The field of Child and Youth Workers is concerned with helping youth, their families and communities develop and grow in a positive way. In their roles, child and youth workers nurture the youth with whom they work and become positive role models.

1. Help Nurture The Next Generation as a
Child and Youth Worker
Child and Youth Workers are essential in helping children, youth and
families to grow and develop, within a wide range of therapeutic contexts. In
fact, agencies (including residential, day treatment, community-based and
young offender programs, hospitals, crisis centers and shelters as well as
schools) that work with youths and their families are seeing an increasing
need for professionally trained people in this area.
At Centennial College, students of the Child and Youth Worker program spend
three years learning the ins and outs of this sensitive-natured profession. In
order to apply, the school expects applicants to present at minimum an
Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or be 19 years of age
or older. Also required are compulsory English 12C or U or skills assessment or
equivalent. Lastly, English proficiency will be considered and a program
admission session will be required. Possession of minimum admission
requirements does not guarantee admission to the Child and Youth Worker
program at Centennial College.
In order to be successful in the Child and Youth Worker program, you
Address: Centennial College, P.O. Box 631, Station A, Toronto M1K 5E9, Ontario, Canada
Tel: 416-289-5000, Email: success@centennialcollege.ca Page 1

2. must be dedicated to the theory and hands-on practice offered in the
undertaking. Working with a highly supportive faculty, you will learn from a
curriculum that is annually reviewed and revised. Courses such as Principles of
Psychology, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Working with Traumatized
Children and Youth, Child Abuse and more can be found in the program.
Through these courses, students learn principles, philosophies and
characteristics of relational child and youth work practice such as co-creating
relationships, working developmentally and understanding professional
boundaries. In addition to the in-school sessions, the Child and Youth Worker
program provides the opportunity for students to participate in three field
placement that not only allow you to apply what you have learned but also to
discover the different settings available to you in the field.
Due to the sensitive nature of the Child and Youth Worker field, Centennial
College requires students to have a vulnerable sector criminal check prior to
field placement. Certain criminal convictions will disallow placement in these
agencies and program completion may not be possible. Students must also
possess a standard first aid and heart saver AED (C) certification. Lastly, for
placement, a medical certificate of health is necessary to ensure freedom of
communicable disease.
Upon graduation, students are in high demand, with yearly salaries ranging
between $32,000 and $43,000. In the field, child and youth workers have a
number of jobs. First and foremost, they must develop and maintain
therapeutic, yet professional relationships with clients that promote wellbeing
and facilitate positive change. This entails designing and implementing
strategies that work for the child and his or her family in a safe way. In
addition, child and youth works perform safety inspections or emergency
procedures, if for example, they work in a young offender program as well as
looks for signs of abuse. Lastly, child and youth workers have administrative
duties such as documenting, keeping neat files of client records and testifying
in court if necessary.
Author: Jason
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Centennial College – Child and Youth Workers, Toronto Education
Address: Centennial College, P.O. Box 631, Station A, Toronto M1K 5E9, Ontario, Canada
Tel: 416-289-5000, Email: success@centennialcollege.ca Page 2