Presented by Michelle Briegel and Dr Pattie Pryma

The pressures of the pandemic have left many of us in a consistent state of increased anxiety. Fearing the Covid-19 virus, leaving our homes, and even each other has impacted our sense of safety. Child and Youth Care Counsellors have had additional stressors having worked in congregate care settings with young people who were having an especially difficult time with pandemic restrictions. Working in child and youth care is already a challenging and emotionally draining endeavor and the last two years have made it difficult to participate in our self-care. Looking after oneself is one of the critical competencies of Child and Youth Care Counsellors, and given the potentially traumatic events of the past couple of years it can be reasoned that Child and Youth Care Counsellors might be experiencing increased emotional dysregulation and fatigue. In this presentation, the presenters will share a program they facilitated with Child and Youth Care Counsellor, Social Work, and Education students using art journaling as a method for self-care.

Michelle Briegel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work, Child Studies Program, Child and Youth Care Major. Michelle’s experience in the field spans over the course of 29 years. Outside of teaching, Michelle has roots in residential services (group care), treatment programs, protection of sexually exploited youth, community programs, and private practice. Michelle supports the field of child and youth care as current President of the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta and is a board representative for Child and Youth Care on the Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (soon to be the College of Counselling Therapy of Alberta). Dedicated to the profession of child and youth care, Michelle is committed to teaching and mentoring Child and Youth Care Counsellors in their development inside the classroom and in practice. Through scholarship and service, Michelle examines the development of the profession through areas of provincial regulation, training, counsellor well-being, student well-being, and issues that influence child and youth care counsellor practice.

Dr. Pattie A. Pryma: Everyone has a story to tell and through her many years of experience as a registered nurse Dr. Pryma has learned the importance of people sharing their stories in creative ways. Her PhD dissertation utilized a photo-voice method to enhance the stories of strength from women who have experienced domestic violence. Pattie is also an Art Therapist with a Post Master’s Diploma in Art Therapy from St. Stephen’s college in Edmonton, Alberta. This has led her to expand her research into the benefits of Art journaling and using creative arts as a form of Self-Care with faculty and students at Mt Royal University where she is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Her published work with faculty can be found in: Pryma, P.A. (2022) Seeing Past the Mask: Rejuvenating Academia through Art Based Self-Care. In Lemon, N. (Ed.), Healthy Relationships in Higher Education: Promoting Wellbeing Across Academia. (Ch 9). Routledge. When not working and researching Pattie enjoys focusing on her own self-care through mindfulness activities including her own art practice exploring mixed media. 

Presented by Aimee Gill, Filipa Costa and Fotini Kafes

Building Relational Bridges with LGBTQ Youth is a Child and Youth Care informed approach in supporting racial and sexual minority youth. We explore the ways in which communities, schools and families can support growth and development in adolescents who identify as racialized and LGBTQ, as they navigate uncovering aspects of their identity in a variety of environments. It is evident that building diverse relationships with safety, acceptance, and allyship between peers and trusting adults, creates an infrastructure for racial and sexual minority LGBTQ youth experiences to become visible. Research identifies the areas that are lacking resources and how inadequate responses from family members, peers, leaders, and community members can lead to negative repercussions. Based on the research provided, we believe that to build a better tomorrow, we must first bridge the gap of knowledge and understanding about the lived experiences of LGBTQ-POC youth which are currently underrepresented.

Aimee Gill is a passionate and creative visionary with lived experiences. Aimee has shifted through Criminology and Forensic Psychology before she enrolled in the Advanced Child and Youth Care program at Sheridan College. Aimee hopes to pursue post-secondary studies at X University and gain further field related experience and broaden her scope of practice. Aimee hopes to one day teach Child and Youth Care and inspire the minds of the next generation of CYCs, to open and shift perspectives in a similar way to the impact her professors had on her. She aspires to connect with individuals that can walk alongside her in this journey of caring for the leaders of tomorrow, and to build relationships that can allow healing in herself and others. Aimee is a wife, dog-mom, a gym and yoga enthusiast, a painter, writer, singer, dancer, someone who truly loves to express herself in all mediums.

Filipa Costa is in her final year of the Child and Youth program at Sheridan College. Eight years ago, Filipa was given the opportunity to move to Canada, and she decided to go to college. She wanted to be able to support others in achieving their life goals. Filipa is interested in psychology, specifically in the ways the brain works and the influences on people’s behaviours. The field of CYC has allowed Filipa to share her interest in behaviour and mental health with the young people that she works alongside. In return, Filipa is honoured to learn with and from young people as she continues her development as a Practitioner.

Fotini Kafes is a wife, and mother of two adult children and two fur babies. She has a B.A in Psychology from York University. Fotini grew up in Malawi, Africa and while living in Malawi, she witnessed children, the most vulnerable population, live in poverty and lack basic needs. Additionally, she witnessed the wide range of risks posed to children living in Africa such as child marriage, child labour, sexual exploitation and children living with AIDS(HIV). Fotini felt helpless and sparked a strong desire to support and advocate alongside vulnerable populations. Fotini has always had a passion to work with children and youth and is in her final year(as of March 2022) of the Advanced Child and Youth Care program at Sheridan College, and works in the Foster Care system.

Presented by Dr. Shemine Gulamhusein and Catherine Hedlin

The Canadian demographics, especially those of higher learning, are drastically shifting. In CYC classrooms, people of color, people with differing abilities, differences in religious beliefs, and the values students bring with them are constantly changing the learning environment. Simultaneously, the opportunities for students to think globally, to immerse themselves in international, cross-cultural, and dynamic contexts are increasing. In a dialogue, between four to five members (2-3 faculty members and 2 students) of the MacEwan University’s Child and Youth Care department, presentation facilitators describe the advances, challenges, and collaboration it takes to update curriculum, to explore different cultures in and outside of the classroom, and how we build a safe, welcoming, and consistently shifting learning context.

