For the first time workers see themselves as professionals ... it’s a worldview changer when you realize you are part of an international movement instead of simply a sitter in a part time job.
Renewal
Renewing your certification demonstrates your continued support of the field and ongoing development as a professional. Renewal is completed every two years and must be completed before the anniversary of the certificate issue date for a certificate to remain active.
Renewal Requirements:
- Practitioners who renew their certificates within the renewal period (before the anniversary date of certificate issue) for two cycles (4 years) will be granted permission to complete the renewal process without submitting supporting documentation. These files will be randomly audited. Permission to engage in the simplified renewal program will be granted by a letter mailed to you through the postal service from the CYCCB Office when two complete cycles have been appropriately completed.
- A $50 late fee will be charged for any certificates renewed after the end of their renewal period.
- Renewals are considered complete when the completed renewal form, supporting documentation, and payment have been submitted and accepted. Please be sure you have completed the process. You will receive a communication from the office verifying completion.
Below are the continuing education and professional engagement requirements to be submitted with your renewal. These apply to all certification levels.
Continuing Education
Renewal requirements include (a) documentation of 30 hours of continuing education in at least two of the five competency domains or (b) documentation of completion of two of the eight alternate activities listed below.
Reviewing the Competencies for Professional Child & Youth Work Practitioners (2010) can help determine in which domain to claim a professional development activity. Certificates issued by the training provider that do not split the content into multiple competency domains can only be claimed in one competency area.
Continuing education may include in-service training, college and university courses, seminars and other learning opportunities that meet the following criteria:
- Completed within the two-year renewal cycle
- Relevant to at least two of the competency domains
- Documented through a certificate, transcript, agency training record, registration form, or other credible document that includes the title, duration, date of completion, participant name, and instructor name
Professional Engagement
Provide proof of professional engagement through membership in a professional association or document completion of two of the eight alternate activities listed below.
Professional engagement may be demonstrated through a copy of current membership card, certificate, or other proof of membership in a professional association which meets the following criteria:
- Offers individual membership (agency membership in an organization does not meet the requirement for professional membership)
- Supports professionalization of child and youth care practitioners (with the understanding that this can be a passive stance)
- Endorses the Standards for Practice of North American Child and Youth Care Professionals or offers a similarly constructed code of ethics
- Represents and advocates for child and youth care practitioners
- Offers opportunities to keep up-to-date with developments in foundational and specialized areas of child and youth care practice and participate in education and training opportunities
Alternate Options for Demonstrating Continuing Education and/or Professional Engagement
Alternate options can be used to meet both continuing education and/or professional engagement requirements. To receive credit, activities from at least two of the eight areas described below must be documented (a total of four areas if used for both continuing education and professional engagement).
Training and education classes/courses that you taught can only be counted once in each 2-year reporting period. These can be submitted again in a subsequent 2-year period if the class/course was again taught during that time period. The activities must include at least 30 hours of activity.
The same activity may not be submitted as demonstration of both Professional Engagement and Continuing Education simultaneously.
- Research: Listing as an investigator or contributor to a research project related to child and youth care practice. (Demonstrated by a letter from principle investigator confirming role in project or copy of research document listing practitioner as contributor.)
- Training: Conducting 10 hours of training relevant to child and youth care practice. (Demonstrated by a letter from supervising authority that training was conducted; training announcement or equivalent documentation.)
- Education: Teaching a 3 credit hour college course relevant to child and youth care practice. (Demonstrated by a letter from university authority verifying the course, course catalog page, or brochure describing course.)
- Publication: Publishing material relevant to child and youth care practice in a journal, or newsletter that meets reasonable standards for professional publication. (Demonstrated by submission of the material published or citation describing material.)
- Leadership: Holding an office, committee membership or chairpersonship in a child and youth care organization; participating on a task force or committee (outside of the practitioner’s employing organization) focused on child and youth care issues. (Demonstrated by a letter or document verifying participation from the sponsoring entity verifying participation or name printed in letterhead or brochure.)
- Presentations: Presenting at a regional, state, provincial, national or international meeting or conference on a topic related to child and youth care practice. (Demonstrated by a letter of acceptance of presentation or announcement of meeting listing presentation.)
