C2Y: Discussions on Child and Youth Care

Videos on Working With Children and Youth: Children & Youth in Care

July is “C2Ypodcast video month”. Each July C2Ypodcast.org will post several videos related to child and youth care. This month’s theme is Care of The State. Here are the links:

David’s Story: Home supervision, My life, My education and Me.

A lecture by John Paul Fitzpatrick about his doctorial research of children with state involvement who remain in the home.

http://www.celcis.org/resources/entry/davids_story_home_supervision_my_life_my_education_and_me 

Lemn Sissay

Lemn Sissay is a poet based in the UK. He went into care right after birth, during the 60’s. The links are to his website, there you can find a TED Talk video, a couple videos about his story and a radio drama called “Child of the State”.

http://lemnsissay.com/broadcast-2/video/

http://lemnsissay.com/broadcast-2/radio/  In particular check out Child of the State 

Guardian scholars

This is a video from the New York Times about a USA program for people in care entering the post-secondary educational system.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/education/100000002524084/guardian-scholars.html

ReMoved

A short drama about a young child who goes into care. This video was developed to help train new foster parents. “Trigger alert” this video is quite sad.

http://vimeo.com/73172036 

If you know of other related videos available online, please post the links in the comments section below.

Anti-Oppression in Child and Youth Care with Rebecca Ward and Wanda MacArthur

The new child and youth care vocational standards for all colleges in Ontario requires graduates to “demonstrate the ability to advocate for the rights of children, youth and their families and maintain an anti-oppression perspective and cultural competence in diverse cultural contexts”. What is anti-oppression? How does oppression impact young people in the social services sector? Is the social service system inherently oppressive? How can service providers be anti-oppressive? 

Rebecca Ward, from the faculty of Child and Youth Work, at Confederation College, in Thunder Bay, Ontario and Wanda MacArthur a Manager of Children’s Services at the Children’s Aid Society of the District of Thunder Bay discuss these questions and provide several suggestions on anti-oppression in child and youth care practice.

Gang prevention & gang exiting with Dr. Mark Totten

Dr. Mark Totten discusses how young people become gang involved and why this is the path that some people take. He talks about evidence based early interventions to prevent gang involvement, what life is like being a member of a gang and what is effective in helping people to exit gang life. Dr. Mark Totten is a professor of Criminal Justice at Humber College, the author of numerous reports, articles, and books including Nasty Brutish and Short: The Lives of Gang Members in Canada; When Children Kill; Guys, Gangs and Girlfriend Abuse; and most recently Gang Life: Ten of the Toughest Tell Their Story. To learn more about his work and to read some of his academic publications please visit http://www.tottenandassociates.ca

Culturally Relevant Arts Education with Mary Stone Hanley

By teaching young people the arts, you are transforming the world. This is how Dr. Mary Stone Hanley frames Culturally Relevant Arts Education (CRAE). Dr. Hanley passionately argues that working with young people is political and creating art is a political act. She believes that everyone who works with young people need to be aware of social justice issues. She has written that through the arts marginalized, racialized and or oppressed children and youth can “be creative and critical change agents who challenge demeaning perceptions and practices”. Dr. Hanley discusses specific examples of culturally relevant art projects she has been part of, explains the theory behind CRAE, and shows “a way out of no way”.

Dr. Hanley is a performer, poet, educator, playwright and artivist. She is the author of numerous articles and most recently co-edited a book called Culturally Relevant Arts Education for Social Justice: A Way Out of No Way. For more information about Dr. Hanley please visit Hanley Arts at MaryStoneHanley.com.

The Journey From Service User To Service Changer with Cathy Dyer

Cathy Dyer started her involvement with child welfare as an infant. During adolescence she became active in developing structures to support herself, and other youth in care. She founded The New Mentality as an adult, an organization that engages young people to influence change in the mental health system. Cathy talks about the challenges going from a youth in care to an adult working with youth. She speaks directly to those making a similar journey and has valuable insights about working alongside such people.

Ali’s story, one young man’s journey to Canada

After facing violent homophobia in his country of birth, Ali (a pseudonym) left seeking a safe place to live. In this podcast, Ali shares his experiences growing up in a community where his sexual orientation put him at risk for physical violence, the decision to come to Canada, and what it is like to be a young refugee living in Toronto. He talks about the challenges he faced once he arrives and the surprising turns his life has taken over the past year.

This episode is not an interview; the entire podcast is Ali sharing his story.

Self and relationship in Child and Youth Care with Gerry Fewster

In this conversation Dr. Gerry Fewster discusses what “self” is in the context of child and youth care (CYC). Dr. Fewster also talks about how invitations to those we work with help build relationships, what makes CYC different from other professions, and his concerns for CYC going forward. Dr. Fewster has been working with children and youth since the early 60s in multiple roles including street worker, teacher, psychologist, and executive director of a residential program. He’s written several books and many articles. To read some of his writing visit CYC-Net.org.

