January 2021

"Generation Disrupted"

In December, the World Health Organization and the Big 6 international youth organizations issued the Global Mobilization Challenge to address what they call the “Generation Disrupted” by the COVID-19 pandemic. As children and youth agency workers and administrators, we know first hand about the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on mental health, education, and employment opportunities; and how much more acute these impacts are for children in at-risk situations.  

We also know that youth agencies are the front line of support to assist children and youth through these difficult times, and that they are being stressed themselves with the challenge of trying to do more with fewer resources. In Canada, the need for a more coordinated strategy to support children and youth development was already apparent well before the outbreak of the pandemic.  The gaps in public policy and absence of a cohesive voice to advocate for the urgent needs of the sector have only been laid bare over the past 10 months.

Over the past year, leading youth agencies undertook to explore how the National Alliance for Children and Youth (NACY) might be renewed to play are stronger role in supporting the sector.  It conducted its own “Taking Stock” survey to determine where Canadian children and youth organizations were feeling the most strain and where they felt they could best benefit from sector-wide initiatives. Two priorities stood out: providing accessible opportunities for sharing knowledge and furthering professional development among workers, as well as undertaking public advocacy for the sector, which most believed was extremely important, but they had no capacity to undertake on their own.

This is the first newsletter in a long while from NACY, and we hope just the start of a new beginning to provide you with access to information and resources to support you in your work.  But our success depends on this being a two-way partnership. We’ll be offering relevant online workshops and engaging agencies in a series of cross Canada consultations about advocacy priorities in the coming months.  Your involvement and feedback will be sure we are effectively representing your needs and perspectives.  If you like what you see, we also ask that you consider joining as a member.  Addressing the need of this “Generation Disrupted” is going to require more effort, more innovation, and more efficiency.  Together we can work better.

-  Deborah Morrison, NACY Board Chair