- Portfolio Assessment: Serving as a CYCCB portfolio assessor during the renewal period. Assessors earn 1 hour of CEU credit for each portfolio reviewed (up to 8 hours/year). (Demonstrated by confirmation from the CYCCB Office. No additional documentation is needed.)
- Portfolio Assessor Training: Completing the CYCCB portfolio assessor training earns 4 hours of CEU credit. (Demonstrated by a certificate of training completion issued by the CYCCB Office.)
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What CYCs Say ...
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CYCCB research shows that CYCs who successfully complete certification requirements are 2.7 times more likely to be viewed as top performers (Curry, et al., 2011).
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One of the benefits of certification is increased motivation and a sense of accomplishment. Having to demonstrate my competence made me appreciate what I know in a new way.
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The portfolio made me work. I really had to investigate the person that I am as a practitioner. It wasn’t something that you could just turn in, you had to do research; you had to think.
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Before going through certification I don’t think my supervisors were really taking time to think about what I do and how competent I am. Certification gave an opportunity for my supervisor to identify my value by answering the questions from the application forms.
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A benefit of certification is being part of something bigger. Being certified, I joined a large group of others who are working to raise standards of practice.
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When I passed the test, I was ecstatic. It’s a good feeling to know that you have learned A LOT.
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Certification gives you another way to define your skill set. Having certification gives you the ability to advocate for yourself.
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A benefit of certification is increased recognition of the importance of advocacy for certification both within and outside the field. Certified CYC practitioners are our own best advocates.
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Passing the exam definitely gave me confidence that I know what I’m doing. Being compared with so many others who do the same thing I do let me know where I stand in relationship to them.
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It’s not just one or two steps and you’re done; it’s a lot of hard work… and it means something to be this capable.
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Completing the certification process took self-motivation. No one can do the work for you.
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Letting workers see themselves as professionals is a morale enhancer. It lets them know that you take them seriously as professionals and you want them to have a relevant credential.
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In our organization we met in groups to get our applications completed. It was inspiring to see the support that we got from our agency and from each other.
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Going through the certification process helped me become more reflective and increased my ability to conceptualize the good work that I do.
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There are still people out there who think of youth workers as ‘glorified babysitters’. Certification helps address this misconception.
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Completing certification is viewed as a signal of the seriousness of one’s commitment to professional youth work. It also brings attention from supervisors and administrators to workers’ skill sets.
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Many practitioners involved in the certification process recognize that they are now “part of something bigger.” There is a profession of child and youth work and it exists as part of a world movement.
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I think the certification process was really valuable in assessing what I do well and areas where I can reevaluate and do things differently.
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It made me more efficient. When you’re more mindful about what you do and you know the meaning behind it, you’re able to be more planful and consistent.
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Taking standardized tests is hard for me, you know? But passing it was an amazing validation of what I know and use everyday.
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The need for advocacy to promote CYC certification and increase awareness of its importance within the field is often mentioned as an important goal of certification.
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It was nice for me personally to see all of the trainings and courses I have taken being put toward something that can lead to making the child care field more important overall…it’s the bigger picture.
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It’s given me insight into how serious people are in this profession about competence.
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Self-motivation and a passion for the work are identified as key factors in being a competent practitioner.
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Children and youth comprise approximately 25% of the U.S. population. The combined child and youth work workforce is estimated to be as high as six million (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2003). It is the largest human services workforce in the US.
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Certification has allowed me to be more aware of what is going on in other areas of child and youth work.
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The certification process helped me to create and maintain affiliation with member-based associations which offer networking opportunities and a sense of community.
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Certification is a signal of one’s commitment to professional youth work.
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Why can almost anyone go into afterschool or daycare? There should be a benchmark of common knowledge and ability. That is what certification is!
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Certification helps to assure the community that we know what we’re doing and that we care to do it well. As a parent myself, I want to be sure that the people working with my children are the most qualified available.
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The CYC Certification Preparation Workbook really helped me. It had the answers I was looking for when i was going through the application and testing process.