Child, Youth, and Family Studies

ufv.ca/cyfs

Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care degree

This program provides degree-completion opportunities for students from a range of human service disciplines. The CYC program is tailored to part-time students and those already in the workforce, with core course offerings scheduled for afternoons and evenings. Students without a background in the human services field may apply to the program following successful completion of entrance requirements.

The BA in Child and Youth Care is designed to offer credit-based professional education to practitioners in human services agencies working with children, youth, and families. Most child and youth care workers are balancing agency, family, personal, and professional needs as they pursue training or upgrading in an increasingly demanding and complex field.

Child and youth care is an expanding field. It crosses a range of work settings and areas of practice, including residential/group home programs, regular and alternative school programs, day care and early childhood programs, child life/hospital-based programs, youth justice/probation/young offender programs, special needs foster care, parent/counsellor resources, programs for people with mental disabilities, and early intervention and child development centres.

Workers, 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 situations in most areas in the field. This has led to a growing number of practitioners in line supervision and management positions investing in professional education to complete this BA degree.

The breadth of the child and youth care field requires a primary curriculum focus on development and social competence as a context for therapeutic intervention.

The degree is awarded following successful completion of a minimum of 123 recognized credits. You may enter the program upon completion of related certificate and diploma programs, or one full year of university-level courses, providing they meet the program requirements. The 200-level CYC courses may be taken by students prior to acceptance into the degree program with permission of the department head if seats are available. The program of study includes core and elective courses.

Entrance requirements

1. Admission to the CYC program requires at least 30 credits of work as defined below:

a. 30 credits of university-level courses with a grade point average of at least 2.33 (C+), including six credits of first year English and/or Communications (excluding ENGL 104, ENGL 165, and CMNS 180) with a minimum combined grade point average on the six credits of C+ or better
or
b. A certificate in Early Childhood Education or other human service certificate program with a grade point average of at least 2.84 (B), including six credits of first year English and/or Communications (excluding ENGL 104, ENGL 165, and CMNS 180) with a minimum combined average on the six credits of C+ or better. Students who have completed an ECE or other human services certificate or diploma program with a 2.84 (B) average or higher may be given block credit for this training (up to 30 credits for a certificate and up to 60 credits for a two-year diploma).

2. An orientation is required prior to admission to the program. See Basis for admission decision details below.

3. Applicants must meet the Degree/diploma level English language proficiency requirement. For details on how this requirement may be met, see the English language proficiency requirement section of the calendar.

It is strongly recommended that applicants for the program have a current first aid certificate.

Students who do not meet these requirements might consider Qualifying Studies.

When to apply

Applications are accepted for entrance to the Fall semester only, beginning October 1 for the following year. Applications are accepted until January 31 and may be extended to March 31.

How to apply

1. Apply online at ufv.ca/admissions/admissions/apply.

Additional documents required for a complete application:

• An official sealed transcript from every post-secondary institution you have attended, whether or not you have completed courses there (transcripts received in the original sealed envelope of the issuing institution are considered to be official).
• Letter of intent outlining past experience and career objectives.
• Questionnaire with your responses to a series of provided questions.
• Resume.
• Two reference letters (one personal and one professional).

2. Students seeking application to the CYC degree program are required to attend an orientation. Contact the department assistant/advisor for the orientation date and time.

3. You will be advised of an admission decision and provided with registration information. A deposit is required prior to registration (see the Fees and Other Costs section). This money will be applied toward your tuition fees.

Basis for admission decision

Admission will be on a competitive basis. Meeting the minimal requirements does not guarantee admission. Applications received after the deadline of January 31 will be considered if space is available in the program. Complete applications will be evaluated according to the following categories, for a total of 100 points:

1. Academic history/GPA (30 points)
2. Work experience (20 points)
3. Volunteer experience (15 points)
4. Letters of reference and resume (15 points)
5. Letter of intent (15 points)
6. Attendance at an orientation session (5 points)

Fees and additional costs

See the Fees and Other Costs section.

Distance courses

Students who wish to pursue the degree program more quickly than the offerings at UFV allow, may arrange to take B.C. University distance education courses on an individual basis. You must obtain permission in advance from the UFV departmend head.

