CYCS 2047: INTRO TO CYC & LEGISLATION CASE STUDY PARTNER ASSIGNMENT

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Please note: You can select your own partner to complete this assignment. I will not be helping students find partners! Time will be allotted in class the day the assignment is introduced for students to find a partner if they have not connected with a classmate before class. If you do not attend class the day the assignment is introduced, you will be responsible for finding your own partner and for letting me know who you will be working with.

As a CYC, you will often work alongside other professionals. This assignment will give you an opportunity to consult, discuss, practice your listening skills, meeting timelines, research, assigning tasks, being a team player and in some cases, you will practice resolving conflicts. These are all skillsets that you will need to possess in the field. Due: Week 14 – August 9, 2021 by 11:59 pm

• ONLY ONE assignment needs to be submitted between the partners.

• Assignment to be submitted via Bb drop-box.

• It is your responsibility to ensure the assignment has been submitted correctly – you will receive confirmation if the assignment has been successfully submitted.

Format: The assignment must be/include:

• typed

• double-spaced

• title page and essay using APA format

• 5-7 pages (NOT including the title page OR the poster)

• assignment must be submitted in PDF or Word format

• reference page not needed

Please note: Assignments exceeding the page limit with only be marked up to the page limit.

Elements of Writing:

• Up to 5 marks will be deducted for grammar, spelling, sentence structure and punctuations. Please ensure to proofread and edit your paper before submission.

Total Possible Points: 45 marks Weighted Value: 30%

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The Questions: Please read the attached case study on “Meadow” and answer the following questions in detail using an essay style format. *Use the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA), Part II, Children’s and Young Person’s Rights to answer questions 1-3:

1. Identify five (5) different violations of Meadow’s Rights in Care AND quote the relevant sections from the CYFSA (***you don’t need to copy the actual text from the legislation, but you do need to tell me was Part/Section/Subsection you are referring to!). (5 marks)

2. In your own words, explain why each situation identified above is a violation. (5 marks)

3. For each of the violations identified in Question 1, identify, and clearly describe

what you would have done to ensure Meadow’s rights were respected had you been the CYC on shift. Please provide clear details of how you would have approached each violation (e.g., what you would say?, what you would have done differently?, why?, etc.). (10 marks)

4. Identify and explain two (2) different pieces of legislation (i.e., two sets of laws

discussed in class other than the CYFSA) that a CYC would need to know when working with Meadow. Explain why/how these pieces of legislation would specifically help a CYC in their work based on the information contained in this case study (e.g. Why does it apply? How? How would it be used?, etc.) (5 marks)

5. Design a one-page poster (you can select the template – legal or letter size – 8.5×11

or larger) that you could post at the entrance of Birchwood Home which would explain in youth-friendly language, how the house will respect the rights of any young person while in care. You must refer to each right that you have identified as violated in question 1a) and include all relevant contact information at the bottom of your flyer (e.g., Ombudsman Ontario). Please refer to the poster rubric for further details. You can start the poster with: “Being a Young Person at Birchwood Home means…”

(20 marks)

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Meet Meadow: Meadow is a 14-year-old African Canadian girl who is a Temporary Ward of the Metro Toronto Children’s Aid Society (CAST). Meadow’s legal name is “Fawzia”, but after being bullied by schoolmates upon arriving in Canada, she adopted the name “Meadow”. While she loves and is proud of her birth name, she feels very strongly about being able to use her chosen name with those outside of her family and cultural community. Meadow practices the Islamic faith. Meadow immigrated to Toronto from Kenya in 2017 and resided with her paternal grandfather until he became ill and required hospitalization. As there were no other family members living in Toronto, the hospital social worker referred Meadow to CAST, and she was brought into care on November 23, 2019. On the day that Meadow signed a Temporary Care Agreement with CAST, she was assigned a case worker who brought her to Birchwood Home. Meadow was told that this was a program for young girls and that she should consider it as her “new home”. The staff she met seemed friendly and welcoming, but they immediately needed her to complete a series of documents for her file. She was left in the office with one staff who handed her several forms to sign. Meadow was also given a handful of pamphlets to review which included “Children Rights in Care” and the “House Rules and Expectations, but none was reviewed with her. The intake seemed to be taking a fair bit of time due to the staff person texting on their phone throughout the meeting. Also, despite repeatedly telling the staff person that she wanted to be known to her peers in the home as “Meadow”, the staff person continued to call her “Fawzia” and introduced her to staff and other residents by her legal name. Throughout the intake, Meadow could see that several of the other residents were walking by the office trying to get a glimpse of the “new girl”. At one point, Meadow could hear them snickering and commenting on her name, her clothes, and her accent but the staff who was in the office with her did not seem to notice. Meadow felt overwhelmed and wished she could take a break from the paperwork but did not feel comfortable with making that request. An hour later, she was shown to her new room and was told that it would be “evening routines” soon, but Meadow had no idea what that meant. She opened some of the pamphlets and began reading, but she found the information difficult to understand and overwhelming. She wished her rights had been explained to her, along with the house rules and expectations as she was unclear what some of the information meant. She felt so confused and uncomfortable in the unfamiliar surroundings and could only think about returning home. There were many different areas to get accustomed to and although Meadow tried her best, there were still expectations that she could not meet. One evening they were told staff would be ordering pizza for dinner. Meadow asked the staff to order vegetarian or even plain cheese pizza, but when they forgot and she reminded them, she was told that she could just remove the pepperoni and bacon from the pizza. When she indicated that

