Listen to thisI have spent a significant amount of my childhood and adolescence living in group homes and foster homes. At 16, I emerged from the child welfare system a young woman full of confidence, strength, and the will to become a happy, healthy, productive member of society. I have accomplished many great things since leaving care; becoming a mother being the most important. Equally important, would be obtaining my Child and Youth Care diploma, from a college where I was privileged to be taught by the best instructors I’ve ever had; who truly cared about me as both an individual and as a student. I believe I bring a sensitivity and awareness to this profession that only someone who has 'been there' can bring. I understand many of the emotions and struggles that children and youth in care experience, and I am driven by this understanding in my day to day work with them. We instill in these children and youth the belief that they can overcome their obstacles, deal with their issues, and go on to be all that they can be. What we instill in them, is what I have achieved, and I want nothing more than to give back and to support and advocate for the children and youth of the child welfare system today. As it would turn out, my experiences, as well as my hard earned Child and Youth Care diploma, are not enough for me to be able to work in this field.
Two of the places I would like to work happen to be places that I at one time resided, almost ten years ago. After two years struggling to get my diploma while taking care of my daughter all by myself in an area where I had no family members, after establishing myself and being held with high regard by my instructors and classmates, after volunteering for a children's and teen's bereavement camp and doing a work placement with severely behaviorally challenged children, my eligibility should not be hindered due to one or two staff members feeling uncomfortable with a former resident in their care returning as a colleague. But it has. Some of the staff members that worked in the two places I am referring to are still working there now and do not feel 'comfortable' with me returning to work in their facilities. Just for the record, I would like to specify that I got along well at each placement I resided in and got along particularly well with all of the staff. To put this into perspective, let’s look at the Youth Criminal Justice Act. If I, at age 16, got into trouble with the law (shoplifting, drugs, assault, etc.) I would have my record erased when I turned 18. If I were to apply for a job at age 18, I could not be held back or refused employment because of my past criminal history. With that said, how can it then be justified that after nearly 10 years since I was in care, I am being denied employment? My past shouldn’t come into play here, just like an 18-year-old's past criminal involvement doesn’t come into play when they apply for a job? This doesn’t seem right to me at all. Not only does it seem so very wrong, I also believe it to be judgmental, discriminatory, and it goes against everything we promote and instill in the children and youth in care.
Please remember what we instill in the children and youth in care – to work hard, to deal with their issues, and go on to be productive members of society. We don't tell them that 'if your dream is to be a Child and Youth Care worker you might be discriminated against by us if you want to return and be a CHILD AND YOUTH CARE worker at a facility that we work in too'. As a CHILD AND YOUTH CARE worker, I believe the greatest feeling in the world would be to hear that a young person I once worked with has gone on to do great things with her life and is now giving back by utilizing her experiences and passion for helping by becoming a CHILD AND YOUTH CARE worker. I believe I can offer so much to this field and I am saddened by the fact that I am being prohibited from doing so by two residential facilities where I am particularly interested in working.
When I asked the director of the two residential facilities in town here to explain to me why I would be denied employment at his facilities, he put it to me like this, and I quote his exact words :
"No matter how well I thought someone might do the job, I would not impose them on a team that would not be comfortable with them as a team member.”
In response, and in closing, I would like to say this: If you are refusing me employment because I happen to make one or more of your staff uncomfortable, then how, I must ask, would you respond to a potential employee who comes from a minority community, like say gay or lesbian, black or a new Canadian, and who’s difference made someone on your team feel uncomfortable? Would you refuse them employment as well? Children and youth in care deserve to have people working with them who come from a multitude of backgrounds, races, gender and orientation, experiences, and yes, even former children and youth of the child welfare system.
