Program Overview

The Child and Youth Care program is a three-year advance diploma that teaches students about family issues and children’s emotional and behavioural challenges. This program teaches students about special education and assistive technology. Students will gain experience within three full time field placements to apply their skills.

Program Details

Program Code
CYW4
Credential:
Ontario College Advanced Diploma
Duration
90 weeks
Start Dates
Locations
Availability

Full Time Offerings

2024 September
London
Open
2024 September
Woodstock
Open
2025 January
St. Thomas
Open
2025 January
London
Open
2023 September
London
Closed
2023 September
St. Thomas
Closed
2023 September
Woodstock
Closed
2024 January
London
Closed
Start Dates
Locations
Availability

Full Time Offerings

2024 September
Woodstock
Open
2024 September
London
Open
2025 January
St. Thomas
Open
2025 January
London
Open
2023 September
London
Closed
2023 September
St. Thomas
Closed
2023 September
Woodstock
Closed
2024 January
London
Closed

Your Learning Experience

In the Child and Youth Care program, you'll learn from experienced instructors about family issues and children's emotional and behavioural challenges. You’ll develop counselling skills, examine child abuse and neglect, mental health issues, familial structures, psychotherapy techniques, develop professionalism and interpersonal skills relevant to the field, and many other child-centred issues and concerns. 

This three-year advanced diploma has a field placement, where you'll spend every other semester working with clients/recipients of service. In total, you'll get over 1,500 hours of real-world experience. Fanshawe will give you the skills and experience necessary as a child and youth care worker to accept the challenge with confidence.

When you graduate with a Child and Youth Care advanced diploma, you’ll have a dynamic and evolving range of skills that will allow you to work in a number of different fields such as group homes, correctional services, residential treatment centres, children's aid societies, boards of education, community resource centres, street-work, and hospitals.

The Child and Youth Care program prepares individuals to provide care and treatment for children and youth experiencing emotional, behavioural, social and mental health challenges. This education and training combine both an academic facet with comprehensive and varied field experience.

This program is offered at more than one campus for your convenience. Learn more about the programs and services of Fanshawe’s campuses in London, St. Thomas, and Woodstock

 

Career Information

Graduates are employed by agencies or institutions designed to meet a range of needs for children and youth experiencing emotional, behavioural, social and/or mental health challenges. Such places include group homes, correctional services, residential treatment centres, children's aid societies, boards of education, community resource centres, streetwork, and hospitals.

 

 

 

I want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to the wonderful instructors at Fanshawe College and more specifically my Child and Youth Care program. I have always had an interest and desire to work within the education system, specifically with children with challenging behaviours. I chose Fanshawe College to prepare me for my future. I strongly believe that Fanshawe's approach to education and placement played a key part to my success as a student and ultimately finding employment. My graduation day was not only a day of celebration for my previous three years of hard work, it was also a day of celebration for receiving an offer of employment from the Thames Valley District School Board. I never dreamed that I would be employed on the day of graduation! This surreal feeling will never be forgotten.

Lisa Giovannetti
Recent Fanshawe Graduate
Learning Outcomes

The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to

  1. Develop and maintain therapeutic relationships with children, youth and their families, respecting their unique life spaces, and applying the principles of relational practice to meet their needs.
  2. Assess the strengths, developmental and holistic needs of children, youth and their families, using methods grounded in theoretical frameworks, research and therapeutic practices, to develop care and intervention plans.
  3. Develop and implement care and intervention plans appropriate for the therapeutic milieu using evidence-informed practices and research to provide support for children, youth, and their families.
  4. Use equitable and inclusive approaches that are anti-colonial, anti-oppressive, anti-racist, and strength-based frameworks, as well as cultural humility, to create positive and sustainable solutions and respond to inequities and to systemic barriers experienced by children, youth and their families.
  5. Advocate for, and in solidarity with, children, youth, their families and communities through their participation in the development and implementation of care and intervention plans that uphold their rights.
  6. Employ communication, collaboration and relational skills with the inter-professional team and with community partners to ensure and enhance the professionalism of practice.
  7. Engage in self-inquiry, relational inquiry and critical reflection to develop strategies for learning and the practice of self-care, as a practitioner.
  8. Use professional development resources and supervision to increase professional capacity, learning and leadership skills.
  9. Adhere to relevant legislation and Child and Youth Care standards of practice, competencies, and codes of ethics as a practitioner.
  10. Practice in a variety of contexts and settings, respecting needs for developmental growth, safety, wellbeing and agency, while addressing the varying age and developmental ranges of children, youth, and their families.
  11. Employ crisis prevention and intervention techniques, and harm-reduction principles, with children, youth and their families in the provision of care, to ensure their safety, resolution of crises, and reparation of relationships.
  12. Develop the capacity to work with children, youth and families who identify with Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities, as well as people in LGBTQ2+ and disabled communities, by identifying systemic inequities and barriers, integrating practices such as trauma-informed care, and respecting their inherent rights to self-determine.

