Students get hands on

The research of Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care students Megan Cullins and Mike Regan indicates youth workers at PLEA are making good judgment calls.

Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care (CYC) students Megan Cullins and Mike Regan don’t graduate until December 2009, but already they agree that their experience at Douglas will influence their work in the field and has made the possibility of pursuing a master’s a given.

Cullins and Regan worked together on a project with the McCreary Centre Society for PLEA Community Services during a practicum they wrapped up in April. McCreary is well-known in the Lower Mainland community services sector for its research on youth health issues. They say the project gave them the opportunity to contribute to an area where quantitative research is lacking.

“In our field, we make a lot of assumptions that giving youth support means they’ll be successful but we don’t always have proof to back them up,” says Regan.

“Working in the field, research is important so that you know what you’re doing is effective,” adds Cullins.

The pair compared the completion rates of work orders by young offenders – those who received additional support from youth workers, and those who didn’t. PLEA staff will support youth, from providing counselling to driving them to and from work placements, when they feel it’s warranted (such as when youth have limited family support). Their findings indicated that PLEA is making good judgment calls, with both groups of youth experiencing similar success rates.

BA CYC Professor Bruce Hardy couldn’t be prouder of the duo. “Mike and Megan did an outstanding job. Academics at Douglas have been telling them to publish their results.”

Regan better understands now how important the quality of research data is to community services, “I will be more mindful of any data I enter and what it will be used for. I want to be part of a place that will use it,” he says.

Regan, who worked as a family support worker on the North Shore before enrolling in the program, is hoping to return to that field when he graduates. Having his degree will afford him better opportunities for advancement and open up other job opportunities he wouldn’t have otherwise. Cullins currently works as a youth worker at Ray-Cam Cooperative Centre in East Vancouver. But both predict continuing their education down the road.

 “Pursuing a master’s is no longer a maybe. It’s a definite for both of us,” says Regan.

Adds Cullins: “If Douglas opens a master’s degree, I’m there!”

For more information about the BA Child and Youth Care, attend a free information session

Links:

Information Sessions
BA Child and Youth Care
McCreary Centre Society
PLEA Community Services