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Jenny McGrath

Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Biography
I have been a Child and Youth Care Worker since the early 90’s. I have worked front line in a variety of settings such as early childhood, community centers, hospital, group care, custody and family support. Most of this experience occurred while I worked for the St. Francis Foundation (now Waypoints) in Newfoundland and Labrador. I held many positions within the organization but I found a passion for working with families and consequently completed a Master of Science in Family Support and became a Certified Canadian Family Educator. My Masters opened many doors for me. I helped develop a family support program for my agency where I worked for three years as the Senior Counsellor. I was also involved in helping develop the first Child and Youth Care education program in NL where I taught part time while still working full time as a front line practitioner. It was a new experience for me. I had done a lot of training and staff development for my coworkers and had facilitated youth and parent groups, but teaching was a brand new dynamic. It was challenging but exciting to be teaching newcomers to the field. I liked their enthusiasm and excitement. I liked being able to contribute to their learning and to the field in general. In 2006, I took a full time teaching position at Grant MacEwan College (now Grant MacEwan University) in the Bachelor of Child and Youth Care and have been there ever since. I became a full certified Child and Youth Care Worker shortly after moving to Alberta and have been an active board member of the provincial association. I am enjoying the new role but still miss front line!

How I came to be in this field
I always knew I wanted to work with children and all of my jobs out of high school were with children in community day camps or in early childhood programs but I did not find out about Child and Youth Care until after I finished my first degree in English. I thought I wanted to be a high school teacher but realized I did not want to teach Shakespeare for the rest of my life (as much as I like Shakespeare); I wanted to work with those who were having trouble in school. I was out with a few friends one evening and one of them mentioned the Child and Youth Study Program at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia. I immediately knew that was the field for me, so I went home, looked into it and the rest is history! I have been studying and working in this field ever since.

A favorite saying
"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

M. Meade

A few thoughts about child and youth care

It is the best job in the world – in my humble opinion!
You may go into the field to help others, but will likely experience much personal growth as well.
Every day is different and presents numerous opportunities for change!

These two photos represent my love of nature – the first is Twillingate, NL and the second is Jasper, AB.

The mountains remind me a lot of the ocean – I love the vastness of both! I have connected with many youth and their families while hiking and camping in the great outdoors!

Last thing I read, watched, heard, which I would recommend to others
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls – I love the focus on resilience.

A favorite Child and Youth Care experience
I have many but they always involve activity so I will select one of my first experiences that helped me see how activity can help break down walls and start a connection. I was a practicum student in a children’s hospital and was having a hard time connecting with a teen boy who rarely left his room. I made many visits and many attempts to connect but he always said he would rather stay in his room, and not with me visiting! I heard he liked cookies so I got approval from his doctor and presented this as an option but told him we would need to make them in the teen lounge, considering he did not have an oven in his room. He laughed so I took that as a good sign. After a successful cookie making session, this boy regularly came to the lounge and one day offered to make a plaster mold of my face and told me he was really good at it. He wanted to teach me. I accepted and we learned a lot about each other during this process. My most significant learning came with the realization that sometimes I need to be vulnerable and give of myself to make a meaningful connection. I have made many masks over the years but I still have that one – it is part of a display at MacEwan now. I use it as a teaching tool but also as a reminder that even though a youth may seem uninterested, with the right activity, they can become fully engaged and you can make wonderful memories together!

A few thoughts for those starting out

Be patient with yourself
Connect with colleagues who will support and challenge you
Listen to the children, youth and families – you will learn more from them that anyone else
Attend training and conferences, read, study – you will never know all that you need to know but it is important to try
Activities are a great way to connect with people – don’t be afraid to play and have some fun

A recommended child and youth care reading link
https://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-1105-vanderven.html

My favourite child and youth care-relevant link and why
http://www.frp.ca/index.cfm?nodeID=1

This site provides a lot of interesting information for people who work with families and they coordinate the Canadian Certified Family Educator program.

Influences on my work
My family, friends, colleagues, the children, youth and families I have worked with over the years and now my students.

Anything else
I feel very fortunate to call myself a Child and Youth Care Worker – I am a better person for it!