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Quarterly Newsletter

May 2012
Greetings fellow youth worker!

Welcome to the first ACYCP e-newsletter. The ACYCP Board is striving to keep our members up-to-date with our organization's current projects and activities. Inside you will find a letter from the ACYCP president, update from our committees, interesting interviews, and much more!
 
In This Issue
From the President
Outreach Committee Update
Finance Committee Update
Interview with a new Board member
ACYCP Leader Honored
From the President

From one President to another!!! This year I have been to the White House twice to advocate for support from the Obama Administration for older youth aging out of care and youth workers. Here is my picture at the front door of the White House on the way to the Oval Office. You can see I am proudly wearing my City Year jacket for AmeriCorps national service. I come to the job of ACYCP President having worked with high risk hard to reach youth across the country and around the world in after-school, national service, juvenile justice, and residential treatment.

 

Now is our time. It is not right in the greatest country of the world to have more than 20% of all the children; 30 percent of all the minority children, living in poverty. The nation needs us now to change this stunning statistic. ACYCP sets sail on a new course to build a national movement to deliver the high quality youth work  that ensures all youth succeed and are ready for school and work!!!! A special appreciation to all the youth workers who participated in Thank A Youth Worker Day which sent the powerful message that we are here and "in it to win" whatever the youth in our care need!

 

Immediate past President Jean Carpenter-Williams leaves office with heartfelt thanks, knowing that she achieved her leadership goal. The national operations for ACYCP are well organized and there is a new look for our membership materials and all the processes that will help us to grow. Even more important, Jean continues in the key leadership role of Co-Editor for the Journal of Child and Youth Care Work. The next edition publishes key articles that you can use to train the youth worker competencies.

 

As ACYCP President, I am ready to go anywhere any time to advocate for you!!! Invite me to your youth work center and we will spend time together in the coming months. Oh, I will tell you what the President had to say the last time I saw him. Andy

 

Outreach Committee Update

The Outreach Committee is responsible for connecting ACYCP to youth workers and youth serving organizations across the country. Recently, the Committee has been moving forward with a number of projects that aim to publicize the goals and activities of ACYCP as a whole; provide opportunities for professional development and networking; expand membership in the organization; and, celebrate the contributions of individual youth workers. Current projects include updating the ACYCP website, promoting Thank A Youth Worker Day, exploring the utility of social media, and creating professional development webinars. This newsletter itself is also a new initiative started within the Outreach Committee. An overarching goal in many of the projects is to more fully utilize the technologies available to us.

 

The Outreach Committee is always excited to have new volunteers! There are lots of ways for you to get involved. One great way to show your support is to host a Thank a Youth Worker Day party at your work site. In this way you are taking time to celebrate your success, while also raising awareness for both ACYCP and the field of youth work in general. Also, tech savvy youth workers could get involved in website renovations as well as contribute to conversations around networking and advertising through social media. If you are interested in helping with an existing project, have new ideas, or both, please feel free to contact the Outreach Committee Chairperson, Jeff Kreeb ([email protected]).
 

Finance Committee Update

At the finance committee, we have been keeping a watchful eye on the green that helps keep our group blazing new trails. First of all, we have established and been maintaining a website linked application process that includes online payments (we now have a PayPal account) to make it much more convenient and fluid to keep the green blood flowing, particularly as we expect a significant surge from the Outreach Committee's efforts. We currently have a steady trickle of people joining our membership. Together with Jody Rhodes, we process the newcomers and welcome them aboard. We also briefly discussed and sent the seed money for the 2012 Tenth International Child and Youth Care Conference in Canmore, Alberta Canada. We are grateful to support our brothers and sisters to the north.

 

It is relieving to say that we just turned in our 2011 tax returns on time, even though I will say it was a most expedient process (Jean says we have broken a record of timely submissions - 3 consecutive years). The anticipation of the unknown preparation for me was the most stressful. We have consulted on contracts as they come up, the last involving the provision of Journals through the University of Oklahoma. The contract was renewed. We are also working and expect to complete the MOU with the Certification Board by May. We continue to work on a financial structure and process to support ACYCP activities in a cost effective, financially responsible, and growth supporting manner.

 

Hector Sapien, Treasurer.

