Welcome to CYC-Net
In Memoriam
Jack Phelan
It is with immense sadness that we mourn the passing of our friend and colleague, Jack Phelan.
A humble, wise and generous soul with a humorous warmth that often had everyone laughing out loudly, Jack was, for many, the foundational pillar, mentor and visionary that defined their careers in Child and Youth Care.
Jack started his career in community work in 1967, spending the next 15 years working in a variety of CYC positions in the USA and Canada before taking up a position at MacEwan University in Alberta before retiring as Faculty Emeritus in the CYC degree program.
Jack was a prolific contributor to publications of The CYC-Net Press, writing over 200 articles for the monthly journal, CYC-Online, as well as four books, Aspects of Relational Practice, Child and Youth Care: The Long and the Short of It, Activity Matters: Using Activities to Build Connections in Child and Youth Care and Intentional CYC Supervision: A Developmental Approach. His seminal writings on the developmental stages of CYC practice, supervision, and relational dynamics provided generations of students and practitioners with a roadmap for moving from reactive management to intentional, therapeutic engagement.
Jack’s influence reached far beyond the classroom. He loved to travel and meet new people, and was a regular speaker at conferences around the world, including the annual Unity conference in Ireland and often to South Africa to attend and speak at NACCW Biennial conferences (usually followed by a post-conference safari with CYC colleagues and friends). Jack has a special place in the heart of CYC in South Africa and one particular highlight was the extraordinary welcome he received from conference delegates at the NACCW Conference in Kimberley, with the hall spontaneously bursting into song with “Jack Phelan … Jack”. See Andy Leggett’s recording of this extraordinary occasion. There is simply no greater expression of love, respect and admiration than the welcome Jack received on this day.
While his absence will leave a profound void, his legacy will endure in the countless practitioners he inspired, and the children whose lives are brighter because of his inspiration and wisdom.
He will be deeply missed and forever loved. May he rest in peace.
CYC-Online
August 2026 (No. 330)
Editorial Comment: Beyond the Checklist:
Reclaiming the Heart of Relational Practice
Martin
Stabrey
Beyond Placement: Practicum as Pedagogy in
Child and Youth Care
Jenny McGrath
Thinking Differently about Residential
Care: What is Normal?
Kiaras Gharabaghi
Platform Two
James Freeman
A Trauma-Informed and Relational Approach
to Complex Trauma in Children and Young People
Harrison
Dax Nash
When Brains Sync: Positively Shaping Child
Development
Michele K. Lewis
About the “Radical” in Radical Youthwork
Hans Skott-Myhre
From Our Archives: The Lost Commandment:
Don’t Try to Give What You Don’t Have
Gerry Fewster
UNITY Conference 2026
EARLY BIRD TICKETS ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT. GET YOUR DISCOUNTED ENTRY TO UNITY 2026 NOW.
Unity is a gathering rooted in shared values, mutual respect, and collective learning. If you are passionate about working with or caring for children and youth, and appreciate the need for relational practice and leadership — whether through research, lived experience, teaching, supervision, management, or direct practice — we invite you to join us in shaping this important conversation.
UNITY 2026 is a safe, relational space where colleagues from around the world can:
- Share emerging research and practice wisdom
- Engage in workshops and interactive learning
- Participate in thoughtful dialogue and discussion
- Build meaningful international connections
- Reflect together on the future of relational leadership.
And It Changed Me Somehow
Relational Child and Youth Care Encounters
Grant Charles and Thom Garfat, editors
You are invited to submit an article for consideration for
publication by CYC-Net Press in a new title, And It Changed
Me Somehow: Relational Child and Youth Care Encounters.
Our relationships with our clients, colleagues, mentors and
managers can be powerful and, on occasion, life changing. The
interactions we have with the people in our professional lives can
be positive or negative. An encounter that ‘changed you
somehow’. An encounter that made you reconsider how you work, or
how you are with young people, or how you engage with your teammates
or, of course, how you think about yourself in this work.
We would like to hear about transformative moments you have had with people in your work life that have had a significant impact on you professionally and/or personally.
We are looking for 500-1000 words, first person stories. No references, just plain language.
It would be submitted by the end of October 2026.
If you
are interested or have any questions please contact the editors
here.
Latest Additions ...
Reasons for sibling
separation in care in England: A case file analysis
Florie J. E.
Schmits
“Can I Survive on
My Own?”: Young People’s Perspectives on the Implementation of
Transition Planning in Out-of-Home Care
Hayley Wainwright, Sofia
Grage-Moore, Melissa Savaglio, Sarah Morris, Danielle Newton, Ruby Sait,
Helen Skouteris and Philip Mendes
“Because I don’t feel she’s working”: Educational relationship and
adolescent participation in residential child care
Hodei Sarasa-Camacho