Dr. Shemine Gulamhusein, is an emerging scholar in the field of Child and Youth Care who engages in creative, innovative, and interdisciplinary research. Dr. Gulamhusein embeds the ethics of ethnography in her research, which is motivated by people and communities who self-identify as marginalized or minoritized; those sitting in intersecting nodes that increase oppression and systemic barriers. Her primary research focuses on the lived experiences of Muslim immigrants at the intersection of recreation and belonging.

Catherine Hedlin, Associate Professor in the Bachelor of Child and Youth Care (CYC) program at MacEwan University in Edmonton, and certified Child and Youth Care Counselor, began her career (more years ago than she is willing to share) in intensive treatment programs for adolescents and moving into management in a women’s shelter, a sexual assault center, and a provincial umbrella organization. Catherine served several terms as President, and then as Past President, of the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta. Always experimenting with new ways to engage students in their personal learning journey through creative teaching and learning strategies, Catherine feels very privileged to be part of the conversation on how to build a safe, welcoming, and consistently shifting learning context.

Presented by Cody Jacque and Kaeli Sort

Child welfare lived experience has been a budding topic in CYC dialogue in recent years. As two individuals with lived experience in the government care system in BC, Kaeli and Cody provide a framework for transitioning from independence to interdependence as the primary goal for young people reaching the age of majority in their respective provinces. During the presentation, participants will be asked to reflect on their own lived experience (not just child welfare lived experience) and will discuss how their Self shows up in their practice. Kaeli and Cody will discuss their experiences with leveraging lived experience in different professional settings and expand on current research themes in an individualized way. This discussion will be centered on developing structured connection, collective care, and justice doing, with children, youth, and their families at its core.

Kaeli Sort was born and raised on unceded Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations Territory in Victoria, BC. She is a former youth in government care with over 12 years of professional experience supporting children, youth and families in areas of Child Protection Social Work, Early Years Policy, Women and Children’s Health Policy, Youth and Community Engagement, and community-based action research.

Cody Jacques lives on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral lands of the Katzie, Kwantlen, Semiahmoo, and Tsawwassen Nations, in what is currently known as Surrey, BC. Cody completed his B.A in Child and Youth Care, Child Welfare Specialization at Douglas College in 2020. He has worked in a variety of roles and settings including behavior intervention, education, youth outreach, youth justice, child welfare, and as a private consultant for city-based youth programming. Cody is also an individual with lived experience in the government care system in British Columbia. 

Presented by Dr. Pat Kostouros

Caring for those in distress, particularly those most vulnerable, such as children, can have both negative and positive impacts on those who care. Compassion Fatigue is a real and serious concern for those working in human services. According to Stamm (2010) a professional’s quality of life has two aspects: one being negative (Compassion Fatigue), the other being positive (Compassion Satisfaction). In this workshop a brief overview of these concepts will be described, followed by an understanding of the PRoQOL 5 scale. Discussion will be held as to ways a supervisor might use this scale as information to support front-line staff and potentially make changes to environments that will assist staff to maintain their wellness.

Dr. Patricia (Pat) Kostouros is a psychologist and a Professor in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work at Mount Royal University (MRU). Her research interests include Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, intimate partner violence and depicting suffering. She developed and taught courses and was the lead editor for the MRU Children’s Mental Health Certificate. She has managed a youth shelter, a women’s shelter, and was the Executive Director of a residence for women with a trauma history and a dual diagnosis. Presently Patricia is the Interim Chair of the Department.

Presented by Diane Parris and Kathryn Wolschinski 

In child and youth care education, you might have been exposed to boasts and encouragement such as “you will learn on the go”, “learning while doing is how its done”, or the term “sink or swim.” However, this style of teaching and learning challenges our ethical code by having us test our skills and abilities, strengths and weaknesses on the young people and their families during early practicum experiences. No committee, no approval, no consent, yet we enter the life space of individuals and experiment on ourselves, others and the relational space. We have progressed further than this way of being as a field. This session will serve as an open conversation regarding current educational practices (known and unknown) that may thwart our ethical principle and standard of responsibility to self, children, youth, and families.

Diane Parris is a full-time faculty in the Child and Youth Care Program at Red River College Polytechnic. Diane holds a Diploma in Child and Youth Care (1986), a Bachelor of Arts Degree in psychology (1998) and a Master of Social Work Degree (2006). Prior to teaching, Diane’s career took her to Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba, working as a frontline youth care practitioner, program manager, and clinical service provider. Diane has worked in a variety of settings, both community and managed care, within child welfare and social services, justice and mental health. Diane is passionate about narrative research projects that support young people as the experts in their lives, creating opportunities for improved child and youth care practice by listening to the voices of the experts.

Kathryn Wolschinski is a full time instructor at Red River College Polytechnic in the Child and youth Care Program. Kathryn has been working as an instructor for seven years. Kathryn holds an Advanced Child and Youth Care Diploma from Sault College, Ontario, an Honors Degree in Psychology from Algoma University, and will be graduating from Strathclyde University this year with a Master Degree in Child and Youth Care Studies. Prior to her career as an instructor, Kathryn worked with youth and families in a diverse range of life spaces. She worked as both a child and youth care practitioner as well as a mental health clinician, working alongside of youth and families for over ten years.

Presented by Pennie Sibbald and Michelle Briegel

Working with complex children, youth and families is both rewarding and challenging. Child and Youth Care is a demanding field, requiring specific knowledge and skills. To be successful in this field, continual professional development is necessary. Along with experience, it is what transforms a new CYC staff member to a skillful practitioner. However, most organizations are struggling to budget for the minimal training required by funders and accreditation bodies, let alone specific Child and Youth Care competencies. The Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta (CYCAA) is one of the largest and most established CYC Associations in Canada. For close to fifty years, our focus has been to improve services to children, youth and families through the professional development of our members. Not only does CYCAA offer opportunities to increase knowledge and best practices through workshops and conferences, we have also developed CYC related on-line learning, now available to anyone in Canada and even internationally at minimal cost. Join us in this interactive workshop to learn more about the Alberta experience and our on-line education program.