 

Board Member Spotlight

John: Can you tell me a bit about how you entered the field of Child and Youth Care?

 

Theresa: I've worked with youth since college, in a number of capacities. Two different group homes for four years, while I was getting my degree in Psychology. I wanted to work within the Foster Care system but found no successful route to a sustainable position. I ended up getting a Masters Degree in Education and taught at both the Middle School and High School levels for six years. During that time I also served as a coach for Drill Team, and worked with our AVID program (AVID stands for "Advancement Via Individual Determination, and is an educational support and empowerment program geared for underserved and under-represented students, particularly those who may become the first generation in their family to attend college). I loved working with the students inside and outside the classroom, and did additional activities like a kid-managed Saturday Night AM radio show, the school newspaper, and other opportunities that came my way, or needed to be filled.

 

John: What kind of work do you do now?

 

Theresa: I am currently an instructor at Western Washington University's Woodring College of Education, for the "Compass 2 Campus" mentoring program. This is a youth mentoring program that fits multiple needs, training college students to serve as mentors, and then matching them up with kids in high-poverty elementary and middle schools to mentor and support children and youth. One of the primary goals is to ensure the children feel connected to school and empowered to succeed. My passion relates to increasing high school graduation rates, and this job is a perfect match for that. We help place enthusiastic college students in some of the "dark corners" of our community where all too often our children and youth are virtually left behind - from an academic and even social perspective. For instance, we place our mentors in schools that have a traditionally high level of free and reduced lunch, that have high levels of transient and migrant youth, and general high poverty-rate schools. They are great schools, with great kids, but statistically and traditionally their students are at greater risk of being left behind. As a past English teacher, I believe strongly that helping catch kids up academically, by connecting them with college-aged mentors helps set them up for success. We provide direct academic tutoring as well as social and emotional support and engagement, while also giving the children and youth exposure to higher education.

 

John: What particular strengths do you think you may bring to ACYCP?

 

Theresa: I bring a variety of perspectives to the table. I get to work with two levels of people here, college students who will graduate, and go on to do a variety of types of youth care work, or engagement in the community, as well as the younger children and youth who get to make early positive connections to college. I feel strongly in the need to consider the link between youth work and schools, and this is a professional focus I bring. I see youth work as a social justice issue, especially when working with marginalized or disempowered youth.

 

John: What excites you about the field of child and youth care?

 

Theresa: I believe in the professionalization of the youth care workforce. This is important work for truly supporting disenfranchised youth. I am excited to see where this work goes.

 

 

ACYCP Leader Honored
Dr. Karen Vander Ven, Professor Emerita, University of Pittsburgh, and long-time leader in the field of Child and Youth Care recently received a lifetime achievement award from the American Association of Children's Residential Centers (AACRC) in recognition for her significant contributions to our field.

Among her many roles, Karen formerly served on the ACYCP Board and was integral in the development of the Professional Competencies that guide our work. She has also authored numerous articles related to the use of activity in youth work, and is currently on the Editorial Boards of Reclaiming Youth, Relational Child and Youth Care, the Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, Child and Youth Services, and the International Journal of Child and Family Welfare.

Congratulations Karen!
We hope that you have enjoyed the first ACYCP e-newsletter. Look for future editions which will be published quarterly. Again, we welcome any and all feedback from our readers!
 
Sincerely,
 
The ACYCP Board
Thank a Youth Worker Day
Thank a YW Dday
Communities, organizations, and caring people from around the globe are joining together for an international day of celebrating and honoring youth workers.

Youth Worker - n
1. A paid or volunteering individual who works with and on behalf of children and youth to facilitate their personal, social, and educational development.

Think of the youth workers who impact your life or your community and thank them on May 3rd!

Click on the image above to go to the Thank and Youth Worker Day website!
Youth Work Quote
"The children must get plenty of love and affection whether they deserve it or not."
- Fritz Redl -

 

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Special Thanks
ACYCP would like to extend a special thanks to CYCCB for helping to make this newsletter possible.

Feedback Welcome!
As this is the first issue of our new newsletter ACYCP is excited to hear feedback from our readers!

If you have comments and/or ideas for additional content please feel free to contact the editor, Matt Fasano, at [email protected]