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she could not do that due to religious reasons, staff responded with, “You don’t have to eat it”, but then offered no other meal options. Meadow also struggled to adjust to her lack of privacy. Twice, she could tell her letters from her grandfather had been opened before they were given to her but assumed the staff were doing this because they wanted to help her. She just wished they had asked her what she needed. Meadow also noticed that some of her items were missing and when she approached staff with her concerns, they reminded her that she signed a form on her first day stating that the program was not responsible for any missing items. Some of the other residents in the home had been with the Children’s Aid Society for much longer and tried to help Meadow (so she thought), in terms of how to navigate the system. They told her that the best way to leave the program was to climb out the bedroom window or engage in property damage. Meadow just listened and realized in that moment, how much she missed her grandfather. It was clear that Meadow’s roommate resented sharing a room with her and told her that she “had a plan to get rid of her”. Meadow was unsure what that meant and approached the staff to tell them that she felt unsafe. However, the staff did not appear to be concerned and instead, dismissed her worries by telling her to just ignore the comments. When she became emotional and stated that she did not belong in the program, the staff told her to stop being dramatic. That evening when Meadow went up to her room, she overheard her roommate and another resident taking about “punching her in the face” and when they saw her listening, they laughed and went downstairs. Once they were out of sight, Meadow stuffed some of her clothing and schoolbooks in her knapsack and went out the fire escape. She knew she would not be detected because the alarm had broken the previous week and staff had not repaired it. Out on the street, Meadow panicked and did not know where to go, so she went to the Tim Horton’s across the street where she often went afterschool with some of her school friends. She sat in the far corner where she thought she would have some privacy and more importantly, not be noticed. After several hours passed, one of the Tim Horton’s staff approached her and told her he recognized her from the many times that she had come in with her friends, but this time she was alone, and it was getting late. Meadow hesitantly relayed her fears about returning to the house, but the staff suggested she call to let them know her whereabouts. She borrowed his cell phone and the house staff immediately told Meadow to return to the program or they would have to file a missing person’s report (MPR). Meadow returned to the house, minutes before her curfew. Once inside, Meadow was informed that she was grounded for AWOLing (leaving the premises without permission). She did not know what this meant and became further upset when she was informed that until her grounding was served, she would not be able to attend school, and a doctor’s appointment for the next day would also be cancelled. She was told to go to her room, but again when she told them that she did not feel

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comfortable being in the same room with her roommate, staff insisted that there were no other options available. Meadow offered to sleep on the couch and staff insisted that this was against the program’s policy. Fortunately, the roommate was asleep, and Meadow was able to settle without any further issues. The next morning, Meadow told the staff that she wanted to talk to her CAST worker. The staff asked “why?” and Meadow reluctantly explained that she was unhappy being in the program. The staff seemed irritated and informed Meadow that she had no phone privileges until her grounding was completed. Back in her room, under a pile of papers, Meadow spotted the brochure that she had been given by her worker on her first day. Under the title “Ombudsman Ontario”, she found a name and a phone number and approached another staff on shift requesting to use the phone. This time the staff allowed Meadow to make the call but clarified that they would need to be present to hear her concerns. Despite expressing her concerns to her social worker, she was told that there were no other placements available for her and she would need to remain at Birchwood Home. As the months went on, Meadow’s unhappiness and feelings of loneliness only increased. She began hanging out with peers who her teachers felt were having a negative influence on her. Meadow started skipping school which led her to come to the attention of the school social worker for truancy. Meadow also started smoking cigarettes and using marijuana regularly to decrease symptoms of anxiety. One afternoon, Meadow and two peers were caught stealing items from the mall. When the police arrived, they told police they had planned to sell the items so they could buy food, but peers at the group home told staff she had told them she wanted money to buy drugs and alcohol. Shortly following the mall incident, Meadow started exhibiting symptoms of depression and she began expressing suicidal ideation. Meadow was taken to the emergency room where she underwent a psychiatric assessment. Staff claimed this was new for Meadow and that they had not noticed her symptoms of depression and anxiety previously. Other residents at the home, however, clearly identified that Meadow had been isolating herself for months and sometimes “said weird things”.