Bachelor of Arts - Child and Youth Care

Program Description

This Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care provides a degree opportunity for students working towards a range of human service disciplines. The CYC program is a four-year, 120-credit program for working professionals, with core course offerings scheduled for afternoons and evenings. The program of study includes elective courses along with possible specializations. Students without a background in the human services field may apply to the program. Most child and youth care practitioners are balancing agency, family, personal, and professional needs as they pursue education in an increasingly demanding and complex field.

Child and youth care is an expanding field. It crosses a wide range of work settings and areas of practice, including regular and alternative school programs, child protection and guardianship work in the provincial government, family support, child life/hospital-based programs, residential/group home programs, youth justice/probation programs, special needs foster care, parent/counsellor resources, mental health, early intervention and child development centres, and related community agencies. The breadth of the child and youth care field requires a primary curriculum focus on development and social competence for therapeutic intervention through relationships.

This program is designed in response to increasing demand from employers for skilled practitioners who are able to work in an interdisciplinary and collaborative way. Direct care practitioners, supervisors, managers, and trainers in these programs bring a diverse set of backgrounds and credentials to their positions. Increasingly, an undergraduate degree is sought by employers for the more desirable employment opportunities in areas of the field. This has led to a growing number of practitioners in line supervision and management positions to invest in professional education by completing this degree. The BA in Child and Youth Care is designed to offer credit-based professional education for practitioners seeking employment in human service agencies who work with children, youth, and families.