CYC Podcast

In this episode Marleigh Pirnasar talks about working in Northern Quebec after growing up, going to school, and becoming a CYC in southern Ontario. She explains how she had to reckon with her southern geographical privilege, differentiates between cultural competency, cultural humility, and cultural safety, and discusses the necessity of understanding self when working in cultures different from one’s own.

Marleigh Pirnasar is a Child and Youth Care Practitioner who works in Nunavik, northern Quebec.

On this episode of Your Right to Speak Salvatore and Wolfgang reflect on 2018 and the conversations they have had on their shows.  Wolfgang and Salvatore talk about some of their memorable moments and what they’ve learned in 2018 from their guests. Reflect on these and other experiences they offer their thoughts to Child and Youth Care Practitioners and Social Workers entering the field.

Let’s Raise Awareness Together   

Dr. Laura Steckely talks about Threshold concepts, what they are, how they are relevant to CYC practice, practitioners, and those we work with. Threshold concepts are ideas central to a field that once understood “transform learning and practice” leading to “new ways of thinking and understanding”. Threshold concepts have been identified and discussed in multiple fields, yet only minimally considered in Child and Youth Care. In this episode Dr. Steckley talks about her research into Threshold concepts in residential care and what she has identified so far.

Dr Steckley is the Course Director of the MSc in Advanced Residential Child Care at the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland. Prior to becoming a faculty member, she worked in residential treatment in the USA and residential care in Scotland.

This episode of Your Right to Speak is a press conference recording that took place on November 29, 2018 organized by the Ontario Children’s Advocacy Coalition. The press conference was in response to a recent decision by the Provincial Government. Below is a press release from the Ontario Children’s Advocacy Coalition regarding the Government’s Decision:

“On November 15, 2018, the Ontario Government announced its intention to discontinue the Ontario Child Advocate’s Office (OCA; formerly known as Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth). This Office ensures young people have a voice about things that affect their lives. This decision is especially devastating for young people living on the margins, Black youth, Indigenous youth, young people living in the care of public institutions like child welfare or youth justice and those with special challenges or disabilities.

The current Ontario government has said that they will transfer some of the functions of the Office of the Child Advocate to the Ombudsman of Ontario, a much larger office that deals with consumer complaints by adults in a wide range of public services, but that has no experience dealing with child welfare, child and youth mental health and youth justice sectors. Young people involved in those sectors are unfamiliar with the Ombudsman, and there are no opportunities for a collective voice. The Child Advocates Office would be subsumed under an institution that deals solely with adults. An independent Office must be maintained to ensure the appropriate support and care of Ontario’s most vulnerable children and youth.

Presently, the Provincial Child Advocate was chosen and appointed by an all-party Committee of the legislature and he reports directly to the legislature through the speaker. This is to ensure that his Office remains independent and is not unduly influenced by the government or at risk of reprisals for releasing reports to the public that are critical of the government’s performance, particularly as it relates to children in its care. Bill 57 introduced by the Progressive Conservative Government would cut three legislative officers which includes the Ontario Child Advocate. Disrupting the independence and authority of the Child Advocate who represents the most vulnerable children and youth in the province without thoughtful consideration of the facts or thorough public consultation demonstrates an unconscionable breach of power.”

On this episode on Your Right to Speak Salvatore talks with Karen Prosper the Executive Director of Arrabon House and a returning guest Catherine Ellis-Dobson the Assistant Director of Arrabon House. Karen and Catherine talk about what programs and services Arrabon House offer young women and what gaps they have seen in the residential group home setting. Karen and Catherine’s extensive experience shines through as they share their belief in the importance of utilizing a person-focused wellness model and reflect on the most important lessons they have learned thus far.  Let's raise awareness together!  

This episode is a panel conversation with 5 people, Tanitia Munroe, Karlene Williams-Clark, Dr. Lance McCready, Elise Yusef and Cannary Branco. The conversation is about a recent research project called Understanding Non-Financial Barriers to Black Queer Youth Transitions from High School to College. The primary goal of the project was to build an evidence base to guide the work of postsecondary education connectors working with organizations that serve Black queer youth. The guests are a mixture of researchers, community partners, and people interviewed for the research project.

Due to the number of people we went longer than usual with this episode. Rather than playing the whole 1 hour at once, we are splitting the conversation into two episodes, one this month and the second one the last Wednesday of November.

On this episode of Your Right to Speak I talked with Catherine Ellis-Dobson who is the Assistant Director at Arrabon House. Catherine talks about some of the gaps in the group home/ residential care system and what needs to be changed. The conversation then turns to how to Child and Youth workers know the residential program is benefiting the youth and how success looks like. Near the end of the episode, Catherin offers advice for new students entering the residential setting. Let's raise awareness together! 

Dr. Petra Roberts talks about her oral history research with 24 adults who, as children, grew up in residential institutions in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Her study sought to learn the positives and negatives of residential care in order to contribute to developing a model of care suited for high need, low resource countries. Dr. Roberts discusses residential care in T&T, some of the unique aspects of care in that nation, the positive and challenging experiences of those who spent time in care, and closes with making some recommendations regarding institutional care for middle- and low-income countries.

Dr. Roberts is currently an assistant professor in the department of Social Work at Algoma University in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario.

This presentation by Sabrin Hassan is the final of our uploads from Education Day, prior to the 20th Canadian National CYC conference held in Vancouver, British Columbia this past May. Sabrin discusses her experiences as a Black student going through post-secondary CYC education. Sabrin is a recent graduate of Ryerson Universities Bachelor in Child and Youth Care program.