Pennie Sibbald is the Training Services Coordinator for Hull Services in Calgary, Alberta. Pennie has over 30 years experience in Child and Youth Care, has been a proud Certified Child and Youth Care Counsellor for over 25 of those years. As a Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta Board member, Pennie also acts as Chair for the CYCAA Advanced Practice Committee, which oversees the CYCAA Online Learning Modules as well as the Advanced Practice Certification process. Pennie is also the President of the Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations, and the Interim Vice President of the newly established FICE-Canada branch. Pennie is passionate about the field of Child and Youth Care, the need to professionalize the CYC role and highlight the exceptional CYC work being done across Canada.

Michelle Briegel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work, Child Studies Program, Child and Youth Care Major. Michelle’s experience in the field spans over the course of 29 years. Outside of teaching, Michelle has roots in residential services (group care), treatment programs, protection of sexually exploited youth, community programs, and private practice. Michelle supports the field of child and youth care as current President of the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta and is a board representative for Child and Youth Care on the Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (soon to be the College of Counselling Therapy of Alberta). Dedicated to the profession of child and youth care, Michelle is committed to teaching and mentoring Child and Youth Care Counsellors in their development inside the classroom and in practice. Through scholarship and service, Michelle examines the development of the profession through areas of provincial regulation, training, counsellor well-being, student well-being, and issues that influence child and youth care counsellor practice.

Presented by Martin Stabrey

Since 1997, The International Child and Youth Care Network (CYC-Net) has been one of the most valued and visited child and youth care resource webs in the world. CYC-Net is a network of thousands of people around the world who are involved in the care of children, youth and families who for some reason are being looked after. Its 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. It has often been said that CYC-Net is the most valuable resource in the world for those who work with troubled children and their families. The CYC-Net website, mobile app and Facebook groups are visited by over a million unique visitors annually. All of CYC-Net’s resources are open-access. This session is an introduction into what CYC-Net and The CYC-Net Press is, how it operates, what it offers and how it connects the field of child and youth care and social care.

Martin Stabrey is the Chief Operations Officer of CYC-Net and The CYC-Net Press and managing editor of CYC-Online. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa and is married to Helen. They have two daughters, Kirsten and Tamara. He is a product of the South African child and youth care system, having spent most of his childhood at St. John’s Hostel, Cape Town. He studied Economics and Information Systems at the University of South Africa.

Presented by Mark Littlefield, Christine Slavik, Cindy Rammage, RoseAnne Timbrell and Sandrine Trichard

Hearing stories, sharing strengths, building capacity for future CYC pedagogy… we invite you to join us in exploring and understanding the experience of Indigenizing field placement. We, like many of you, have responded to the calls for action outlined in the TRC to decolonize and Indigenize our institutions and the curriculum. We would like to explore tensions, opportunities, and inspirational moments. Let’s share stories and dialogue with each other to build opportunities together. We are particularly interested in exploring issues such as:

• 1. building learning outcomes that authentically represent Indigenizing field placement
  2. supporting students that enter a placement where they have more content knowledge than the agencies they are involved in; 3) recognizing the complexity that is involved in students meeting learning outcomes related to decolonizing and Indigenizing practice.

Christine Slavik, Cindy Rammage, RoseAnne Timbrell, Mark Littlefield, and Sandrine Trichard are colleagues and friends. Some of us have taught for many years, some of us for a few. Some of us were students in the program we now teach in. As a team we encourage and challenge each other to explore ourselves, our program and our relationships to students and the curriculum. We are the family of educators wishing to engage in a generative progressive dialogue about CYC pedagogy.

Presented by Chelan McCallion and MRU Students

Not a creative bone in your body? We don’t believe you! These are not your grandmother’s arts and crafts. Let’s stoke the room about creating change. Come join an interactive Craftivism 101 workshop. Led by CYC students and practitioners, participants will identify meaningful ways to apply craftivism in CYC practice. What do you believe is important in CYC practice? What are you committed to in creating change in our field? Let’s find out! With everything happening in the world, participants can take the opportunity to slow down, unpack what is important in practice and learn the art of gentle protest. We will speak our minds, and advocate for change in a gentle and humble way.

Chelan McCallion is an Assistant Professor at Mount Royal University, Department of Child Studies and Social Work and the Riel Institute for Education and Learning within the Aboriginal Family & Youth Support Program (AFYS). Chelan has worked in the human services sector for over 17 years in a variety of capacities, focusing most of her career on the complexities of young adults leaving therapeutic campus-based settings, Youth Transition to Adulthood (YTA) and vocational programming. Chelan has a Child and Youth Care Counsellor Diploma from Mount Royal University and both a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria.

Co-Presenters: Students from Bachelor of Child Studies, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta

Presented by Heather Modlin, Lesley Goodyear, and Kerri Hayley

In this workshop we will explore needs-based, relational supervision and the parallel to needs-based, relational practice. The importance of caring and the role of the holding environment will be discussed, as it relates to employees, young people and families. We will discuss ways in which Baker’s PersonBrain Model and Kegan’s constructive-developmental theory can inform supervision and will share our experiences of creating a Growth Culture within our organization.

Lesley, Kerri and Heather have worked together in three organizations over twenty years. In 2021 they were involved in establishing Amal Youth and Family Centre in Newfoundland and Labrador, a non-profit organization providing a range of innovative, diverse services to individuals, families and communities. All three presenters are avid students of developmental and growth culture practice.

Lesley Goodyear is Manager of Family Engagement and has worked for many years in the child and youth care field in residential care, family support and residential treatment, as well as providing family-based care to children in her own home.

Kerri Hayley is Regional Manager for Labrador with 16 years experience in child and youth care, experience in rehabilitative programming within the adult criminal justice system, and has been a licensed therapist for 10 years.

Heather Modlin, as CEO, has over 35 years of experience in child and youth care, with 30 of those in leadership roles.

