Since it's founding in 1997, the CYC-Net discussion group has been asked thousands of questions. These questions often generate many replies from people in all spheres of the Child and Youth Care profession and contain personal experiences, viewpoints, as well as recommended resources.
Below are some of the threads of discussions on varying Child and Youth Care related topics.
Questions and Responses have been reproduced verbatim.
Listen to thisAs Child and Youth Care workers how do we best reach families, children and the community to spread the news of the good work that is conducted on a daily basis? How can we best communicate on an international level and allow the Child and Youth Care community to learn and benefit from others’ success?
Laura
...
Hello Laura,
As a Child and Youth Care student who is part of an international distance learning program at University of Strathclyde and practicing in Morocco, I learn a lot from organizations and individuals who share resources on their websites, document their work using video, livestream seminars and so on. I draw on online resources a lot (even in my previous work in therapy) so I would say that documenting your work and sharing it online helps a lot. Creating spaces for discussion and conversation, such as this discussion thread, or using a Facebook group, can build on those resources to allow for reflection and the sharing of best practices from across the world. So my recommendation would be to value social media and capitalize on it as a tool to achieve not only the communication of your work but to also start a conversation about it internationally. With this perspective, you may find that you use social media and create content for it very differently. Good Luck!
Kind regards,
J. Bnimoussa
...
Hello Laura,
In regards to reaching out to the community and informing them of all the amazing work Child and Youth Care practitioners are engaged in, why not go out an visit community centres, or neighbours? From my observations when working in residential/group care, very little effort was made to talk to the neighbours and community members. Often they would be confused or frustrated with the dynamics at play in a group home. Perhaps if we make a better effort at being good neighbours and talking to community members, introducing ourselves, and giving contact info, more people within the community can begin to appreciate what we do.
Jack Deol
