Program Overview

Child and Youth Care (compressed)

Overview

Child and youth care practitioners provide support and understanding to young people and their families. This six-consecutive-semester program teaches students to engage with children, youth, and families in their everyday lives to promote optimal development and facilitate positive changes by using the principles of relational practice.

Program Details

This advanced diploma program is a three-year, fast-track program delivered over two calendar years. Students must complete academic and field placement components during the spring and summer of both years.

Designed to prepare students to provide frontline treatment services to young people with complex special needs, students will receive specific education and skill development related to:

• Child management techniques
• Designing treatment programs (for individuals and groups)
• Family support interventions
• Therapeutic relationships
• Working with multidisciplinary teams

The curriculum encourages self-reflective practice that will enable you to explore your values, beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions related to human behavior and relationships.

Faculty will work closely with you to support skill development and growth in communication techniques and counseling theory and practice.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Develop and maintain therapeutic relationships with children, youth, and their families, respecting their unique life spaces, and applying the principles of relational practice to meet their needs.
2. Assess the strengths, developmental and holistic needs of children, youth, and their families, using methods grounded in theoretical frameworks, research, and therapeutic practices, to develop care and intervention plans.
3. Develop and implement care and intervention plans appropriate for the therapeutic milieu using evidence-informed practices and research to provide support for children, youth, and their families.
4. Use equitable and inclusive approaches that are anti-colonial, anti-oppressive, anti-racist, and strength-based frameworks, as well as cultural humility, to create positive and sustainable solutions and respond to inequities and to systemic barriers experienced by children, youth, and their families.
5. Advocate for, and in solidarity with, children, youth, their families, and communities through their participation in the development and implementation of care and intervention plans that uphold their rights.
6. Employ communication, collaboration, and relational skills with the inter-professional team and with community partners to ensure and enhance the professionalism of practice.
7. Engage in self-inquiry, relational inquiry, and critical reflection to develop strategies for learning and the practice of self-care, as a practitioner.
8. Use professional development resources and supervision to increase professional capacity, learning, and leadership skills.
9. Adhere to relevant legislation and Child and Youth Care standards of practice, competencies, and codes of ethics as a practitioner.
10. Practice in a variety of contexts and settings, respecting needs for developmental growth, safety, wellbeing, and agency, while addressing the varying age and developmental ranges of children, youth, and their families.
11. Employ crisis prevention and intervention techniques, and harm-reduction principles, with children, youth, and their families in the provision of care, to ensure their safety, resolution of crises, and reparation of relationships.
12. Develop the capacity to work with children, youth, and families who identify with Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities, as well as people in LGBTQ2+ and disabled communities, by identifying systemic inequities and barriers, integrating practices such as trauma-informed care, and respecting their inherent rights to self-determine.

Admission Requirements

• Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or Mature Student Status
• Grade 12 English (C or U) (minimum 60 per cent)

Tuition

• Year one domestic: $4,083 (CAD)

Semester 1 Courses

• Communication Foundations (COMM 1100)
• Introduction to Child and Youth Care (EDUC 1601)
• Professional Practice (ETHC 1601)
• Indigenous Elective (INDG 0000)
• Interviewing Skills 1 (PSYC 1603)
• Introduction to Group Dynamics (PSYC 1604)

Career Options

Graduates from this program may find entry-level employment in:

• School boards
• Child welfare agencies
• Children’s mental health centres
• Community-based child and youth programs
• Early intervention programs
• Alternate care settings
• Home-based care and treatment services
• Hospitals
• Juvenile justice programs
• Residential treatment centres

Experiential Learning

Your learning will be complemented with three competency-based field placements supervised by qualified clinicians. These placements will occur in a variety of children’s mental health agencies and school settings in Durham Region and its surrounding area.

Tech Requirements

To help students have the best learning experience possible, Durham College’s IT Services department has identified technology recommendations for each program based on course needs and software requirements. While not required, students may want to consider these suggestions if they are purchasing a computer or laptop for the upcoming academic year.

• Processor: i3
• RAM: 4GB
• Storage: 256GB SSD
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional or Education x64 SP1
• Internet Browser: Internet Explorer 11 or Google Chrome (newest version) or Firefox (newest version)
• Network Adapter: 802.11ac 2.4/5 GHz wireless adapter
• Camera: Webcam/built-in camera
• Internet connection

Program Transfer, Degree Completion, and Additional Credentials

Qualified graduates may be eligible to apply their academic credits towards further study at Durham College in graduate certificate programs such as Victimology and Victim Justice and Interventions as well as Autism and Behavioural Sciences and Communicative Disorders Assistant.

Durham College also offers degree completion opportunities with a number of Canadian and international institutions. Sample diploma-to-degree opportunities include:

• Behavioural Science – Honours Bachelor (Child and Youth Care pathway to degree – HBBC) - Durham College
• Community Mental Health – Honours Bachelor (Child and Youth Care pathway to degree – HBMC) - Durham College
• Bachelor of Arts with a major in Legal Studies - Ontario Tech University (Ontario Tech)
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Criminology and Justice - Ontario Tech University (Ontario Tech)
• Bachelor of Honours in Political Science - Ontario Tech
• Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Forensic Psychology - Ontario Tech
• Bachelor of Business Administration (General Business) - Davenport University
• Bachelor of Child and Family Studies - Griffith University
• Bachelor of Human Services - Griffith University
• Bachelor of Social Work - Griffith University
• Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons) in Family and Community Social Services – Guelph University
• Bachelor of Social Work - Lakehead University
• Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care - Toronto Metropolitan University
• Bachelor of General Studies - Thompson Rivers University
• Bachelor of Health Science - Thompson Rivers University
• Bachelor of Arts (Hons) - Trent University
• Bachelor of Arts - University of Windsor
• Bachelor of Social Work - University of Windsor
• Behavioural Science (Hons Bachelor) - Durham College
• Community Mental Health (Hons Bachelor) - Durham College

Please visit our pathways page to learn more about how you can transfer your credits towards a degree.

Looking for more pathway opportunities or to transfer to Durham College? Click here for more information.