Boundaries with Dr. Pamela Richmond

In this conversation Dr. Pamela Richmond talks about boundaries as routes to building relationships with those we work with (children, youth and colleagues). She explains the difference between boundary crossings & violations, how context informs practices and how boundaries shift (and don’t) in the virtual realm.  

Dr. Richmond is an associate professor at Colorado State University-Pueblo where she teaches introductory and practice courses in the social work program. She has worked with youth in residential treatment, group home, prevention, and psychiatric settings. Dr. Richmond also publishes & presents on the topic of boundaries in professional relationships.

Adolescent Who Sexually Offend: A discussion on EBP with Dr. Siegi Schuler

Dr. Siegi Schuler discusses current evidence-based practices for adolescents who sexual offend why it is important to work with this population. 

Dr. Schuler is the Clinical Director of the Halton Trauma Centre, he has a private practice; teaches at the University of Toronto as well as Ryerson University and consults widely with hospitals, child welfare agencies, treatment programs and detention facilities. In his work he has developed an expertise in adolescent who sexually abuse. For more information about Dr. Schuler please visit www.leasidetherapycentre.com/siegi-schuler

Here is a link for “Responding to Adolescent Sexual Offending: Recommendations for a Regional Protocol” an evidence-based practice manual designed for Ontario the Dr. Schuler co-authored.

Working with Native Youth: A conversation with Daniel Wolfshadow

In Canada there was recently a United Nations special rapporteur who looked at the situation of Aboriginal people in Canada. At the end of his visit he is quoted as saying “From all I learned, I can only conclude that Canada faces a crises when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country”. Canada is not alone. In this podcast Daniel Wolfshadow Winkler talks about the history of Native people in the USA, the impact of this history on Native youth and culturally specific responses to address these impacts. Daniel WofShadow is the Director of Native American programs at Natchez Trace Youth Academy. He is a member of the Lakota Nation and has spent his career working with Native youth who have been identified as “at risk”.

Youth Work Online: A conversation with Aaron Garth of Ultimate Youth Worker

How do child and youth care practitioners work in the virtual realm? Do relationships, boundaries and practices change when interacting with young people online? What supports are available for youth workers online? What does an intervention look like when you have only met the young person virtually?

In this podcast Aaron Garth from Ultimate Youth Worker discusses youth work in the virtual realm. To learn more about Ultimate Youth Worker you can visit their blog, their Facebook page, follow them on Twitter @Ultimate_YW, or check out their YouTube channel Ultimate Youth Worker also does webcast trainings, produces podcasts and works offline offering supervision, coaching, and training.

Supporting Trans* Children and Youth: A conversation with Hershel Russell

Mr Hershel Russell introduces different understandings of gender and how to support young people who are "gender-independent" or trans*. This interview may be particularly interesting to parents of young "gender non-conforming" children and those who work with parents. Hershel Russell is a trans-male psychotherapist, educator and activist who specializes in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender counselling. To learn more about the work that Hershel does you can visit his website at www.hersheltoronto.ca.

During the interview Mr. Russell mentions several programs and videos. Below are links to items mentioned in the interview.

In The Life: Becoming Me

TVOparents: Child Gender Identity. An interview with Russell, Balot and Zucker

Gender Independent Students group at the Toronto District School Board

Rainbow Health Ontario

Videos on Working with Children and Youth

Wolfgang is out of Canada at the moment and so there is not a full interview this month. Instead here are a couple links for videos related to working with children or youth.

The Many Faces of Child and Youth Work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R53z9SkddFk

Kaņieris Riga Youth Centre:

http://vimeo.com/rigayoung

Avoiding Bad Child and Youth Care Practice: A conversation with Jack Phelan

Jack Phelan talks about common child and youth care practices, discusses “truths” that are held by many and how to avoid what he sees as bad practices. Jack has been doing, teaching, and writing about child and youth care work for over three decades. Jack’s most recent writing focuses upon applying theory in life space situations and developing CYC program ideas that meet the complex needs of the youth and families.

Fostering Resilience: A conversation with Dr. Michael Ungar

How do we work with young people in a strength-based way? What does “fostering resilience” look like in practice? How does context inform the choices that young people make? Dr. Michael Ungar shares anecdotes and research to help explain what resilience theory is and discusses how to turn theory into action. Dr. Ungar is a family therapist and a professor of Social Work, at Dalhousie University. He has written 11 books, published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and is the lead researcher in an international study on resilience in youth. To learn more about Dr. Ungar’s work please visit http://www.michaelungar.com http://cyccnetwork.org/en/ and http://resilienceresearch.org.