Child & Youth Care: Foundations Course

Learn valuable concepts and new skills based on leading-edge research and best practices relevant across the entire field of child and youth care services. & Prepare for the Families First Act transition to community-based, family-focused care. The Child & Youth Care: Foundations Course introduces practitioners to basic concepts and skills in professional child and youth…

Steve Bewsey

Steve Bewsey, BA, CYC
Academy President, Trainer and Consultant
Corpus Christi, TX

Steve Bewsey Steve Bewsey is a Certified Child & Youth Care Practitioner who has completed 45 years of service with foster and homeless youth in residential treatment, street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional living, and supportive housing programs. Steve has provided consultation and training to over a hundred youth serving agencies and has trained thousands of…

Frank Eckles, BA, CYC-P
Executive Director, Academy for Competent Youth Work
College Station, TX

Frank is the Academy’s Executive Director, author of the Child and Youth Care: Foundations Course, co-author of the Youth Thrive™: Protective and Promotive Factors for Healthy Development and Well-Being training, and a contributing editor of the Families Thrive: Protective and Promotive Factors to Enhance Thriving for All Children, Youth, & Families training.

Jeananne Reich, BA, CYC-P
Senior Instructor
Noblesville, IN

Jeananne is a CYC Practitioner at the Professional Level and has a passion for professional development. With over 20 years in the field, her background includes work in residential facilities, substance abuse centers, and various after school settings.  She has direct service and administrative experience. She is an instructor for the American Heart Association, Safe…

James Freeman

James Freeman, MA, CYC-P
Senior Trainer
Camarillo, CA

James Freeman, MA, CYC-P is the director of training at Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families in southern California. He has over two decades of direct experience in out-of-school, education, family camping, residential, and community based programs and has served as an international child and youth care consultant with a background in organizational development…

Deborah A. Michelle Hurley, BS, CYC-P
Louisville, Kentucky

Michelle Hurley, CSW, CYC-P, has passionately advocated for youth since 2011 and currently serves as the Program Advocate for National Safe Place Network (NSPN), providing training, technical assistance, and program support for youth organizations across the United States. Michelle is deeply committed to striving toward NSPN’s vision of a world where all youth are safe…

Opeyemi Olajide Olowookere
Tulsa, OK

Opeyemi is the Executive Director of the Global Support for Kids Initiative (GSK Initiative), a community-based non-profit and non-governmental organization with headquarter in Nigeria. He is a current Board member and International Advisor to the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice (ACYCP), also the Principal Partner/CEO of Hope Diamond Int’l Resources Ltd, a professional…

Christen Peterson, MS, CYC-P
Brownsburg, IN

Christen is a proud Youth Worker who has spent the last 15 years of her career in Out-of-School-Time Programming. Her time in afterschool has been spent in community-based outreach programs, leading international service learning trips, managing traditional center-based afterschool programs, and releasing her inner child during summer camp! She truly believes that the greatest gift…

Henrietta Komras, MEd
Los Angeles, CA

Henrietta is the Training and Organizational Specialist at Aviva Family and Children’s Center in Los Angeles, California.  She bring 20+ years of experience as a consultant and learning facilitator. She has extensive experience in designing and facilitating soft skills training programs in: leadership and management skills, communication, coaching, conflict management, and performance appraisal.

Tone Reyes, AS, CYC-P
Camarillo, CA

Tone Reyes is a Training Specialist at Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families. He holds an associate degree in criminal justice and is a licensed group home administrator by the California Department of Social Services.  He is a co-author of the Safe Environments for Learning and GrowthTM curriculum and chief designer of Seaville, Casa Pacifica’s multi-sensory de-escalation room.…

Elizabeth Ann Brown, MS, CYC-A
Baton Rouge, LA

Elizabeth has developed and implemented curricula and programs for children, youth, and youth care providers which focus on personal growth, self-discipline, and character development.  She emphasizes the use of the arts, athletics, life skills, mentoring, team building, and the service learning.  She has taught youth and youth care providers for 32 years. Elizabeth is an approved trainer…

Youth Build Philly

New High School Vocational Program brings Students into Youth Work

What do you do when your Charter High School students want to become youth workers? That was the problem faced by Dannyelle Austin, Chief Program Officer at YouthBuild Philly. Their inner-city charter school was offering vocational training leading to jobs in early childhood education, but her students wanted more. How could they qualify for jobs in afterschool, employment, juvenile justice, mental health, and recreation programs geared for adolescents and young adults?