 

Academic School

Program Coordinators:

London Campus:

Julie Cross, CYW, CYC, BA, MOT, MEd DE

Field Placement Coordinator:

Kristen Fryer

Woodstock/Oxford Regional Campus:

Peggy Humphries, CYW, CYC (cert.)
CYC Co-ordinator and CYC Field Placement Liaison

St. Thomas/Elgin Regional Campus:

Sheila Brownell

Open House Graphic

Specially-trained Fanshawe staff and students will tour you around the campus viewing key student spaces to provide you with a better understanding of the full student experience.

Register for Open House

Admission Requirements

Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), or equivalent, or a mature applicant with the following course:

- Grade 12 English (C or U)

Students who do not meet the admission requirements are recommended for academic upgrading. A conditional offer may be possible with proof of enrolment. Alternatively, applicants may choose to do the one-year Human Services Foundation preparatory program. Graduates who have a final cumulative GPA of 2.0 will meet all the admission requirements for this program.
Competitive Programs

This is a competitive program; the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of seats available. Please see www.fanshawec.ca/hcp for details. 

International Admission Equivalencies
Admission equivalencies for Fanshawe depends on your country of study. Please enter your location to see the requirements for your country below.
English Language Requirements

English Language Requirements

Test Score
TOEFL iBT 79
IELTS Academic Overall score of 6.0 with no score less than 5.5 in any of the four bands
CAEL Overall score of 60 with no score less than 50 in any of the four bands. score of 80 in listening
PTE Academic 53
Cambridge English Overall score of 169 with no language skill less than 162
ESL4/GAP5 Minimum grade of 80% in Level 8, 75% in Level 9, or 70% in Level 10
Duolingo Overall score of 105, with no score lower than 95

 

Learn More about English Language Requirements

Recommended Academic Preparation

Recommended Academic Preparation

  • Grade 11 Raising Healthy Children (O)
  • Grade 11 Working with Infants and Young Children (C)
  • Grade 12 Challenge and Change in Society (U)
  • Grade 12 Families in Canada (C) or (U)
  • Grade 12 Human Development Throughout the Lifespan (M)
Recommended Personal Preparation

Recommended Personal Preparation

  • Students should develop personal responsibility and leadership skills by participating in school and social organizations concerned with helping people, particularly children and adolescents
  • Work or volunteer experience in this field is most important
Advanced Standing

Advanced Standing

Advanced Standing may be granted to those directly employed in the child and youth care field or those with comparable relevant experience or academic background.
Applicant Selection Criteria

Applicant Selection Criteria

Where the number of eligible applicants exceeds the available spaces in the program, the Applicant Selection Criteria will be:
  1. Preference for Permanent Residents of Ontario
  2. Receipt of Application by February 1st (After this date, Fanshawe College will consider applicants on a first-come, first-served basis until the program is full)
  3. Achievement in the Admission Requirements
Note:
  • Admission to the Fanshawe College Human Services Foundation program does not guarantee admission in a subsequent year to the Child and Youth Care program. Successful completion of the Fanshawe College Human Services Foundation program, however, does enable the student to be given additional consideration when applying to the Child and Youth Care program. The Human Services Foundation program is the preferred designated preparatory program for admission to the Child and Youth Care program.
  • *Students who are currently registered in the Human Services Foundation program at Fanshawe College or at any Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology must successfully complete their Human Services Foundation Ontario College Certificate with a minimum 2.0 GPA by April 30, 2023 and meet the academic pre-requisite course for the Child and Youth Care program in order to be eligible for admission consideration in the immediately following academic year to the Child and Youth Care program.
  • **Students who are currently registered in the General Arts and Science program at Fanshawe College or at any Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology must successfully complete their General Arts and Science Ontario College Certificate with a minimum 2.0 GPA by April 30, 2023 and meet the academic pre-requisite course for the Child and Youth Care program in order to be eligible for admission consideration in the immediately following academic year to the Child and Youth Care program.
Post-Admission Requirements

Post-Admission Requirements

The following items are applicable to the program and are time sensitive. Please refer to www.fanshawec.ca/preplacement for important information about preparing for placement by the due date.

