Child and Youth Care Worker – Exactly What You’ll Learn to Empower Your Success

Support for children and youth as they face addiction and mental health concerns can mean the difference between a life of struggle and a life of hope, health and a bright future.

Our children, youth and families need dedicated, compassionate professionals to lead the way in innovate care and service. If you’ve ever considered an addictions support worker program/ a youth service worker course or exploring how to become a family support worker, before you invest in your education, undoubtedly, you’ll want to understand precisely what this training entails.

Here’s all you need to know.

CYC Training – Exactly What You’ll Learn to Empower Your Career Success

First, The Learning Environment:

Anderson College is student centred, which means students are at the forefront of every one of the choices we make, every step along the way.

How this plays out at Anderson:

• Leading-edge programs, as reflected by student feedback and testimonials, to demonstrate that upon graduation you will, in fact, be confident and in demand and will have had an enriching experience both professionally and personally. We truly are a close community because we know that to succeed you need to feel supported on all levels.
• Each program is held to the highest standards, is taught by industry experts in small class sizes so that you have the attention and connection you need to thrive with your instructors and your colleagues.
• You learn an extraordinary amount in fast-track programs, blending theoretical and hands-on training so that you have the skills and experience required, in a timeframe that gets you launched into a career quickly.
• We’re so dedicated to your long-term success that our career services, from resume building to interview prep and delivery, from a team committed to seeing you soar, are available FOR LIFE.

Our CYC Program – An Overview:

• Anderson College’s Child and Youth Care with Addictions Support Worker program is designed to teach students the necessary practical skills and theory to work with adolescents, children and families with challenging social, emotional, behavioral and mental health concerns and needs.
• 72 weeks, including 500 hours of externship with on-the-job training, offsite with potential employers and curriculum covers areas such as: child and adolescent development, cultural awareness and sensitivity, family ties, mental health practices, child prevention intervention, group work, activity programming, indigenous children’s programs, after school programs, intro to technology, interpersonal communication and much more.
• In addition, the Addictions Support modules explore the physical, emotional and social effects of alcohol, drugs and gambling, examine the process of addictions assessment and teach effective case management skills.

CYC Training – Areas and Specifics of Learning:

Foundations for Understanding: Essential to providing support and care to children, youth and their families is having a keen understanding of the underlying issues, social and cultural considerations, as well as those for the family and your own professional development. The following areas will be covered in your program:

• The Psychology of Addictions, designed to provide students with an extensive analysis of the psychology of addictions, covers substance abuse and applicable terminology and explore common addictions, as well as the individual and familial consequences.
• Mental Health Practices Awareness – the signs, symptoms and causes of emotional, social and behavioral disorders and covers the effects of childhood trauma on individuals and families.
• Intro to Family Work and Family Ties – discussions around the preventative and intervention strategies with families; complexity issues related to family support work; impact of addictions within family systems; depth of perpetual crisis within family systems; and resiliencies within families. Exploring family ties, the changing family life cycle and the rules and roles of the family system.
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity to develop a diversity consciousness that enhances professionalism and promotes harmony and Social Issues to equip the students with the ability to think, read and write critically while becoming aware of current sociological concepts and forms of analysis.
• Profession of Child and Youth Care familiarizing students with the statutes that impact/influence child and youth care work provincially, including the examination of the federal Youth and Criminal Justice Act and how it influences child and youth care work.
• Thought Patterns for a Successful Career – the field of cognitive and self-psychology to better understand the workings of the human mind and its relationship to achievement of success.
• And Self Awareness/Personal Growth offering practical strategies for life’s challenges, everything from study tips and time and money management critical thinking and creating the life you want.

Practical Skills: to ensure you have all the skills you require to succeed the following will be included in your curriculum.

• Introduction to Research and Writing – empowers you to improve all your communication skills: writing, reading, speaking, and listening.
• Introduction to Technology – students become familiar with Microsoft office, including Outlook, Word and PowerPoint.
• Interpersonal Communication, introducing a foundation in attending and, SOLER (five steps to active listening) and interviewing skills in both practical and challenging situations.
• Professional Etiquette – learn about punctuality, attendance, professional dress, appropriate use of cell phones, and the chain of command, importance of boundaries, confidentiality, customer service and conflict resolution using case studies and role play.
• Career Planning and Preparation Part I and II covers all you need to know to practically plan and prepare for a successful job search, from networking and communication to resume prep, references and interview skills and setting yourself up for success in your placement and beyond.
• And in relation to skills on the job, the course will cover Group Work, addressing group counselling and dynamics; ethical issues and confidentiality; leadership skills; challenges that arise in groupwork; and how to apply strategies to address those challenges. Social Training that includes Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (NVCI), First Aid/CPR; and Acquired Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). And Case Management covering case management philosophy and effective case management skills, from intake and budgeting to coordination of services and advocacy.