Presented by Janice Daley

This presentation is based on the Master’s dissertation research I completed in 2021 which focused on the needs, strengths and resources available to grandparents in Eastern Newfoundland who are the primary caregivers to their biological grandchild(ren). Grandparents have many challenges in raising their grandkids, and I believe it is incumbent on the CYC-Practitioners in their lives to help them and the children in their care reach for a better tomorrow with support, opportunities for specific resources and learning, and community advocacy. Even though there is usually a generation gap between grandparents and CYC professionals, there are parallels, including the challenge to be heard or to have an appropriate seat at the table with regard to decision making. Collaboration between grandfamilies and CYC-Ps can be a powerful instrument of support and change.

Janice Daley, CYC-P, BJounalism, BEd, MSc (CYC Studies) has worked as a CYC Practitioner in St. John’s, NL for 22 years. The vast majority of that time was with a community-based non-profit CYC agency. In 2021 while completing the dissertation work for the MSc in Child and Youth Studies at the University of Strathclyde, I moved my practice into a faith-based setting providing family support to members of the community and individuals seeking support through the recovery and mental health programs offered by my local church. I continue to seek new opportunities to be a training resource in the community, particularly in the areas of suicide intervention, recovery, and understanding the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on outcomes in children and adults. I am a copy editor with CYC-Online, and have a mild obsession with grammar, spelling and punctuation. I am currently terrified there is a typo somewhere in this document.

Presented by Nathan Millar, Megan Bolton, Gillian Hazan and Susan Garrow-Oliver

We intend to share a description of the Capstone project undertaken by fourth year Child Studies students with WP Puppet Theatre Society, for which we created materials, videos and papers. We will share the trajectory we were able to take by engaging in learning about applied puppetry. By outlining our partnership with WP Puppet Theatre Society, we learned about the principles of applied puppetry, and we will present our outcomes to this end. We will make connections to existing theories and modalities, and provide robust evidence of puppetry’s efficacy in this realm. Participants will gain insight and practical experience, and most importantly – Yes, we will be building puppets.

During the Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 semester at Mount Royal University, a group of Child Studies students began a Capstone project with WP Puppet Theatre Society [WPTS]. We outlined and learned about a working definition of applied puppetry in order to illustrate its connections to student-learning and professional lived experiences to both the Early Education and Child and Youth Care Counseling majors. We have been able to identify unique ways to practice this pedagogy within each professional framework, and for this presentation will discuss correlations to the existing body of research around CYCC. We are excited to share our learning around the best practices that emerged during the process, and engage participants in the pedagogy of applied puppetry so that they might embrace this practice themselves. Presenters will include Child Studies graduates Megan Bolton, Gillian Hazan, Susan Garrow-Oliver, and Nathan Millar. Both the Early Learning and Child and Youth Care majors are represented.

Presented by Michelle Briegel and Bria Scarff

In this session we would like to share the work that we have been doing in the form of a student-faculty partnership to examine the pedagogy of a first-year Child and Youth Care course. Using a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning framework of student as partner, Michelle and Bria have been working together as partners to examine the structure of a foundation course in the Child and Youth Care major at Mount Royal University. Together, they have examined the pedagogy of teaching, the material taught, the schedule of when material is taught, and the integration of concepts against the competencies and entry to practice knowledge required for certification and eventual regulation of Child and Youth Care in Alberta. As we are “reaching for a better tomorrow” in terms of standardizing the profession of Child and Youth Care Counsellor, it is important to identify how the foundation needs to be taught in the classroom to ensure entry to practice knowledge is cohesive.

Michelle Briegel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work, Bachelor of Child Studies, Child and Youth Care (CYC) Major. Michelle’s experience in the field spans over 29 years. Michelle has roots in residential services (group care), treatment programs, protection of sexually exploited youth, community programs, and private practice. Michelle supports the field of CYC as current President of the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta and is a board representative for Child and Youth Care on the Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (ACTA) (to become the College of Counselling
Therapy of Alberta (CCTA). Dedicated to the profession of CYC, Michelle is committed to teaching and mentoring CYCs in their development inside the classroom and in practice. Through scholarship and service, Michelle examines the development of the profession through: provincial regulation, training, counsellor well-being, student well-being, and issues that influence CYC practice.

Bria Scarff is a Research Assistant and Senior Child Studies Student at Mount Royal University.

Presented by Varda Mann-Feder, Doug Magnuson, Heather Modlin, Tina Neary, Jack Phalen, Kelly Shaw and Carol Stuart

Building Relational Bridges with LGBTQ Youth is a Child and Youth Care informed approach in supporting racial and sexual minority youth. We explore the ways in which communities, schools and families can support growth and development in adolescents who identify as racialized and LGBTQ, as they navigate uncovering aspects of their identity in a variety of environments. It is evident that building diverse relationships with safety, acceptance, and allyship between peers and trusting adults, creates an infrastructure for racial and sexual minority LGBTQ youth experiences to become visible. Research identifies the areas that are lacking resources and how inadequate responses from family members, peers, leaders, and community members can lead to negative repercussions. Based on the research provided, we believe that to build a better tomorrow, we must first bridge the gap of knowledge and understanding about the lived experiences of LGBTQ-POC youth which are currently underrepresented.

This team of presenters came together after their work on a recently published CYC text: Doing Ethics in Child and Youth Care — A North American Reader, published in 2022 by Canadian Scholars’ Press. The presenters share a long history of involvement as practitioners, teachers, trainers and authors and are all passionate advocates for the Child and Youth Care field.

• Varda Mann-Feder, Professor, Concordia University
• Doug Magnuson, Professor, University of Victoria
• Heather Modlin, CEO, Amal Youth and Family Centres
• Jack Phelan, Emeritus Faculty, MacEwan University
• Kelly Shaw, Nova Scotia Community College Faculty Member, Child and Youth Care Program
• Carol Stuart, Provost and Vice President Academic, Vancouver Island University

Presented by Salina Paschke and Sarah Lynn Stephens

How do you get through the day? Sometimes you just need to phone a friend. Like the trusty game show that you can both learn something from and escape the realities of the world, Salina and Sarah would like to invite you to join them in conversation about connection and personal wellness. Together we laugh together, we cry together, we have inside jokes that make you scratch your head; it is with our connection we are able to even better serve our communities. Frontline workers need positive, supportive relationships- both professional and personal. Nursing and Child and Youth Care work may be different, but they both require heart, dedication and a strong support network. Together we look at the wellness of frontline workers and how we can and should have compassion for ourselves and others.

