Listen to thisHistory of the Child and Youth Care Accreditation Board (CYCEAB)
Between 2000 and 2006, the Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations (CCCYCA) organized pre-conference meetings alongside National and International CYC conferences to discuss professional regulation and practice standards. These meetings, held in various Canadian cities, included stakeholders from government, education, direct practice, and employers, focusing on options like certification and educational accreditation.
With funding from the Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health and support from Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)), the CCCYCA helped develop a process to assess CYC curricula against competency standards. At the 2006 International CYC Conference in Montreal, participants endorsed exploring accreditation for CYC programs, recommending a national survey of educators to gather their opinions.
Roy Ferguson (University of Victoria) and Carol Stuart (TMU) were appointed to lead this initiative, supported by the CCCYCA. A survey was sent to 119 CYC educators across Canada to gauge their interest in accreditation and to collect feedback and suggestions for the process.
Based on feedback, the proposed CYC accreditation model should:
The strong support led to a recommendation for establishing a small task group to explore options for implementing CYC program accreditation. This temporary group represented stakeholders from education, practice, and policy. Its objectives included securing funding, reviewing existing accreditation models and designing a model tailored to the CYC field. This was followed by a pilot implementation to test its practicality, with adjustments made based on the insights gained. The refined model was then prepared for broader implementation across Canada, with oversight and evaluation to ensure consistency and effectiveness. Throughout the process, regular updates were provided to educational institutions and professional organizations, and efforts were made to connect the accreditation project with related initiatives such as national certification, post-secondary program reviews, and agency accreditation, fostering an integrated approach to professional standards in the CYC field.
The final Accreditation Model, including its characteristics and objectives, was presented on May 25, 2010, during Educators Day at the pre-conference in Winnipeg. At that time, the task force concluded its work, and a founding board was established to formalize and continue advancing the remaining objectives.
The founding board of the CYC Educational Program Accreditation was established to formalize the work of the previous task force. The founding board represented colleges and universities from across Canada as well as two representatives from the Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations. Individual board members were Carol Stuart (Ryerson University) now TMU, Anne Black (George Brown College), Dawne MacKay Chiddenton (Red River College), Doug Magnuson (University of Victoria), Heather Modlin (Child and Youth Care Association of Newfoundland and Labrador/Memorial University), Kelly Shaw (Nova Scotia Community College), Margaret Sullivan (New Brunswick Community College), Varda Mann-Feder (Concordia University), Wendy Weninger (Lethbridge College), Rob Bates (Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations), and David Connolly (Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations).
On November 18, 2010, the founding board held a teleconference to start formalizing the work of the Child and Youth Care Educational Program Accreditation Task Force. During the meeting, they decided on the board’s name, president, and secretary. They unanimously chose "The Child and Youth Care Educational Accreditation Board of Canada (CYCEAB of Canada)" as the official name. Carol Stuart was elected as President, and Dawne MacKay-Chiddenton as Secretary. The board committed to developing a unique accreditation model for the CYC field and a critical path toward implementing an accreditation system to support quality CYC graduates. Key issues addressed included:
The CYCEAB was officially formed in August 2012, with 22 temporary founding members. In October 2012, the first annual meeting elected a board to oversee the goal of accrediting programs by 2015. In 2015, the Board of Directors for the CYCEAB of Canada transitioned from a Founding Board to a Governing Board and the first education programs were accredited in 2016.
More information about the history of CYCEAB and current Board of Directors may be found at https://cycaccreditation.ca/
CYCEAB Vision and Mission Statement
The CYCEAB is charged with the accreditation of child and youth care post-secondary programs across Canada and the accreditation activities document efforts to be accountable to children, youth, and families; to students; and to the profession. CYCEAB states the following vision and mission statements:
Vision – Leading excellence in child and youth care post-secondary education.
Mission – to ensure excellence in child and youth care education and ongoing quality enhancement through the assessment and review of post-secondary programs.
CYCEAB Practicum Committee
Within the CYCEAB are multiple subcommittees, one being the Practicum Committee comprised of post-secondary faculty from across Canada who have extensive direct practice experience within the field of Child and Youth Care (CYC). The purpose of the Practicum Committee is to promote and support CYC fieldwork as a core component of CYC education. This committee is dedicated to ongoing review of CYC practicum design and delivery to continually promote the development of CYC excellence. Appreciating the contextual diversity of field work across Canada’s post-secondary CYC credentials, the committee intends to achieve the following:
In recognizing the above, the Practicum Committee also understands that in the field of Child and Youth Care practice, change is continuous, and both students and practitioners need to evolve alongside it. This requires resources and strategies that equip them with current, holistic skills, ensuring we remain relevant and effective. Just as practitioners encourage growth and change for children, youth, and families, there is a shared commitment to fostering that same ongoing development for students. By sharing resources and knowledge, the practicum committee supports the progression of learning, ensuring students and professionals alike can adapt, evolve, and stay current in their practice.
The practicum committee also recognizes the continual evolution of self. Self as a student and the transformation of student into practitioner. To keep pace and currency in our field, it's vital to share resources and knowledge, fostering growth and keeping skills relevant and up-to-date. The practicum committee supports ongoing development, ensuring that both students and practitioners can ‘live and breathe’ off the pages of their learning, and fully engaging with their practice in a variety of milieus.
More information about the CYCEAB and the Practicum Committee members may be found at https://cycaccreditation.ca/
CYCEAB Practicum Committee Future Plans
The Practicum Committee includes 10 faculty members who represent a broad range of educational institutions and direct practice experience in CYC practice from across Canada. The Practicum Committee is determined to build a community of collective wisdom centered on shared knowledge and resources. Through social media platforms (e.g., Instagram) we’ll be highlighting valuable articles and insights for educators, students, and practitioners, and we invite you to contribute to our growing resource repository.
Your feedback on key topics will help us share timely, relevant information that empowers everyone in our field with essential tools for continuous learning. This resource-sharing initiative will also shape future discussions and future delivery of material, such as coffee chats and member meet-ups, designed to foster collaboration, inspire new ideas, and support problem-solving in our profession.
CYCEAB Repository
The CYCEAB offers a collection of Child & Youth Care (CYC) resources for educators, supervisors, students, and other individuals intersecting with CYC practicum. It is offered in the spirit of highlighting CYC knowledge, to support those who design and deliver CYC curriculum and those who are engaging in direct practice with individuals across the lifespan. We invite you to engage with our current collection of articles and literature at https://cycaccreditation.ca/publications/
The practicum committee is proud to be publishing our first article with CYC-Online. Our repository houses a variety of CYC-Online articles aimed at both students and practitioners in the Child and Youth Care field. These resources provide valuable insights and practical knowledge that could support learning and professional growth.
Do you have some great resources you want to share with the Practicum Committee?
We would love to hear from you! Feel free to share your thoughts on what resources or information you would like us to provide. Your feedback is invaluable in shaping our offerings and ensuring that we meet the needs of educators, students, and practitioners effectively. Together, we can enhance our resource-sharing efforts and support continuous growth and learning within the community.
Please send any Child & Youth Care (CYC) practicum resources or articles to the CYC Practicum Committee admin@cycaccreditation.ca
The committee will review submissions during their regular meetings, treating this resource list as a living document to share with our members.
To help us process your submission, please include the title of this document (“Child & Youth Care Practicum Resource List”) in the subject line of your email, along with full bibliographic information (including links or PDFs, if available).
If you are interested in joining the CYCEAB practicum committee, contact the Chair of the Practicum Committee at admin@cycaccreditation.ca
We look forward to hearing from you!
