Summary

Professional Child and Youth Care provides a comprehensiveanalysis of the child and youth care field in Canada. The firstedition, published in 1987, developed an inclusive model of the broadfield of child and youth care, which has since been adapted byeducators, practitioners, and researchers across North America. Nowthis widely used text has been revised and expanded to includedevelopments that have occurred in the field in the last decade. Allthe chapters have been updated, and two new chapters on rehabilitationand recreation have been added.

The book covers a spectrum of key concerns within the field of childand youth care, and presents an analysis that spans a variety ofprogram areas. The authors propose that the similarities acrosspractice settings are greater than the differences, and they suggestthat adopting an inclusive, generic view of the field presentsopportunities for development and growth in a time of diminishingresources and support for services. They advocate a model ofprofessional development for child and youth care that maintains aprimary focus on the needs of children, youth, and families, andpropose that by being flexible and adaptive, child and youth carepractitioners can successfully navigate a difficult economic period andemerge as leaders and innovators within the human service sector.

Professional Child and Youth Care is a practical, appliedbook that will be of considerable interest to students, practitioners,and educators in the field.