Name:       Jessica Sauve Griffin
Age:          29
Location:  Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Biography
I began work in the child and youth care field in 2000. My first job was at Family Tree Youth Services, a residential care agency, working with adolescent girls. During this time I was completing my CYW diploma through Algonquin College. In 2001, I was introduced to the violence against women (VAW) sector, and the work they were doing with children exposed to woman abuse and their mothers. In 2003, I began work full time at a second stage shelter for women and their children, Harmony House. I remained there until 2004 when a new shelter was designed and built in Ottawa, Chrysalis House, and took a lead role designing their child and youth programming and processes, and currently am a CYC there.

I am an instructor in Algonquin College’s CYW Program and work privately providing resource development and training to Family Tree Youth Services and other agencies upon request. My most interesting endeavor came when I took a year off from my CYC position at Chrysalis House to design a pilot model for the integration between the VAW sector and CAS Ottawa. This was a very innovative, ground breaking challenging program development experience. If you would like to hear more about this pilot project, please contact me through the link on my website. http://www.geocities.com/jessica_101Play/consultationservices.html

I am currently 2 courses away from completing my BA in CYC through Ryerson University - an endeavor that I have been slowly working on since 2003!

How I came to be in this field
I started out determined to be a lawyer, and along the way came to realize the injustices that children, youth and families experience. I wanted to be there advocate, but I wanted to work with them – rather than pages upon pages of legal briefs to do so!

My favourite saying (this week)
"Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

A few thoughts about child and youth care

• There is so much to love about being a CYC – even on the not so good days, a child will say something and it makes up for any challenges throughout the day.

• There is so much we can do!

• We have a unique opportunity to impact each person we encounter – but it can be easy to forget to embrace that!

• How transferable are our CYC skills to other areas of your life! But telling your partner to “use his words” or over-using “good job” isn’t such a great idea!

 

Reading with an old friend, Bear (2008)

Last thing I read, watched, heard, which I would recommend to others
The Glass Castle is a wonderfully written book by Jeanette Walls. I do try my hardest to stay away from books that have elements of the type of work I do every day, but clearly I don’t always succeed!

“Here is a biography that will quietly take your breath away. The main characters aren't famous, infamous, or doing anything that will remotely change the world. But in every way, and in a beautiful way, this is a story about the very essence of human spirit.”

www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Glass-Castle-A-Memoir-Jeannette-Walls/9780743247542-item.html?ref=Books%3a+Search+Top+Sellers”

Favourite child and youth care experience
There are so many! The one that comes to mind is when I was participating in a children’s Christmas party – 300 children from area shelters attended and were Santa’s first stop on Christmas Eve. In the smaller group of children who attended from our shelter, one little girl had developed selective mutism as a result of trauma she had experienced. When it was her turn to go up to see Santa, she did so with trepidation and fear, but she did it! And when she had to be helped to walk back with a huge box and unwrapped it to discovered a gigantic doll house, she responded by what we described as ‘screaming out her feet’. Her little feet were tapping so fat, her smile was brighter than I had ever seen!

Oh! One more quick one! A few years back I facilitated a group in a grade 1 class. At Christmas time they had made me Christmas cards and about 80% of them had me with my sunglasses on my head and a Tim Horton’s coffee in the background. Over the years this continues to be my ‘signature’! Reminds me of a saying…”don’t worry children that children never listen to you – worry that they are always watching you”.

A few thoughts for those starting out

• We have the true privilege of working with people who grant us entry into their lives. The two key words here are “grant” and “their”…in order to build relationships, we must early on realize who will lead the dance.

• Trust must be earned from children – it is not a given right just because we are CYCs. The children we come to know may “auto-attach”, which may seem to make developing therapeutic relationships a breeze…but your role then is to help that child or youth develop healthy attachment and boundaries.

• When you begin to wonder “why did she/he so that?!?!” don’t forget to appreciate that there is a valid reason and seek it out without communicating judgment or shame.

• Children are not attention seeking, rather, children are letting you know that they need you to pay attention – there is a difference.

• YOU can be your biggest technique/tool/resource.

• Never forget there is a family attached to every child or youth we work with.

A recommended child and youth care reading link
www.girlspoken.com

My favourite child and youth care-relevant link and why
This page from Shelternet provides children and youth to create a virtual feelings face. It is a useful tool for our CYC toolbox is this era of internet-everything! This link also has an entire section dedicated to safety planning for children who are living with or have been exposed to the abuse of their mother.
www.shelternet.ca/en/children-youth/how-can-i-deal-with-my-feelings/express-yourself/

Other favorite resource links can be found at www.geocities.com/jessica_101Play/resources.html

A writing of my own
www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0608-griffin.html

Influences on my work
Dialogues and brainstorming with Andie Fournier (and her brilliance as a mom); my own life as a little person; novels I have read; people watching; song lyrics; CYW students; my mother’s nurturing and unconditional love and acceptance; Violet Oaklander’s writings; Thom Garfat’ s perspectives and insights; and finally and possibly the biggest influence are the children and mothers I have met over the years!

Anything else
How lucky are we who get to love going to work everyday!