Child and Youth Worker Allows Offers Three Years of Practical Application

When looking to apply to a Child and Youth Worker program there are some things to consider. First, does the offering give you more than one post-graduate option? Secondly, is there a combination of both practical and theoretical features? Thirdly, is the program’s curriculum up-to-date?

All of the right answers to these questions are found at Centennial College’s Child and Youth Worker program, which not only offers students all they need to enter the field after three years of study but also allows them to obtain further education. This is achieved through a curriculum that is reviewed and revised annually to ensure that courses and assignments are based on current research and best practices.

The Child and Youth Worker Advanced Diploma program focuses on the principles, philosophies and characteristics of relational child and youth work practice such as co-creating relationships, working developmentally and understanding professional boundaries. These focal points are taught by faculty members whose extensive teaching and field experience allows them to work closely with students to develop their full potential. Applicants to the Centennial College Child and Youth Worker offering must have completed at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or are 19 years of age or older; and have a credit in the compulsory English 12C or U or skills assessment or equivalent.

Waved into each course of the Child and Youth Worker program is the use of a specially designed communications lab to facilitate interactive learning activities, counselling simulations and small group observation and feedback. Supplemental training is also provided in Understanding & Managing Aggressive Behaviour (UMAB). Students of the Child and Youth Worker program cover topics such as: counseling skills, child abuse, advocacy and law in children’s mental health, working with traumatized children and youth, crisis theory and interventions, multimodal therapies in child and youth work and more.

Students get to apply what they are learning to a Child and Youth Worker field placements in all three years of their studies that vary between two and four days per week. Students must have a vulnerable sector criminal check prior to field placement. Certain criminal convictions will disallow placement in these agencies and program completion may not be possible. Students must also possess a standard first aid and heart saver AED (C) certification. Lastly for placement, a medical certificate of health is necessary to ensure freedom of communicable disease.

Upon graduation from the Child and Youth Worker program, students are comfortable with working in multiple roles and various contexts, including: residential and day treatment programs, hospitals, young offender programs, crisis centres, community-based programs and shelters. At these places they are responsible for enhancing the growth and development of children, youth and their families within a wide range of therapeutic contexts.

Additionally, graduates of Centennial College’s Child and Youth Worker program can continue their education by applying to Ryerson University’s Child and Youth Care direct-entry degree program or receive credit towards their university degree in related disciplines. Child and Youth Worker graduates with a C+ average may also apply to Vancouver Island University for direct entry into the third year of the Child & Youth Work degree program. A child protection specialization is also available for a limited number of students. Lastly, students may apply for membership in the Ontario Association of Child & Youth Counsellors (OACYC).