A Quick Background of CYC-Net

CYC-Net was founded in 1997 by Brian Gannon and Thom Garfat, initially as an email listserv group of 8 members. These Child and Youth Care practitioners, teachers and writers were located in South Africa, North America, Europe, the Middle-East and Australasia. Prior to this, Brian had developed an intranet for the South African CYC Association (NACCW) and, in many ways, CYC-Net was an extension of his initial work. By 1998 this small group had grown to around 200 members, and today that number stands at many thousands.

In the early years CYC-Net was a fledgling organisation sponsored by a small grant from the Dutch government through its embassy in South Africa, and by both Thom and Brian working to support it. Over time, it became supported by many organisations and institutions, especially from Canada.

Following the simple email discussion group came a fully-fledged Child and Youth Care web site, www.cyc-net.org. The simple web site with which we started in the late 1990s has grown today into a repository of many thousands of resource files. One might safely say it evolved from the needs of the field. The site is regularly updated and receives over 2 500 unique visitors every day (2025 average: Google Analytics).

However, since its inception, while evolving to respond to changing members needs, its core activities have remained essentially unchanged.

CYC-Net was founded on the idea that helpful resources should be available to everyone, worldwide, without the need to pay.  The idea was to provide information, connections and learning to the widest CYC network possible without people having to ‘buy’ a membership or otherwise pay for the resources. After all, even $1 per month is a lot of money in some contexts.

CYC-Net has now evolved to a place where it is visited by people from all corners of the globe.  As Dr. Carol Stuart said, it is the go-to resource for anyone working with troubled youth. And as Dr Kiaras Gharabaghi stated, it is the greatest social innovation in our field in the last 30 years. 

Mission

CYC-Net's main objectives are to promote and facilitate reading, learning, information sharing, discussion, networking, support and accountable practice amongst all who work with children, youth and families in difficulty. See the CYC-Net Constitution here.

The field of Child and Youth Care work, almost universally, is an under-funded and often precarious enterprise characterised by its “charity” status and its dependence, where available, on state grants. In very few countries is it regarded as an independent profession with dedicated training institutions and professional regulation. Canada, the UK, USA and South Africa have been notable exceptions in terms of their experience, academic status and state regulation, with the added support of professional associations.

However, even in these countries, at the practice level, resources and delivery are varied. CYC-Net was developed with the intention of supporting those who work with children not living at home, who are often are isolated and unsupported in geographically underserved and dispersed parts of the world where limited access to resources and low incomes frequently prevents them from accessing any training whatsoever.

What we do

CYC-Net was founded as a networking tool and learning resource repository for those people working with children and youth no longer living at home. These people are most often referred to as Child and Youth Care Workers, Social Carers, Youth Workers and Social Pedagogues.

CYC-Net operates on the idea that its resources should be available to everyone, worldwide, without the need to pay.  CYC-Net provides information, connections and learning to the widest network possible without people having to ‘buy’ a membership, or otherwise pay for the resources.

Our Impact

CYC-Net contains thousands of items of reference, including readings, webinars, videos and frequently asked questions from those working with children and youth in care.

CYC-Net is entirely open access. All content is provided free to the end-user.

CYC-Net has been referred to as the "go-to resource for anyone working with troubled youth" (Dr Carol Stuart) and "the greatest social innovation in our field in the last 30 years." (Dr Kiaras Gharabaghi).

In 2025, the CYC-Net web received 2 500 unique daily visitors, our monthly journal CYC-Online is downloaded over 1 500 times each month. Our discussion groups membership stands at over 3 000 members worldwide.

Our Needs

CYC-Net relies entirely on the voluntary financial support of organisations, academic institutions, associations and individuals. Important background information about CYC-Net funding may be found here.

Go here to see who is already supporting our work.

Want to advertise on CYC-Net? Go here. The web site receives thousands of unique daily visitors.

People and Structures

CYC-Net was founded by Thom Garfat (Canada) and Brian Gannon (South Africa).

CYC-Net operates under the guidance of a Board of Governors and employs a single person. Much of what CYC-Net provides is largely achieved through goodwill and volunteer efforts.

When required, professional skilled services (eg. coding development) is contracted out on a fee-for-service basis.

CYC-NET operates in terms of its Constitution which was approved by the Board of Governors in December 2000.

CYC-NET is a registered non-profit and public benefit organisation in South Africa and a registered Not-For-Profit Corporation in Canada. CYC-Net is also approved by the South African Revenue Service to be exempt from paying taxes and duties [Section 10(1) (cN) of the Act].

Funding

CYC-Net is provided open access to all its users. However, it is only through financial support received by universities, colleges, training facilities, service organisations and agencies, professional associations and individuals that CYC-Net is able to provide a valuable resource serving the learning needs of the wider Child and Youth Care community.

Go here for further information on our funding and how we use our funds.

Go here for see our list of supports and our financial statements.

Founding Editors

Brian Gannon worked in Child and Youth Care from 1959 as a child care worker, principal, trainer, supervisor, lecturer and writer.

He started his career in child care while in his final undergraduate year. Four years later he and a colleague started a new program (St Nicolas Home) in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a sector of the population not previously provided for. In 1967 he was invited to become principal of St Johns Hostel, a 64-bed program in Cape Town where he remained for fifteen years.

In the late 1960s, in the Western Cape, he founded South Africa's first child care workers' association, and was instrumental in the establishment of similar associations in Natal, the Transvaal and the Eastern Cape. In 1975 these provincial associations amalgamated to form the National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW).

In 1982 Brian became the NACCW's first National Director. The NACCW has become the major training, literature and advocacy organisation in the field in South Africa.

Brian produced the NACCW's monthly journal Child and Youth Care from 1983 until 1999, when he founded CYC-Net with Thom Garfat.

Brian passed away on 28 September 2017.

 

Dr. Thom Garfat, CM

Thom a Director of Transformative Relational Consultation and Training and has worked with young people, families and those who work with them for 50 years.

He is the co-founder of the International Child and Youth Care Network (CYC-Net) and the journal Relational Child and Youth Care Practice. His training, The Purposeful Use of Daily Life Events is used worldwide. He has authored or co-authored of eight books and numerous professional articles. His primary focus is on ‘making it work’; finding practical everyday ways to enhance the process of healing and development.

Thom was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2023.

He lives in Quebec, Canada, with Sylviane.