tourism in the Bow Valley