Professionalism in Child and Youth Care
Issues Regarding Practitioner Certification
Some of the issues surrounding practitioner certification are that the pay and standards are low in most facilities and with the cost of education on the rise, voluntary certification is not good enough. "In Canada, certification is voluntary, and is administered through the professional association in each province" (Stuart, 2009).
"Canadian Child and Youth Care professionals advocate for quality care and service for children and youth by pushing provincially toward regulation of the field. Provinces where educational programs and professional associations are strong are able to push ahead for legislation, but are blocked in their efforts by conservative government policies" (Stuart, 2009).
In The Prospects and Dilemmas of Child and Youth Work as a Professional Discipline, Patrick Gaughan and Kiaras Gharabaghi assert that "training in child and youth work does not promote growth in disciplinary knowledge, because training opportunities for practitioners are generally introductory in nature. Moreover, there are limited opportunities for intensive specialization" (1999). In British Columbia it is fairly easy to get into a two-year diploma program in Child and Youth Care, but only three educational institutions in this province provide the opportunity for additional training. Further training in British Columbia is limited to the few students who are accepted into third and fourth year programs available at these three institutions. Across Canada there are roughly 30 two or three-year diploma programs, eight degree programs, and only two options for masters or doctoral studies.
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This website was created in 2011 by Jean Braun and Kristy Jackson
students in the Child and Youth Care (CYC) stream of the Human Services Diploma program
as a project for the "Professionalism in Child and Youth Care" course
at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC, Canada.