Supporting Development: specific to those you serve, you will cover topics that address development in all the major areas.

• Child Development – identify major developmental milestones and challenges of child development from conception to 11 years of age, becoming aware of the theoretical frameworks of childhood development and applying these theories to problem solving practical scenarios with children and families.
• Adolescent Development covering the ways in which adolescents develop physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally and identify the challenges that could occur during adolescent development.
• Adult Development empowering students to identify the physical, social, cognitive and emotional development in adulthood along with the challenges that could occur. This module covers factors which support and foster resilience in healthy development in adulthood.

Approaches, Practices, Programming: this area directly addresses the steps we take in order to support and affect sustainable change for those we serve.

• Child and Youth Care:
• CYC Approaches explores the concepts of cooperative and competency-based approaches to treatment and solution focused therapy and its use in the child and youth care field. Covers Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Narrative Therapy, Functional Analysis, and ABC’s of behavior as related to child and youth care workers and alternative therapeutic methods such as music, art, and laughter therapy and Native American approaches to child and youth care.
• CYC Issues focuses on exploring attachment issues; sexual abuse and trauma; Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and AIDs; street trade and human trafficking; and domestic abuse. You will learn about the issues of homelessness and will be able to identify the causes and effects of substance abuse and you will discuss the issues facing the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning (LGBTQ) community.
• CYC Practices covers intervention plans, treatment plans and examines personal narratives and their impact in the treatment process.

• Individual Approaches – take the skills and theories previously learned in Child and Youth Care Approaches and practice using those skills in small and large group role plays. Topics include attending behaviour, effective questioning, reflecting, confronting, communicating feelings, self-disclosing and structuring for exploration and clarification.
• Addiction Treatment explores several models of treatment used in response to various types of addictions and the challenges and advantages of each in relationship to diverse populations.
• Family Work Practices focuses on defining the role of the Family Support Worker (FSW) and identifying and applying various methods of family assessment.
• Activity Programming explores the different components of activities programming and effective leadership skills. You will learn to facilitate individual activities and identify the needs of an individual while designing an activity based on those needs.

Work Placement Details: A powerful part of the Anderson CYC program is the distinct opportunity you have to take all the skills and training gleaned from your theoretical and in-class learning and apply it directly in the workplace, offsite with potential employers. Here are the details you’ll want to know for your practicum.

• Practicum I: Observe, Identify and Assess (112 hours), in this, you will be working as a student volunteer observing, identifying and assessing youth and/or children in the community, using the skills and knowledge achieved in the theory classroom as a base.
• Practicum II: Group Facilitation of Activities (148 hours), in this, you will be working directly with children and/or youth as a student volunteer, facilitating group activates and growing the knowledge and skills learned in Practicum I.
• Field Placement (240 hours), building upon the knowledge and skills from Practicum I and II, the final field placement is a block placement in which you will complete 240 practicum hours over a six-week period.

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Now you have a clear and comprehensive understanding of precisely the exciting content and program you’re in for! If you’re intent on supporting children and youth and their families as they make their way in the world and want to make a difference, we’re here to help you launch successfully into your future ambitions! And here are some of the extraordinary opportunities awaiting you after graduation: Top Child and Youth Care Career Opportunities After You Graduate!

Still considering if an assistant youth worker program or mental health support worker program is for you? Take the “Anderson College Child & Youth Care with Addictions Support Worker Discovery Quiz”.

But if you’re ready to launch your Child & Youth Care with Addictions Support Worker career, we’re here to support you every step along the way. Book a virtual appointment with our Admissions Advisors and let’s get you connected to the next class!

Quick Links to Fuel Your Success!

We want to make sure you have what you need to succeed! Check out these reference links:

• Anderson College Child and Youth Care with Addictions Support Worker Program
• Anderson Blog – 5 Reasons to Become a Child and Youth Care Worker
• Anderson Blog – 3 Steps to Becoming a Child and Youth Care with Addictions Support Worker
• Anderson Blog – A Day in Your Life as a CYC