Salina Paschke CYC Diploma, BCYC, CCYCC (she/her) has been working full-time in the field of Child and Youth Care since 2007. She completed her diploma in Child and Youth Care in 2007 from Mount Royal University and her Bachelors of Child and Youth Care – with Distinction from University of Victoria in 2011. An employee of Hull Services for the past 15 years, Salina is the Program Coordinator at Bridging the Gap, a service that provides support to young adults transitioning to adulthood. She completed her CYC Certification in 2009 through the CYCAA, and has worked in a variety of settings: court-ordered locked programs, schools, resource hubs, and doing family work in TCBC settings. Understanding the value that relationships bring to her life, Salina is an advocate for connection and leaning into those who stand beside you. Salina works from a strengths based model of care and believes that strong relationships are a catalyst for creating change.

Sarah Lynn Stephens MN RN (she/her) is a proud Métis with a passion for health promotion and health literacy. Graduating from MRU in 2007 with a Bachelor of Nursing, Sarah worked in acute care and then for the Stoney Nation before beginning her graduate studies. Sarah completed her Masters in Nursing: Nurse Practitioner Family All Ages in 2015. Using her advanced education she provided primary care services, worked in harm reduction, and taught undergraduate nursing studies for five years. A wife and mom of a two-year-old son, Sarah is passionate about sculpted families and choosing support systems that uplift and propel yourself and therefore the community. Sarah returned from parental leave early to help support frontline workers in healthcare by returning to a public health nurse position. Believing healthcare doesn’t have to be scary, Sarah brings a unique personal approach to each client and family interaction with a genuine smile behind her mask.

Presented by Jack Phelan and Caroline Moore

CYC practitioners basically bring themselves as the main ingredient in creating useful interactions with young people and families. This workshop will explore how Self grows more complex and powerful as a method to be helpful over the course of one’s career. Our focus will include describing the newer practitioner whose self-energy is based on creating safety, the seasoned practitioner whose use of self builds connection and change, and the mature, fully functioning practitioner whose awareness of self creates a presence that is fully able to build hope, confidence and power in the young person or family. The growth in the use of self is mirrored in the three levels of CYC development.

Jack Phelan, Faculty Emeritus at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Jack has authored two books on the CYC practice, one focusing on supervision. He has contributed chapters to over 10 books, has published articles in over 25 journals and is a regular columnist for CYC-On-line, the cyc-net.org website. Jack is a speaker at National and Internationals CYC Conferences and has been a Certified CYC practitioner and officer in the CYC professional associations both in New York and Alberta. Jack began his career working with young people in New York City, where he was a direct care CYC practitioner, a CYC supervisor and an administrator, before working in juvenile justice in Denver, Colorado and then teaching in a college CYC professional school in Edmonton, Canada. Jack has been a CYC professional for over 50 years and has always believed there is more to be learned. His present interests are in developmental states of professional growth, CYC supervision, boundary issues, and relational CYC approaches.

Caroline Moore, MSc. CYCS has worked at HomeBridge Youth Society in Nova Scotia, Canada for the last 21 years. For eight years, Caroline worked directly with youth as a CYC worker in both an emergency stabilization setting and in a longer-term community setting. Caroline has been in a CYC supervisory role for the past 13 years and is currently the Director of Youth Care Services for HomeBridge Youth Society. Caroline’s interests lie in the concepts of CYC supervision and development. She recently worked with the HomeBridge CYC supervisor team to develop an internal training curriculum for new and advanced CYC supervisors within HomeBridge.

Presented by Kavya Sharma and Peter Hoag

Vicarious trauma is the cumulative effect of multiple interactions of secondary trauma. As child and youth workers, empathizing with people who have experienced trauma can alter our world-view. It can affect us so deeply which then leads to more harm than good for ourselves and even for the population we choose to work with. This presentation is based on peer-reviewed research which explores the meaning of secondary traumatization, its causes and the ways to combat or prevent it. Together, we will explore if secondary trauma is preventable or not in the profession of child and youth work.

My name is Kavya Devendra Sharma and I am from India. Currently, I am living in Brampton, Ontario and I am graduating from my Advanced Diploma in Child and Youth Care. I started studying at Sheridan College in 2019. Back in India, at seventeen, I not only became a tutor for the English language, but I also led a team of twenty other tutors. Later, as I moved to Canada, I started working for McDonald’s. In the summer of 2021, I was also an Instructor Therapist and served children on the Autism Spectrum. As an individual, my major interests are music, art and playing the strategic board game of chess. As a young professional, I believe that all of us should take time to discover what we want to do in life and as long as we don’t find our purpose, we must put efforts in the right direction. As a Child and Youth Worker, I want to help children walk through their life’s challenges by meeting them where they are at. I want to be the adult to the young people that I needed as a child.

Peter Hoag is currently a Professor in the CYC Program at Sheridan College, I began Residential work in the 80’s, moved to Youth Justice as a Probation Officer, to Thistletown’s SAFE-T Program, and the Advocate’s Office before landing at Sheridan College. Along with a Private Practice I teach courses in Trauma, Group Facilitation and Advanced Issues where this workshop was created by Kavya and 3 peers. The impact of trauma on youth and Care Providers has been a dominant interest of mine and am very excited to share with Kavya some thoughts on this topic.

Presented by Kendell Semotiuk

The Child and Youth Care program at MacEwan University is known for its interactive experiences, knowledgeable faculty, and dynamic classroom learning environment. Looking at the 2018-2022 cohort in the MacEwan University CYC program, you will find individuals with different beliefs, values, ethnicities, family upbringing, and socio-economic statuses. This wide variety of peers creates a complex and unique learning environment for both the students and the faculty. By learning different theories and combining it with practical lessons, the classroom experience allows us to learn from our peers through witnessing other journeys taken in life that we may not have otherwise been exposed to.

