HOW BRANDED??.....CHILD AND YOUTH CARE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

On Friday last week I spoke, in my private capacity at an Oath-taking Ceremony at IIEMSA ( Monash University South Africa).  They said dress comfortable but formal, so I needed a tie. At the venue, the Registrations Manager of the South African Council for Social Service Professions fitted me with a green tie embossed with the SACSSP logo. Comment "We didn't invite him as SACSSP but in his private capacity."... Oh Oh  incorrectly identified. Incorrectly branded for the occasion.

This spoke to me of the power of branding and its psychological capacity to market.

I was there as a child and youth care worker. Somehow just to say "I am a registered child and youth care worker and proud of it". doesn't resonate loudly enough to market what I do, what I stand for. I am poorly branded...if at all !   Sought after goods, even at a cost have a brand label, catchy slogan and identifying colours. Think LEVI, its sexy tick and "Just do it". Think our political parties in South Africa...  Yellow T-shirt "together we can do it". Blue T-shirt..."United South Africa", Red beret... "Economic transformation". 

Child and youth care ... jeans and takkies.

Advocacy makes out a case for recognition, a call for a buy-in to the real value of child and youth care work. Maybe if, at a high level advocacy fey slogans like "Nation Building" was coupled with an immediately recognised brand, we would reach our target market psychologically ready to hear 

Let's start with our brand name. Right now we are child and youth care workers. Certainly the child and youth care worker label has spread to be known internationally. But the South African Council for Social Service Professions met with a parliamentary committee for social development and the members didn't know what child and youth care was. Social work...yes.. But what is this?

Our field of study and even our job title does vary. Applied Psychology, Educateurship, Child and Youth Development and even Social Work 

What we are seems also to vary....an occupation, a calling       (rather like a God given ministry), a practitioner, a profession, a craft. In schools I heard "educational assistants", in justice "mediators". These are all better than "house mother, house father, uncle and aunt", as carriers of how we are branded.

Over the years we have thought over our title constantly.We sort of settled on child and youth care worker. When I think of tho concepts  raised in the minds of people with the words "Care" and "Worker" we have chosen, I become a little unsettled 

In an exercise to demonstrate branding , the facilitator said "Think of yourself. What do you do well for which you want to be known." Oh my word ( bad pun), he wanted an obituary key-word !  I wrote  "advocate". Considering that I no longer practice in the life-space of children and young people that seemed to be core for me. Ask me the same question when I was in direct practice and my word/s would have been different. I would not, for example, have said "worker" For me. it conjures up a picture of a trade worker. I would have hesitated to be known as a "carer". For me in the community mind, it talks of wiping of bums and counting underwear, feeding, clothing and keeping children warm -  - the physical aspects .  I would have said "Child and Youth Care Development". 

If then, I was to choose a title for myself it would be "Child and Youth Care Development Professional". (CYDP)"            I choose 'Professional" over "Practitioner. In the thinking of the new Bill for SACSSP there is a distinction made between occupations, emerging professions and professions. We have met all the criteria defining a profession.

Child and youth development professional. ,,,, hmmmm a brand.

Now for the catchy slogan. 

Apart from development, What are our key strengths, our key functions? I can't get away from...
"We reclaim the lives of children and young people at risk"... a bit lengthy. There should be a competition for our slogan .....any ideas?

We need to package ourselves. The Circle of Courage in all its colours appears to be internationally attractive.. I like its world wide appeal and recognition.

If this works then we can craft our branding approach with key-words.These come to mind: Developmental ( obviously), Strength-based, Culture of Child Rights, Participatory, Democratic. Relational, non-discriminatory, Restorative,......and more.

Statinf the positive of what we do and how we work is rather like the branding  "Makes whites whiter, colours brighter" It's the "We do it better" idea...and we do! In fact,...only we can ! 

Given all this, on Friday of last week, well branded ,they would have immediately said "Child and youth development professional ! That's exactly why we asked him to speak" . 



  

A MOMENT HISTORICAL...CHILD AND YOUTH CARE IN SOUTH AFRICA

This week on Friday 18th October 2019 at the IIE Monash University of South Africa, the first year Bachelor of Child Care students, stood before witnesses to declare the pledge of commitment to uphold the child and youth care code of ethics. The code is embedded in the South African Social Services Professions Act of 1978 as amended. In our long history of professionalisation, this is a first.

This, in my private capacity, is the key-note address I made on this historical occasion.

Today you make history... the first to take the SACSSP oath of professional commitment to the child and youth care code of ethics. Congratulations.You are giants riding on the shoulders of giants.

