Organizing the profession

Kiaras Gharabaghi

It is one of the less impressive aspects of our profession that we seem to have a rather difficult time organizing ourselves by means of an Association. At least this is true in North America. In my home province of Ontario, I have the privilege of counting myself as a member of the largest Child and Youth Care association on the continent; sadly, I am one of only about 2000 individuals who can make this claim, and about 1000 of those individuals are students. There are approximately 11,000 Child and Youth Care practitioners in Ontario who are eligible for membership. Why has it been so difficult to get more members and to move the profession forward as an accredited, licensed, recognized and valued professional group within the broader social service system?

I think the first problem we have relates to language and its implications. When child and youth workers think about an association, they think about the concept of representation. In essence, the question for individual Child and Youth Care practitioners is whether or not it is worthwhile to be represented by an association. I am not so sure that representation is what an association should do for the profession, at least not yet. Instead, I would encourage Child and Youth Care associations to focus on the concept of presentation. We have not, in Ontario, had a coordinated, systematic and multi-focused approach to presenting the profession of Child and Youth Care. By and large, the profession remains an unknown to the public, where professions such as early childhood education, educational assistants and social work invoke relatively clear and familiar images of professionals helping children, youth and families in various service contexts. It also remains at best a vague concept amongst the decision-makers of child and youth-serving agencies. How else can we explain the hiring practices of such agencies that freely mix qualified child and youth workers with individuals who have no training whatsoever in this field? And perhaps most disturbingly, Child and Youth Care remains somewhat of a mystery amongst those who one would surely expect to hold a common understanding and appreciation for the profession- child and youth workers themselves.

The profession of Child and Youth Care has moved forward in leaps and bounds over the past fifteen to twenty years. With more child and youth workers on the job, in more diverse service settings than ever before, we are well represented amongst those dedicated to helping kids experiencing some troubles. But much of this expansion within our field has been accidental. Many child and youth workers find themselves doing family work not because someone in the agency decided that the profession lends itself for this purpose, and not because the child and youth worker read and reflected on Garfat’s excellent book called A Child and Youth Care Approach to Working with Families, but instead, simply because agencies have replaced residential care programs with in-home family preservation programs, resulting in a need to re-assign the staff. Similarly, many school boards are hiring Child and Youth Care practitioners to support students in the classroom, but often the roles of Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Care practitioners are merged, integrated or simply confused. And even in our traditionally most familiar sector, residential care, child and youth workers are asked to adopt evidence based practices that reflect few if any of the elements of Child and Youth Care theory and philosophy.

So, I think in order to provide a much stronger basis for developing meaningful Child and Youth Care associations, we need to spend some time presenting out disciplines where it matters. Three steps are needed:

First, we should introduce our profession to the public by writing and contributing to popular media about children, youth and families. Short letters to the Editor in local newspapers, articles to magazines such as Parenting Today, and presentations at conferences and public events that are themed around the issues of children, youth and families would help to provide some clarity to people about the profession. Along these lines, we also should develop a communication plan with other professions and institutions that often come across child and youth workers without really knowing what they do. The police comes to mind, as do the courts and their crown or district attorneys, as well as family lawyers and judges. Teachers, principals and school trustees would be important, as well as newcomer, refugee and immigrant groups seeking to understand the service system in their new home.

Second, we should seek out and engage decision-makers in social service agencies and provide some education about what the profession is about, what the practitioner’s qualifications are and what the possible applications of such qualifications might be. Rather than demanding that agencies hire certified Child and Youth Care workers without really knowing what that means, perhaps providing some better, more coordinated and more effectively articulated information about the profession would lead them to that conclusion without us having to demand it. In the end, we don’t just want Child and Youth Care practitioners to become eligible for new jobs, but surely we also want the philosophy and approach of our profession to become integrated into new programs and approaches to service delivery. Without this latter part, child and youth workers getting better jobs is little more than an exit strategy from the profession.

And third, we have to do a better job creating a common understanding amongst those practicing Child and Youth Care right now about what the profession is actually about. There are, without a doubt, many individuals who do an amazing job in their specific roles as Child and Youth Care workers. But I often wonder whether these individuals really feel like they are part of a profession that has local, national and international constituents, organizations and interests. So long as practitioners in the field don’t feel like they are a part of something much bigger, the motivation to join an association will be limited.

I believe that we have plenty of energetic and articulate individuals at all levels in our field who can take the lead in a new communication strategy. There are academic leaders of international standing who have been trying to do just that for years. Jack, Thom, Mark, Carol and so many others come to mind. But there are also practitioners who have risen to major leadership positions in the public and private sector without ever abandoning their roots in our profession who could help. And there are front line practitioners in so many different settings who just need to be invited to join the communication strategy, to become part of presenting our profession to the world at local, national and international levels.

When I ask my students about membership in their professional association, I typically get a rather dull, muted and disinterested response. This is a real shame, but I can’t really blame them. They just don’t see the point, not because they don’t respect those currently leading the associations, but because they can’t recognize the profession as a community of individuals with very special ways of being with children, youth and families, and as a community of knowledge, skill and evidence based approaches that can really make a difference.