ADVANCE ANNOUNCEMENT

 Cream City Summit III

Professional Certification is here:
How can we support it?

Milwaukee, March 27& 28, 2003

 The International Leadership Coalition for Professional Child and Youth Care  (ILCPCYC) invites you to Cream City Summit III — "Professional Certification Is Here: How Can we Support It?"

The day is finally here. The Association for Child and Youth Care Practice and the North American Certification Project are about to begin certifying child and youth care workers and youth development workers. This will have a significant impact on the way child and youth care and youth development are practiced in the future.  

Thus, for the third in a sequence of gatherings, the ILCPCYC has designed a one and a half day event during which we will:

  • Hear from the developers and partners about their plans for implementing certification across the U.S.
  • Hear from administrators, supervisors, educators, and trainers about how certification competencies are being or will be addressed in job descriptions, apprenticeship programs, and education and training curricula
  • Discuss ways that we can work together to support certification
  • Participate in discussions with researchers and educators in child and youth care and youth development about the future of these fields

 _________________

 ILCPCYC Background:

 The ILCPCYC was formed in 1992 by over 60 leaders, educators, administrators, and direct line practitioners who wanted to work together to promote professional development of child and youth care, and later, youth development, in the US and Canada. It is an inclusive coalition that is open to anyone who wishes to join and support the development of the profession. 

At our first meeting we identified priority areas, including research, educational development, and professional certification, with five-year action plans for supporting growth in each area. In 1997, at a project management meeting in Toronto, certification was identified in partnership with the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice (ACYCP) and the Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations (CCCYCA), as a priority, and together these three groups decided to form the North American Certification Project (NACP) with a five-year goal to implement professional certification.

 In 1999, ILCPCYC held its second meeting in conjunction with members of the growing youth development field to review certification and to explore similarities in the goals of child and youth care and youth development to develop the profession and certification. We also identified several areas of collaboration related to certification, education, and research.

 Since 1997 under the leadership of ACYCP, members of NACP have worked diligently to develop a comprehensive certification process. Participants in NACP have included educators, practitioners, and administrators from a number of associations, universities, colleges, and agencies across North America. In addition to identifying competencies and a structure for certification, they have held extensive, open discussions about the pros and cons of certification.

 Now, that certification is about to published in the 2002 edition of the Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, piloted, and implemented, people are raising questions along with their optimism for what it can mean for the field. Thus it is timely to bring together as many people as possible from universities, agencies, and professional associations of youth, and other interested individuals to discuss and support certification.

Timetable

March 27& 28, 2003
Preliminary plans for the day and a half (your feedback and suggestions are welcome):

______________________________________________________________

1st Day: 1:00-5:00

 A presentation and discussion with David Thomas and Martha Mattingly, two leaders in the development of the certification process, of the history, mechanics, and guidelines for certification process followed by presentations from members of certification work groups.

______________________________________________________________

2nd Day: 9:00-noon

 Working groups in research, education, and practice. Members of ILCPCYC research and education committees will chair discussions about the relationships between certification and future teaching, research, and practice.

 Lunch

 1:00-4:00

 Work group reports and strategies for working together in the future, including:

  • Supporting the certification process
  • Helping create an infrastructure to implement certification
  • Curricula, apprenticeship, and job description guidelines that interface with certification criteria

 

The International Leadership Coalition for Professional Child and Youth Care is a strictly a volunteer coalition. There will be no fee for the conference. The staff at the Youth Work Learning Center will help organize the event and arrange accommodations. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

 Mark your calendars now and watch for future announcements:

 Date:         March 27&28 2003

Location:  Youth Work Learning Center, School of Continuing Education,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Information: 414-227-3354

 

home