Don't let anyone tell you that this is an "emerging"profession. It is well established, accepted world wide as a full profession and a field of study with it's own unique body of literature, skills, practice. and code of ethics. The roots of this profession can, for example, be traced as far back as the early Christian church when a special order was established called the Diaconate to do the work of diakonia. The Diaconate people were ordained to focus on identifying and meeting the needs of orphans (and widows). 

Our early pioneers and our earliest contributors to our knowledge were from psychiatry, education, psychology, religion, advocates for children and heroes of child protection. Noticeably in and after the great wars.

In South Africa after the first world war when many servicemen returned and when many did not return, there was an obvious need to build what were called orphanages. Then, in 1923, just at that same time,came the big flu epidemic which claimed the lives of many parent as well as children. Faith-based organisations and government built large dormitory styled buildings to provide 300 beds or more for children and young people. Child and youth care workers were called all manner of names like, house mother, house father, uncle, aunt, sister, nurse, house master, care giver. Whatever the name, what they were doing was child and youth care work. 

An example of this is a faith-based Children's Home in Johannesburg. It had beds for 450 boys. In the early 60's our South African guru, grandfather of child and youth care and pioneer worked there as an "assistant house master". He was doing his Master's degree in Psychology at the time.He, together with the then so called "Headmaster", Father Eric Richardson realised that real child and youth care work was stressful. that an exchange of support and practice was needed. Together they formed what they called The Transvaal Association for Child and Youth Care Workers.  Please note the term "child and youth care workers"  It produced and distributed a regular newsletter. (A journal), and held conferences.

Through the work of Brian Gannon it became the National Association of Child and Youth Care Workers..the NACCW. It is from here that many of our giants grew. 

To develop Child and Youth Care as a profession, much had to be done.

It needed Education and Training - especially a degree in Child and Youth Care. It needed recognition as an independent. stand alone (but integrated) social service profession, a code of ethics, international recognition, equality of services for all children.

I came into child and youth care work in 1983 when these were our aspirations. We were in the height of the struggle against apartheid.That in itself was a huge focus and a sapper of energy. We had to struggle for equality of service delivery for all children irrespective of colour. The world , quite rightly regarded South Africa as the pariah, the skunk of the world. We were banned from everything. We couldn't get books. Publishers would not import to South Africa. We couldn't get visiting academics as they put there jobs at risk. We couldn't get international recognition for what we had already achieved. We were banned from the  International Federation of Educative Communities ( FICE) under the auspices of UNESCO. South Africa had not signed the UN Charter of Child Rights. 

These barriers had to be broken. Amazingly but slowly, they were. Barrier breaking in the 80's rested mainly on the shoulders of the NACCW which was organised and had a non racial membership.  Brian Gannon published and advocated. The next NACCW Director was Leslie du Toit who I think is often forgotten  as our hero. She managed to get some literature into the country and to establish early training programmes to the then Basic Qualification in Child Care level. She got some academics to come, address conferences, conduct seminars, run courses and seminars.

The first I remember was F Herbert Barnes who brought with him the concept of the child and youth care worker as educateur and child and youth care work as a craft. In 1992 Martin Brokenleg and Larry Brendtro came. They later introduced the Circle of Courage.  Masud Hoghughi ran courses on the problem Profile Approach ( PPA)and allowed that the NACCW publish his books for South African availability. Prof James Anglin (University of Victoria, Canada) helped With Leslie du Toit to persuade and develop a curriculum at the University of South Africa for the introduction of a University Certificate, then a Diploma and finally a degree in Child and Youth Care.

There were others. Professor Norman Powell in the midst of the struggle introduced us to  cultural competence. Prof Nick Smiar introduced Professional Assault  Response Training    ( PART)

Meantime domestically the leadership and advocates for the field  were able to get, on paper at least, recognition of child and youth care work as a profession in the South African Council for Social Services Professions Act 110 of 1978 as amended. This was in 1998. But the first Board met only in 2004.( why the delay?) The regulations and the code of ethics was drafted 18 times  (Over 10 years !) Finally submitted for approval in 2013 and 14 months later signed into law by the Minister of Social Development in October of 2014. Now it's October of 2019 and you make history by being the first child and youth care group to take the solemn oath of commitment to the code of ethics... Congratulations.

You are entering an exciting and challenging future in child and youth care work. All and everything will be ethically and values driven. There are some early indications of movements in the field that you will carry as giants on your shoulders.The 4th Industrial revolution is apon us with huge implications for you and the young people in programmes. Larry Brendtro is taking a strong interest in neurological aspects as a driver of child and youth development. Rick Kelly is leading child and youth care thinking into Radical and Restitutional child and youth care practice.