Kendell Semotiuk is a recent graduate of the Child and Youth Care program at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. Throughout his four-year education journey, he was a member of the CYC program’s student advisory committee for three years, the president of the Child and Youth Care Club, and spent two years in student governance as a student councillor within the Students’ Association of MacEwan University. Outside of school, Kendell volunteers weekly at his church as a youth leader with youth grades 7-12. In this role, Kendell provides mentorship to many individuals in his church community. Kendell currently works as a youth worker for an agency in Edmonton. Kendell and his wife Sarah live in Edmonton with their dog, Spottie, and their cat, Lucy.

Presented by Frank Delano and Noor Alamoui 

High quality supervision is a crucial factor in helping CYC practitioners at all levels deliver quality service to the children and families we work with. It is also extremely important in the staff development process, and in helping to retain quality workers in the organization. This highly interactive workshop will present a number of strategies for supervisors at all levels to increase their growth as a supervisor and to continue to establish themselves in their role. This workshop will help participants come in better touch with the power they have and discuss strategies to best balance that power to foster a more collaborative and healthy relationship.

Frank Delano is the President of Professional Package Training. He began his career in 1974 as a service child and youth care worker in a large residential center near New York City. Frank progressed through that program in a number of roles and spent the last 13 years there as Associate Director of the agency. He later became Director of the Rita Markus Child Care Training Institute and also was an adjunct faculty for 20 years in the Fordham University Graduate Social Service program. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Child and Youth Practice and also served on the Child Welfare League of America advisory board for 13 years including the Committee to revise the CWLA Standards of Excellence for children in group care in the United States. He has presented at numerous national and international conferences including every Canadian National CYC Conference since 1998.

Noor Almaoui (LCSW) is a bi-racial, tri-lingual Social Work Supervisor at Hathaway-Sycamore Child and Family Services in Los Angeles, California. She is also the owner of Universal Ethos, an organization that delivers trainings throughout the United States. She has previously worked at Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families and Ventura County providing direct services to children and families in the Los Angeles area. Noor has presented at a number of CYC Conferences including two Unity Conferences in Ireland and the Ontario Child and Youth Care Conference.

Presented by Parker Pothier and Catherine Hedlin

One of the only certainties in life is that every living thing will die. In fact, at a certain point in one’s lifespan, there comes a developmental stage where more and more losses occur because we are growing older and having more experiences. In the field of Child and Youth Care, we also experience a lot of loss on a regular basis, from program funding changes to client deaths. More recently, the world experienced losses that came with the Covid-19 pandemic. People who had not yet experienced much grief in their lives began to experience many losses, not limited to deaths, very suddenly. All of us were and still are grieving, differently, at the same time. As we sit with others in their grief, what are we doing to support ourselves in our own grief? Join Catherine Hedlin and Parker Pothier on an intimate and activity-based journey into your grief. Your own experiences with love and loss are important and valuable in your work with children, youth, and families.

Catherine Hedlin, associate professor in the Bachelor of Child and Youth Care (CYC) program at MacEwan University in Edmonton, and certified Child and Youth Care Counselor, began her career (more years ago than she is willing to share) in intensive treatment programs for adolescents and moving into management in a women’s shelter, a sexual assault centre, and a provincial umbrella organization. Catherine served several terms as President, and then as Past President, of the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta. Always experimenting with new ways to engage students in their personal learning journey through creative teaching and learning strategies, Catherine feels very privileged to be part of the conversation on how to build a safe, welcoming, and consistently shifting learning context.

Parker Pothier is a graduate of the Child and Youth Care program at MacEwan University in Edmonton. Currently, Parker works as a Community Resource Specialist with the Canadian Mental Health Association, answering Alberta’s 211 phone line and 6 other community helplines. Parker is also a Therapeutic Support Counsellor with One Tree Psychological and Therapeutic Services, providing play and activity-focused therapeutic services to pre-teens and teens in the community. For the last 7 years, Parker has volunteered with Pilgrims Hospice Society, facilitating an expressive arts therapeutic group program for kids and teens who have experienced a death. Parker’s personal grief experience as a teen influenced their passion for work in this field. They always strive to support others in having empowered grief experiences.

Presented by Charlotte Serpa and members of the CYCEAB Practicum Committee 

Youth Care practicum (internship, fieldwork, field placement) is central to all CYC credentials across Canada. How has it come to be the way it is today? What purposes does it serve? Who gets to decide? What challenges does it face? How is it connected to and distinct from other human service practices? Where is it going? What else could it become? Whose voices are missing in that discussion? What leads the way? The newly formed CYCEAB Practicum Committee invites you to participate in a lively discussion about all things CYC practicum. Where will the conversation go? Let’s get there together.

The presenters will be members of the Child and Youth Care Educational Accreditation Board of Canada (CYCEAB) Practicum Committee.

Presented by Nancy Marshall, Damon Kirsebom, Sherri Liska, Russell, and Clara

In this session, Nancy will present preliminary findings from her doctoral thesis: Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA): A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Outcomes and Autistic Lived Experiences, with pre-recorded presentations from four of her interview participants (all of whom are recipients of ABA). The field of ABA has a long and troubled history. With its roots firmly grounded in the theory of behaviourism and compliance-based behaviour change, autistic people, their families, and ABA practitioners themselves have begun to critically examine whether ABA is effective at achieving best outcomes for people with autism. To this end, Nancy’s research asks: how do ABA services contribute to autistic people’s well-being and quality of life in Ontario? Conversely, how do they contribute to a decrease in well-being and quality of life for autistic people and what can be done? The aim of this mixed-methods analysis is to gain deeper insights into the reasons ABA is valued or not valued as an effective intervention to improve the quality of life and well-being of autistic people in Ontario and Canada.