Youth Thrive Intensive Training: Promoting Thriving and Sexual Health in Juvenile Justice Settings

A special event in conjunction with the National Symposium on Juvenile Services DENVER Oct 30 – Nov 1, 2016 Concurrent to the National Symposium on Juvenile Services, the National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS) is pleased to offer a special 3-day learning opportunity, Youth ThriveTM Intensive Training: Promoting Thriving and Sexual Health in Juvenile Justice…

Chelsea Krise, BA, CYC-P
Altadena, CA

Chelsea Krise is the Training Coordinator at Five Acres in Altadena, California which promotes safety, well-being and permanency for children and their families by building on their strengths and empowering them within communities.  Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child Development with a minor in Psychology from California State University, Chico and is…

Child & Youth Care: Foundations Course Trainer

The Child & Youth Care: Foundations Course Training of Trainers (TOT) is designed to prepare practitioners to teach both the live and virtual Child & Youth Care: Foundations Course as part of an in-agency professional development program, vocational high school or college program, or as an instructor in a regional training collaboration.   Students will… Attend the CYC:…

Youth Thrive Trainer Guide

Youth ThriveTM Training for Trainers

The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) supported the development of a Training of Trainers (TOT) curriculum co-created by the National Resource Center for Youth Services (NRCYS) and the Academy for Competent Youth Work. The Academy offers this curriculum in collaboration with CSSP as part of the Youth Thrive Training Collaborative (YTTC) that…

Youth Thrive Training Collaborative Formed

The Academy has joined with the Bolster Collaborative, Phillips Programs, and Youth Catalytics to form a national collaboration to help the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) implement its Youth ThriveTM Framework across the US.   The newly formed group, called the Youth Thrive Training Collaborative (YTTC), is pooling its expertise and community development…

Academy Launches the New CYC: FOUNDATIONS COURSE

In January 2016 the Academy announced the official launch of the new Child & Youth Care: Foundations Course.  The new course, based on the highly successful CYC: Basic Course, is a fully updated version that reduces the total in-class time by two days and incorporates newly developed on-line modules that allow the Ethics for CYC…

Thrive Training with Brevard Family Partnership

The Academy was recently mentioned in a review by the Brevard Family Partnership for the YouthThrive Training held there recently.  For the full review, go to  http://brevardfp.org/news-and-articles/the-center-for-the-study-of-social-policy-training-for-trainers-review/ We are very excited about being part of carrying this new Framework forward.

Youth Thrive

Youth Thrive™: Protective and Promotive Factors for Healthy Adolescent Development and Well-being

Research conducted by The Center for Social Policy Study has identified a set of key competencies that have been shown to help young people increase protective and promotive factors while reducing risk factors. Research shows that these supports help young people move beyond trauma to become more resilient in addressing their developmental needs. This course…

Families Thrive

Families Thrive™: Protective and Promotive Factors to Enhance Thriving for All Children, Youth, & Families (Live & Virtual Course)

Families Thrive integrates the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s (CSSP) Strengthening Families™ and Youth Thrive™ training into one comprehensive learning experience. Families Thrive devotes a module to each of the protective and promotive factors – knowledge of child development, social connections, cognitive & social/emotional competence, concrete supports in times of need, and resilience – and teaches practical techniques…

Training as an Avenue for Organizational Change

Training as an Avenue for Organizational Change: Transfer of Training and Adult Learning

Human services research shows that the effectiveness of staff training can be significantly increased when implemented as part of an overall organizational change effort.  Helping supervisors and managers develop plans for supporting staff learning before, during, and following training is key to increasing the impact of training on organization services and outcomes. This training will…

The Purposeful Use of Daily Life Events

The Purposeful Use of Daily Life Events (DLE) is designed to help those who engage directly with young people and their families become more effective in their daily interactions. Through a focus on everyday events and how these events connect to the overall goals established with young people and/or families, the direct care practitioner adopts a more holistic approach in her/his interventions.