Domain IV: Belonging, Relationships and Accepting Environments
For this assignment, students are to choose one of the Domains [as highlighted in the Blueprint – see on assignment board] and write a Reflective Paper that is 1500-2000 words (APA format – word count does not include title page or reference page). Students will need to review the three reports attached in the Assignment folder, which includes, Residential Service Review Report, Envisioning Better Care for Youth: Youth Blueprint Report, and Safe & Caring Places for Children and Youth: Ontario’s Blueprint Report in order to be informed of the themes/pillars of concerns. These reports are necessary components of your understanding of this assignment. In addition to these three reports, students are also expected to use other external resources (minimum 5, once can be the course textbook) to support what you say about your Domain.
This paper should respond to the following types of questions:
Identify and describe the Domain you choose.
Why is this Domain important in the lives of young people?
What is the current state of the chosen Domain in residential programs?
What you feel the Domain should focus on?
How can we ensure Child & Youth Care Practitioners respect this Domain?
How will this Domain inform your practice in the field of CYC?
How will this Domain change the work you do with young people?
“The purpose of the domains is to demonstrate the most important areas of quality of care identified by the panel members. These six domains provide an overview of the key elements that must be visibly, reliably, and consistently present in the lives of young people in residential care at all times. These domains will ensure that the experience in care is a positive one ... These domains come from lived experiences, and are what we wish we had.” (Excerpt from Envisioning Better Care for Youth: Our Input into the Blueprint (2017).
Domain IV. Belonging, Relationships and Accepting Environments
• Sense of Belonging
• Respect and Dignity
• Meaningful Relationships
• Safety and Accessibility
• Transparency of Rules/ Procedures
Domain IV: Belonging, Relationships, and Accepting Environments
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Domain IV: Belonging, Relationships, and Accepting Environments
Child and youth care (CYC) ensures that children and youth are treated as unique individuals who matter. As Gharabaghi and Charles (2020) reveal, CYC is centered on the concepts of caring, relationships, and love, among others. These concepts ensure that children and youth have the necessary skills and resources to grow into healthy adults. This paper reflects on Domain IV: belonging, relationships, and accepting environments as it relates to meaningful care, its importance in the lives of young people, and how it affects CYC work.
Description of Domain IV
This domain is concerned with the relationships maintained by individuals involved in children's and youth's lives. It stresses the importance of ensuring that residential programs/facilities provide children and youth with a sense of belongingness, respect and dignity, safety and accessibility, transparency in the setting’s rules and procedures, and meaningful relationships with family, peers, and staff (The Students Commission (TSC), 2017). These elements ensure that children and youth have a meaningful, wholesome childhood. The domain ensures that children and youth in care are treated as individuals and have similar life experiences as other children/youth. According to the TSC (2017), children/youth in care should be treated as simply children/youth rather than preventing them from experiencing childhood like regular kids.
In particular, the quality of care provided to them should not change just because they are children/youth in care. They deserve to feel safe, respected, loved, and have a sense of belonging. As Johnson et al. (2020) note, it is common for children/youth in care to be overlooked, yet all they want is to know that they matter and belong in the community, just like regular kids. They want to feel connected and supported, and since this sense of belonging is a universal basic human need, children/youth in care should not be treated as exceptions.. In addition, children/youth in care should not be expected to just follow the rules in a facility. Instead, the rules should be explained to them (TSC, 2017) so it is apparent why they have to be followed.
Importance of Domain IV in Young People’s Lives
This domain is essential in the lives of young people because it emphasizes the need to provide them with stable and meaningful relationships nurtured in a safe and comfortable environment (TSC, 2017). The growth and development of young people are influenced by factors such as safety, stability, love, and belongingness. This domain provides a blueprint that CYC practitioners can use to ensure they provide optimum quality of care to young people. The Residential Services Review Panel (2016) notes that such quality of care can only be provided in the context of love, human connection, a sense of belongingness, and a secure practitioner-young person relationship.
The domain stresses the importance of a sense of belonging for young people. According to Steenbakkers et al. (2018), children/youth in care have been separated from their biological families and, as such, are at risk of developing behavioral and emotional issues. Gharabaghi (2019) points out that while fragile relationships may be the reason they find themselves in residential care, they crave relationships and want to know that someone cares for them. They need to know they belong and this sense of belongingness ensures they experience a normal, meaningful childhood. This sense of belonging can promote positive development among young people in care.
The domain also emphasizes safety and accessibility to ensure that young people live in safe and accessible homes (TSC, 2017). Safety and accessibility are particularly important to young people in care because, according to Moore et al. (2018), they are the most vulnerable, and their safety and security are at risk. Thus, residential facilities/programs must provide an environment that makes these young people feel safe and secure. The domain also emphasizes meaningful relationships, which according to Moore et al. (2018), are prerequisites for making young people in care feel safe and secure. In addition, meaningful relationships provide young people in care with emotional intimacy, a sense of stability, and secure attachments, all necessary for helping young people develop into healthy adults (Steenbakkers et al., 2018).
In addition, the domain stresses the importance of showing young people respect and dignity. Respect and dignity are demonstrated by providing them with autonomy, personal space, privacy, and essential needs (TSC, 2017). What respect and dignity do is communicate to young people in care that they matter. Finally, the domain promotes transparency regarding rules governing young people in care. Transparency is necessary because it ensures that young people understand why rules have been put in place (TSC, 2017) and how these rules serve their needs. Also, transparency allows young people in care to participate in the decisions that affect them, making them feel empowered, understood, and able to advocate for themselves (Brady et al., 2019). Ultimately, the domain ensures that young people in care transition into empowered, confident adults.
Current State of Domain IV in Residential Programs
Despite the undeniable importance of domain IV in residential programs, there are gaps between theory and practice. According to the Residential Services Review Panel (2016), residential services across all sectors lack consistent structures to provide young people with the highest quality of care. High quality of care in residential programs is understood in the context of the elements of domain IV, such as a sense of belongingness, meaningful relationships, and safety. Then, it surmises that residential programs are not fully providing young people with what has been proposed in domain IV. For instance, Moore et al. (2018) reveal that in some cases, residential programs cannot foster supportive and meaningful relationships for young people because of a lack of staff continuity and administrative processes/policies that hinder practitioner-young people's daily interactions. In the absence of meaningful relationships, young people are left without an ideal model for meaningful relationships in adulthood.
Gharabaghi and Charles (2020) add that many approaches in residential programs are not working to create the required difference. CYC practitioners are restricted by policies and structur...