Nancy Marshall (she/her) holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Child and Youth Care (CYC) from Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Ontario. In her role as a CYC practitioner in schools, communities, and group home settings, Nancy has supported autistic young people and their families for over ten years. In her current role as a Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Education at York University, her doctoral research examines the ethics of educational supports for neurodivergent young people. Specifically, she examines the lived experiences of those who have received Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). In her part-time, Nancy supports neurodivergent young people using a relational neurodevelopmental approach at Ripple Effect Children’s Services in Toronto.

Presented by Samantha Harris

Reaching for a Better Tomorrow, I truly believe we cannot look at building a better tomorrow, without reflecting on our past and present states. In this workshop, we will discuss the impacts of colonization and how that correlates to the sexual exploitation of folks. Through the workshop we will be using a “Tree of Hope” visual to discuss topics. Through the workshop, we will be looking at the roots (colonization), then moving to the trunk of the tree (sexual exploitation), and from there we will discuss our hopes, dreams, and visions for the future (leaves). At the end, all participants will be asked to share their commitment for a better tomorrow by leaving a post-it note on the ‘leaf’ part of the tree.

Samantha Harris: My spirit name is Leading Buffalo Woman, and I am from Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba. I am a mother to a 5 year old, and a part-time Bachelor of Social Work student. My experience includes 10 years in the field of child and youth care, with 8 of those years working specifically with youth who are at risk of, or currently being sexually exploited. I have facilitated a number of trainings, workshops, and programs to both youth and adults. I work from a relational focus and believe that relationship is key to the work we do.

Presented by Dr Melanie Doucet

Many youth in the child protection system abruptly lose support from the State when they reach the age of majority, regardless of their readiness or their emotional and financial needs. This is due to provincial/territorial legislation that mandates child welfare agencies to release youth from their care at the age of majority. This pattern of service removal leads to traumatic transitions and negative outcomes for youth exiting care, including a heightened risk for homelessness, poverty, poor mental health and early parenthood. In March 2020, First Voice Advocates and key allies from across the country joined forces to advocate for moratoriums on transitions from care during the pandemic; as a result, many provinces and territories have issued temporary moratoriums or emergency measures. These measures have opened up opportunities to re-think the transition to adulthood for youth in care in a more equitable way as we move towards pandemic recovery.

Dr Melanie Doucet has been working to improve the lives of youth in care for over 15 years. She is a former youth in care, holds a PhD in Social Work, is the Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the Child Welfare League of Canada (CWLC) and a researcher at the McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families (CRCF). She is also the co-founder of the Montreal Youth in Care Alumni Student Association (MYCASA), a peer support group for former youth in care pursuing post-secondary education. She continues to work as part of the provincial and national youth in care advocacy community on child protection policy reform initiatives and is currently leading the Equitable Transitions to Adulthood and a Just Pandemic Recovery for Youth in Care Project alongside the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates.

Presented by Dr Pat Kostouros and Michelle Briegel 

Child and Youth Care in Canada is currently an unregulated field of practice. This means that anybody can work as a Child and Youth Care Counsellor and could potentially do harm to a young person without accountability to their role as a trusted professional. 50 years ago we set out to regulate the profession of Child and Youth Care in Alberta. With regulation we hope to ensure that the profession is standardized and the public (vulnerable children and youth ) is protected. In this presentation, we will discuss the regulation of Child and Youth Care Counsellors in Alberta. We will take participants through the successes and challenges the CYCAA has faced along the way, how the CYCAA was finally able to get third reading of Bill 30 in the legislature passed, where we are now and how the CYCAA is planning to continue to lead the direction of professionalizing Child and Youth Care Counselling as we reach for a better future for our profession.

Dr. Patricia (Pat) Kostouros is a psychologist and a Professor in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work at Mount Royal University (MRU). Her research interests include Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, intimate partner violence and depicting suffering. She developed and taught courses and was the lead editor for the MRU Children’s Mental Health Certificate. She has managed a youth shelter, a women’s shelter, and was the Executive Director of a residence for women with a trauma history and a dual diagnosis. Presently Patricia is the Interim Chair of the Department.

Michelle Briegel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child Studies and Social Work, Bachelor of Child Studies, Child and Youth Care (CYC) Major. Michelle’s experience in the field spans over 29 years. Michelle has roots in residential services (group care), treatment programs, protection of sexually exploited youth, community programs, and private practice. Michelle supports the field of CYC as the current President of the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta and is a board representative for Child and Youth Care on the Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (ACTA) (to become the College of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (CCTA). Dedicated to the profession of CYC, Michelle is committed to teaching and mentoring CYCs in their development inside the classroom and in practice. Through scholarship and service, Michelle examines the development of the profession through: provincial regulation, training, counsellor well-being, student well-being, and issues that influence CYC practice.

Presented by Maria Malouf and Joel Pippus

In 2015, Hull Services was gifted the Matt Banister Memorial Skate Park by a dedicated and generous community of donors. As we began to access the skatepark and use it as part of our work with clients, we began to notice a connection between the time spent at the skate park and client progress toward treatment goals. Since 2015, Joel Pippus has had the opportunity to share the impact that skateboarding has had on the youth at Hull Services, both locally and internationally. In the summer of 2021, Hull partnered with the University of Calgary’s Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education to conduct a pilot study investigating the relationship between skateboarding and youth mental health. This session will focus on our preliminary study findings and other exciting new projects that have been going on with Push to Heal.

Maria Malouf is a Clinician with the Trauma-Informed Services Department at Hull Services (a non-profit organization in Calgary, AB). She holds a Masters of Counselling and is a registered psychologist with 15 years of experience working with at-risk children and families. Maria is a phase II trainer in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) and has been part of NMT implementation and certification at Hull Services since 2011. Maria co-presented at the 2016 and 2018 Neurosequential Model Symposium with a focus on engaging youth through arts-based learning. She has supported research initiatives that explore the therapeutic value and healing potential of interventions such as art, music, movement, and skateboarding.

