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115 SEPTEMBER 2008
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Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

This year, our Child and Youth Care Newsletter is dedicated to the Child and Youth Care profession: Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Child and Youth Care Workers are also known as Child Care Workers, Child and Youth Counsellors and Child and Youth Workers. Despite the various names, these caring workers are committed and dedicated professionals who work with children and adolescents in a variety of settings including residential sites, school boards, mental health, juvenile justice agencies and a variety of community social service agencies.

The profession of Child and Youth Care is constantly growing with many thousands of people employed in a wide variety of facilities. On the one hand, Child and Youth Care Work has many connections and similarities to other helping professions. On the other hand, it is very distinct and has its own characteristics. Child and Youth Care is a fairly new profession when compared to nursing, teaching, social work and other similar helping professions, but it does in fact have a long history. For all of history, we have read of people sharing and volunteering with others who are not as fortunate. All the major religions of the world ask that we provide help to others and you who have chosen this profession are continuing that tradition.

In Ontario, child and youth work has been provided for disadvantaged and troubled youth since the mid 1800s. In fact, from 1899 to 1960 Ryerson's Oakham House was the Home for Working Boys, one of Ontario’s first group homes. Today, Oakham House, located at the corner of Church and Gould streets, is the Ryerson community centre for students, staff, faculty, and alumni.

As time went by, it became clear that being a Child Care Worker required professional education. Early Child and Youth Care training in Ontario began in the late 1950s when formal training programs were established and CYCs became known officially as Child Care Workers. The first formal Child and Youth Care training program in North America, the Child Care Worker Program at Thistletown Hospital in Toronto was started in 1957. Today, the vast majority of all Community Colleges in Ontario offer a diploma in Child and Youth Work. Ryerson University and several western universities offer degrees in Child and Youth Care with many graduates going on to advanced degrees in such studies as education, social work and psychology.

This training led to the birth of a Profession and on August 1, 1969 the Child Care Workers” Association of Ontario was incorporated. In 1989 the CCWAO became the Ontario Association of Child and Youth Counsellors. By 1999, the OACYC had grown to the be the largest Child and Youth Care association in North America. Today, there are numerous Associations across Canada, North America and in fact the world, dedicated to promoting, improving and maintaining an enlightened standard of care for the many children, youth and families in need of our care.

With the changes in education and the birth of the profession, this led to changes in Child and Youth Care positions. For many years, those who worked in Child and Youth Care positions, especially senior management, were not professionally trained as CYCs. Most had degrees in other professions. Today, many Child and Youth Care employers want staff who are prepared in Child and Youth Care work because they understand the system and have many of the aptitudes needed to practice Child and Youth Care. Child and Youth Care education is a positive way to begin to prepare for a career in the field. Education provides the background that is needed for the beginning of a practice and it also provides the tools for knowing how to learn whatever else needs to be learned. However, it is important to remember that professors, field supervisor and instructors are preparing Child and Youth Care students for a profession that exists and is known.

No one can predict what the future will hold. In 1977, Ken Olson, the president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., the maker of big business mainframe computers argued against the PC and stated that “there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” By comparison early Child Care Worker training focused on residential care. Today’s Child and Youth Care Workers provide services and work in settings that were not dreamed about in the 1950s when the Child and Youth Care profession began. Every Child and Youth Care needs to stay current and be aware that things will change. Predicting these changes is difficult and challenging. Learning what is not just taught in schools and continuing to learn are essential elements of the professional work and role of today’s Child and Youth Care Worker.


This feature: Newsletter. (2007). Connecting, Transforming, Caring, 8. 1. Spring/Summer. (Ryerson University School of Child and Youth Care).

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