Total transfer and course challenge credits may not exceed 90 credits; however, students pursuing a second degree are permitted to transfer a maximum of 50% of the CYC degree credits from their previous degree. All CYC degree requirements must be met. Not more than 18 upper-level (300 and 400 course numbers) credits will count toward the upper-level requirements for the degree.

Graduation

All degree candidates must complete and submit the Request to Graduate form to the Office of the Registrar by April 1.

All program requirements must be completed by April 30. This includes any transfer credits from other institutions. Students who enrol in the Summer semester to complete their program will qualify for the following year's graduation.

Standing required for continuance

In order to graduate from the BA in CYC, a C+ or higher is required in the following:

• All CYC core courses
• ENGL/CMNS requirements (the average grade of two courses)
• Developmental psychology requirement.

Students will be required to maintain a cumulative grade point average and semester grade average of C+ (GPA 2.33) or higher. Students who fail to meet the required semester and/or cumulative GPA will be placed on program warning. Students will be expected to repeat any course from the categories listed above if they received lower than a C+ grade. If a student fails to meet the GPA requirements after being placed on program warning, they may be withdrawn from the program.

Students receiving program warning for low grades or unacceptable student behaviour, will not normally be permitted to participate in the practicum component of the program or continue in the program until the unacceptable grades or behaviours are rectified.

Undergraduate continuance

Students enrolled in undergraduate courses (courses numbered 100 or above) must maintain an undergraduate Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 2.00 to remain enrolled in Good Academic Standing at UFV. Students in Good Academic Standing will have no registration limits placed on them. Failure to meet the minimum CGPA requirement will result in restrictions on registration and may eventually lead to academic suspension from undergraduate studies at UFV. Students on Academic Warning or Academic Probation are limited to registering in 10 credits. For further details, see the Academic standing and undergraduate continuance section of the academic calendar. Academic standing is governed by UFV’s Undergraduate Continuance policy (92).

Regulations concerning practica

The department head reserves the right to approve any agency or institution that provides placements for student practica, and to change any placement assigned to a student. Students are placed in practicum settings in accordance with their professional background and current learning needs. You have the right to be informed in writing of the reasons for any change in placement. You may be required to withdraw from a practicum course if none of the available practicum agencies will accept you.

A criminal record check is required prior to practicum placement. This is the responsibility of the student.

Students are required to provide their own transportation to and from practicum sites.

A special note about practica: Field experience is an integral part of the CYC degree. Students will complete two, 300-hour practica while in the program. There are a variety of excellent practicum sites in the Fraser Valley and throughout the Lower Mainland available to our students. The CYC faculty have links to many agencies and organizations in the child and youth care field. Different sites have different requirements regarding schedules and the amount of time a student will need to spend there, in order to provide the best learning and experience. If you are currently working in a regular position, be prepared to adjust your schedule to meet the demands of practica where 10 hours or approximately two days per week are expected (over a two-semester period). Some students save up vacation time; others have taken a leave to complete the required field experience hours.

Program requirements

Completion of at least 120 credits with a minimum grade point average of 2.33. At least 42 of these credits must be upper-level (300-400).

Program outline

First year

Note 1: ENGL 105 and CMNS 155 or 251 are strongly recommended.

Note 2: PSYC 101 and 102 are prerequisites to PSYC 250.

Note 3: Recommended university-level elective courses include Anthropology, Criminology, Psychology, Sociology, or any relevant area of interest to the student.

Second year

Third year

Note: Students may not register for 300-level core CYC courses until they have completed all 200-level core CYC courses and are admitted to the program.

Fourth year

Note: Students may not register in any 400-level core CYC courses, except 423 and 425, until they have completed all CYC 200- and 300-level core courses.

Electives must be university level. CYC-sponsored electives may also be offered under courses CYC 260, 360 and 460. To confirm elective transferability, contact the Child, Youth, and Family Studies department head.

Child Protection specialization

For program information on the Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care - Child Protection specialization, please see this section.

Child Life stream

Students completing the Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care who are interested in meeting the eligibility requirements for the Child Life Professional Certification Examination should contact the Child, Youth, and Family Studies department head. Please see childlife.org for more details about CCLS requirements.

Certificate in Extended Studies in Child and Youth Care

Students who have completed the Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care can be recognized for additional work to meet the Child Protection Specialization. Please see this section for more details.

Course listings

For complete details on courses see the course descriptions section.