Joel Pippus is a School Transition Counselor at Hull School with Hull Services (a non-profit organization in Calgary, AB). He has 12 years of experience working with at-risk children and families, and leads the Push to Heal project at Hull Services (using skateboarding as a component of treatment for the high needs young people that Hull serves). Joel presented at the National Child and Youth Care Conference and Alberta Child and Youth Care Conference in 2016, the Neurosequential Model Symposium in 2018 (including premiering a short film articulating the foundations of the Push To Heal project), and in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the Goodpush Summit (in 2019). Joel continues to explore the potential connection between two of his passions: skateboarding and working with high needs kids, and last summer supported a research initiative exploring the therapeutic value and healing potential of skateboarding in partnership with the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education.

Presented by Monica Pauls

Trauma-informed care guides a growing approach to practice across the field of Child and Youth Care. As such, increasing efforts have been made to integrate a trauma-informed orientation into post-secondary programs (Knight, 2019). Practicum courses provide opportunities for this integration, as concepts can be introduced in the classroom before they are applied in front-line practice. However, full curriculum and course schedules may limit the ability of educators to fully address this topic prior to students’ field experience. Such was the case in the first-year Child and Youth Care practicum in the Bachelor of Child Studies at Mount Royal University. To address this gap, faculty decided to implement an online training program, Being Trauma Aware (BTA), as a course requirement. This presentation will provide an overview of the BTA training program and the findings from the study, offering insights into the effectiveness of the model and contributing to an understanding of whether or not the online platform can play a role in teaching about trauma-informed care.

Monica Pauls is an Associate Professor in the Bachelor of Child Studies (BCST) at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. She has a Masters’ degree in Sociology and is currently a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the University of Calgary. Monica’s research interests include youth activism, social media, community development and social change. She is particularly interested in the role of technology in youth social movements. Monica teaches undergrad courses in research methods, program design and evaluation, systems and social policy, and child and youth care practice. She prioritizes the connection between theory and practice by providing opportunities for the practical application of knowledge.

Presented by Kelsey Reed

As an Indigenous Scholar, and in alignment with the conference’s theme of “Reaching for a Better Tomorrow”, I am committed to exploring and understanding how our existing policy and procedures are impacting our Indigenous children, youth, and families in the Child Welfare System as well as opportunities for change to better support our Indigenous communities. This session will explore my doctoral research “Urban Indigenous Identity Development in Survivors of the Child Welfare System”. Using an Indigenous Research Methodology, I conducted interviews with three Cree women who shared their experiences growing up in the system, the impacts it had on their Indigenous identity, and their thoughts on how we can move forward. This presentation will provide an overview of the research study with an emphasis on the study’s findings. The findings provide practical applications for practitioners and a critical analysis of our existing policies.

Kelsey Reed is a member of the Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation and an assistant professor in the Department of Child and Youth Care. Kelsey is a graduate of the Child and Youth Care program with MacEwan University, received a Masters degree in Educational Policy studies through the University of Alberta (2016) and is currently completing her doctorate in Philosophy with a specialization in Indigenous Peoples Education.

Presented by Dr Laura Wright, Dr Natasha Blanchet-Cohen, Alicia Ibarra-Lemay, Dr Kathleen Manion and Veronique Picard

Increased involvement of children and youth as leaders, collaborators, and advisors in interdisciplinary research and practice has expanded the possibilities for doing meaningful research. Co-creation and production recognizes children and youth as experts and creators of knowledge, engages children and youth in decision-making, and can address traditional adult-child hierarchies. While participation, as envisioned in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, is still a long way off from being met, there are increasing examples of effective child and youth-led and transformative child participation processes that illustrate both paradigmatic and more nuanced advances in child and youth participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on three case examples, this panel provides insights into the ways that participatory methods can foster spaces for children, youth, and adults to work together intergenerationally to reach for a better tomorrow in both research and practice.

Dr Laura H.V. Wright, MA, MEd, PhD is a Teaching and Research Fellow, Childhood and Youth Studies, University of Edinburgh and the Director of Participatory Methodologies, International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD). Laura’s research and practice has focused on play and arts based participatory methodologies, children’s meaningful participation, intergenerational partnerships, child rights, relationships, and psychosocial wellbeing in Canada, the Middle East, Asia, East and West Africa, and Europe. She is passionate about meaningful collaboration and is an active member on several child and youth-centred networks and boards.

Dr Kathleen Manion, MA, LLM, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads University and an Associate at the International Institute of Child Rights and Development. With nearly thirty years’ experience in social and community services and academia, Kathleen’s academic and practice interests focus on systems that support children to thrive. Using various qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and community engagement processes, Kathleen has worked on projects tackling issues related to child protection, homelessness, early childhood development, service innovation, child rights, trafficking, sexual and family violence, youth justice, and child migration in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

Dr Natasha Blanchet-Cohen, MA, MA, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University and co-chair of the Quebec Youth Research Network. Her research centres on community youth development with a focus on rights-based approaches to programs and services, culture, and eco-citizenship, particularly as it relates to immigrant and indigenous young people. She is interested in the opportunities and limitations for immigrant and indigenous young people in being change agents in their schools, homes, and communities, as well as the perspectives of youth in providing for rights-based and culturally-responsive services and programs.

Alicia Ibarra-Lemay, BSA is a Kanien’kehá:ka and Chilean researcher. She recently received her Bachelor’s degree in the fields of First Peoples Studies and Education from Concordia University, with plans to pursue her Master’s degree in Indigenous language reclamation as an approach to healing for Indigenous youth. All topics in which she has been closely working on for several years. More specifically, her current work in research centres around empowering Indigenous youth in research, Indigenous approaches to working against violence, Indigenous Healing Knowledges and creating support and tools for Indigenous student moms.

Véronique Picard, MA is Huron-Wendat of the community of Wendake. She obtained her BA in 2014 and her MA in 2016 in Criminology at the University of Montréal. She started her career working with the police, but she quickly joined the team of Quebec Native Women, then Native Montreal, to work with and for the Indigenous peoples of Quebec. Her values ​​are deeply rooted in her Indigenous and Wendat identity and she’s a strong believer in bringing them into her work. Her role within the Youth Network Chair allows for the coordination of different partners, in order to better meet the objectives set by the Chair.