ACCREDITATION

There are over 50 publicly funded post-secondary institutions offering Child and Youth Care (CYC) education in Canada. CYC educators believe quality of care and service to young people and their families will be enhanced by setting standards for educational programs, assuring both the public and aspiring professionals that graduates of those programs will have a common base of knowledge and skill that can be directly linked to a child and youth care competency document and the affiliated curriculum.

The CYCEAB uses a model that focuses on program outcomes with the intent that graduate outcomes will ultimately affect the quality of life and quality of care received by young people who are served by child and youth care practitioners. The specific standards and the model have undergone extensive and comprehensive review and adjustment based on the feedback of educators and professional associations across Canada. The model will be implemented in conjunction with existing provincial and institutional program approval and program review processes. As new CYC programs develop and as existing programs undertake their regular cycle of review and evaluation, the model is evolving. 

The focus in this accreditation is on outcomes and the use of outcome results by programs. Programs must demonstrate that their institutions have plans in place for assessing educational outcomes. They must show evidence that the results of these assessments have led to the improvement of teaching and learning processes and improved preparation of program graduates to enter professional positions upon graduation.