  • Possession of a Standard First Aid course certificate (either St. John Ambulance or Canadian Red Cross or equivalent) and a Basic Rescuer course certificate (Level "C" CPR)
  • Evidence of Good Health
  • Police Record Check and Vulnerable Sector Screening, including a check of the Pardoned Sexual Offenders Database
  • Placement Agreement
More Information

More info about post-admission requirements:

London Campus

St. Thomas/Elgin Regional Campus

Woodstock/Oxford Regional Campus

Courses

Level 1
Take all of the following Mandatory Courses:
WRIT-1094Reason & Writing 1 for Community Studies3
This course will introduce Community Studies students to essential principles of reading, writing, and reasoning at the postsecondary level. Students will identify, summarize, analyze, and evaluate multiple short readings and write persuasive response essays to develop their vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and critical thinking.
BSCI-1264Therapeutic Programming3
This course is designed to equip students with the conceptual frameworks, and technical skills necessary to plan, develop, implement, analyze and evaluate appropriate recreational and therapeutic programs for children and youth. This introductory course enhances students' knowledge and skills in utilizing games, exercises and activities for therapeutic purposes. Students will gain appreciation for the therapeutic value of play/ programming and begin to practice in a controlled setting. Students will be introduced to a variety of therapeutic interventions that can be applied in milieus where children and youth are commonly supported by Child and Youth Care Practitioners.
PSYC-1114CYC Skills & Interventions3
This is a practical course designed to teach students basic attending skills and strategies for working effectively with children. Sources of influence for children's behaviour are examined, including the role Child and Youth Care Practitioners have as a source of positive influence and empowerment in the lives of young people.
PSYC-1115CYC Relational Practice-Intro3
This course will introduce students to the field of Child and Youth Care. Students will have a full understanding of the development of the profession and the importance of personal and professional growth. An overview of the role of the Child and Youth Care Practitioner will be covered as related to the CYC practice milieus. An introduction to ethics in the field of Child and Youth Care will be examined throughout the course using the Ethical and Professional Standards as well as the Ontario Association of Child and Youth Counsellors Code of Conduct. Students will be introduced to the Domains of Practice and the Elements of Performance related to each domain. Relational practice and experiential learning will be discussed throughout the course.
FLDP-1046Professional Practice: Field Readiness2
This course introduces the student to the initial field component of Child and Youth Care. During this field preparation course, students will identify the outcomes and goals to successfully complete the first field placement. In addition to job skill development, students begin to work toward preparatory documentation necessary to attend the field placement.
PSYC-1116Diversity in CYC Practice3
This course will introduce students to diverse populations in the field of Child and Youth Care and in today's society. This course will ask students to examine their perspectives both personally and professionally, utilize self-reflection and self-awareness to begin to build an inclusive practice. The concept of ally will be woven throughout the course so students can begin to address personal bias in their practice. Students will develop skills in critical thinking and apply this knowledge to CYC practice.
PSYC-1117Child Development3
This course will provide students with an opportunity to understand the growth and development of children 0 - 12 years of age. Development will be understood through the use of five major theoretical perspectives and the physical, cognitive and social/emotional domains. The concepts of heredity and environment will be discussed throughout the course in relation to the role of child and you care practitioners. The role of research in child development and family policy will be reviewed in order for student to understand their advocacy role. Students will apply their knowledge of child development through simulations and experiential learning activities as they raise a virtual child and attend in-class parent meetings to discuss and review their virtual child's development.
View all courses

Tuition Summary

London

Canadian Costs
$10,717.10
Total Cost of Program
International Costs
$47,267.24
Total Cost of Program

St. Thomas and Woodstock

Canadian Costs
$9,706.38
Total Cost of Program
International Costs
$45,813.84
Total Cost of Program

*Total program costs are approximate, subject to change and do not include the health and dental plan fee, bus pass fee or program general expenses.

 

Contact/Questions