Today I have taken glimpses int o the rear view mirror whist still driving forward. You are riding on the shoulders of giants. It's true. Now, I'm looking forward and I see you. Today marks the moment. I is you who become the giants of tomorrow.

Congratulations. 

SMOKING ANOTHER TRIGGER...CHILD AND YOUTH CARE IN SOUTH AFRICA

I have a thing about smoking. I met my late wife when she was 18 years old.and cigarette smoking heavily.... I still don't know at what age she started. Issue is that smoking cigarettes contributed to a lung condition which in the end proved fatal. Cigarette packs in South Africa have to carry warning notices, "Smoking is detrimental to health". or "Smoking is .addictive"...and others. Masses of research has found all of this to be true.

Then we came into child and youth care. Young people and even children were smoking cigarettes.

Trigger, Trigger Trigger !!

One of the boys of about 17 had a hole in his heart  Cardiologists refused to operate because he was smoking. "Come back when you have given up" and again "If you don't give up now you can only come back when you are 21 years old". ( The adult  permission thing !)

Many of the young people off the streets had been smoking since as young as 7. Some begging for smokes. Giving up the addiction was far from important for them. Seeing videos of lungs before, during and after tobacco inhalation didn't  scare them at all. They just said "So what". "Stop Smoking " organisations gave presentations, nicotine patches, loads of advice...no good came of that either. Education just didn't work at all. 

A "No Smoking Rule".. " This place is a "No Smoking Facility"  just didn't work. Eventually I had to admit that a rule which cannot be enforced demanded a change of approach. So I adopted the view ..instead of going around and smoking in apparent secret, let's get it all out in the open. Then at least we can see what we are dealing with here.

First step was to allocate a smoking area. The young people chose a tree in the grounds.  Some sat under the tree and others climbed into it. If it was cold or raining there was shelter under the fire escape stairs outside the main building. I called it the "Scientific Society" because they made smoke as I remembered we did in the Chemistry class at school. If I called a meeting of the "Scientific Society" they all knew what I meant. Don't get me wrong. I was not condoning, trivialising or normalising the smoking thing as a practice for young people and children. I was getting young people and children to be open, admit and talk about their smoking so that we could include the smoking thing in their IDP's 

My experience in that facility and the first step we took to address smoking was a lesson for me when visiting Child and Youth Care Centres where the only " Programme" for the reduction or elimination of smoking cigarettes was to have a no smoking rule. I remember particularly a Continuity Assurance visit to a Centre for Young people in trouble with the law in a township outside Pretoria. Smoking cigarettes was strictly prohibited. Any number of procedures were put into place to stop cigarettes entering the facility and to catch smoking offenders. These included body searches,  and locker searches. A child and youth care worker was placed at the door of the parent's visiting room throughout any visit to to watch that cigarettes were not handed over. Television monitoring everywhere. - but not in the 4 bed dormitories as that was regarded as an invasion of privacy.

When the team went there  the very first thing we noticed walking around the facility was the large number of cigarette butts outside the dorm windows. Prohibiting smoking and with child and youth care workers required to spend endless energy on policing the rule simply didn't work. My comment, "If what you are doing doesn't work, why carry on doing it?" You need to try another approach.

Eventually in my learning and in the facility I directed, we established only one rule. This was the non-negotiable. "No-one does harm to anyone or anything ". As smoking is harmful to "self". It had to be professionally developmentally addressed. Also, smoking often stood in the way of family preservation and re-unification. Also, some parents just couldn't and wouldn't tolerate it. The household rule was the prohibition rule of that Pretoria township facility. You smoke, you don't go home ! That was tough. But sometimes a reality. Relationship relied on a smoking thing. ...Trigger, Trigger Trigger !!

I got to understand that the "eliminate" smoking goal was a different priority from one young person to the next. In most cases, building or re=building relationships loomed bigger in developmental importance that many others, Smoking had to be dealt with as a reduction/ elimination goal. The big trigger of smoking just had to be recognised, then put into perspective and evaluated in its developmental importance in the young person's therapeutic priorities.

Most usually, The Individual or Family Development Plan       ( IDP/FDP) for the reduction and elimination of smoking became individualised and phased over an agreed period of time. A signed contract . In many instances the agreement meant that the child and youth care worker held the cigarettes. There were designated smoking times and cigarettes were carefully counted over the reduction period. Pocket money cannot be denied but in an agreed contract, it can and sometimes needed to be co-regulated until hopefully self-regulated. It all mainly had to do.I think with trust building
and an understanding by child and youth care worker that this was not an emotional issue. It is a genuine task driven plan to help the young person to be more coping, more appropriate and less harmful to self