The capacity to change and child and youth care practice: a program example and framework

Child and youth care practitioners are in the practice of facilitating and supporting change in individuals, families and communities. Therefore, as change agents it is important to uncover and understand the perspectives that direct one’s practice. Personal and professional experiences, as well as a multitude of theoretical orientations, merge to create a child and youth care practitioner’s “tool box”. This article offers a brief foray into various change theories and provides examples of how these change theories direct and inform practice with youth and families at the Maples Adolescent Centre in British Columbia, Canada. This article suggests that systemic interventions are necessary to support enduring change in individuals and provides examples of how this is actualized with families and communities at the Maples Adolescent Centre. It concludes by advocating for the use of multiple theoretical orientations to direct child and youth care practitioners’ work as change agents.