All My Childhood Heroes: The Need for Ethical Standards
1.5 Hours
“Above all, do no harm!” has been the mantra of all helping professions since the Ancient Greeks. A simple statement, yet, a practice challenge that holds many practical and ethical implications across the allied behavioral health fields. This simple statement serves as the bedrock of the child and youth care profession and one of our greatest dilemmas.
During this presentation, we will explore ethical challenges that may exist within various child care/treatment settings for child and youth care professionals by using the Standards for Practice of North American CYC Professionals (revised in 2022) developed by the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice (ACYCP) and the Council of Canadian Child and Youth Care Associations (CCYCA) as a guide. Using real world examples, we will explore how ethical dilemmas occur, develop cautions, and enhance our skillfulness in minimizing the likelihood that these practice standards are breached within our various service milieus.
The participants in this presentation will gain a greater insight into ACYCP’s newly revised Standards for Practice (2022) and discuss ways to navigate various barriers in order to facilitate the development of care settings that adhere to ethics by identifying practices that promote the simple statement, “Above all, do no harm!” developed centuries ago.
- Receive a copy of the newly revised Standards for Practice of North American CYC Professionals (2022) and review updates to the code
- Explore a variety of real world ethical practice dilemmas and develop strategies for addressing them
- Collaborate with the speaker and other attendees to identify how the Practice Standards can be used to guide daily interactions with children, youth, and families
CYC Certification Competency Domain: Professionalism
Created by
A.M. Chip Bonsutto, Ed.D, LSW, CYC-P
Dr. Bonsutto has been working with children and youth for over 42 years. On June 9, 2023, he retired to part-time work and to continue his advocacy for children and the professionals working with them. During his career, he has been a child and youth care worker, a counselor, a manager, program director, and administrator. He has worked in youth residential, foster care, and community behavioral health programs. Recently, Dr. Bonsutto retired as the Executive Director of Ohio MENTOR and Indiana MENTOR, agencies that provides therapeutic foster care and behavioral health services throughout the two states.
Dr. Bonsutto has also supervised and developed children and foster care services in Alabama and Kentucky. Dr. Bonsutto is an Adjunct Professor at Kent State University with a focus on child and youth care development and professionalism. Dr. Bonsutto holds a doctorate in education (Ed.D.), a masters (M.S.) in administration from Nova Southeastern University, and a bachelors (B.A.) in psychology from Cleveland State University. He is an Ohio licensed social worker, a nationally certified child and youth care professional (CYC-P), and a Robert Wood Johnson Leadership Fellow. Dr. Bonsutto has served as President of the Ohio Association of Child and Youth Care Professionals, Inc. (OACYCP) and the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice, Inc. (ACYCP) and remains an active board member of each association. In addition, he is a former Board Member of the Ohio Association of Child Caring Agencies Inc. (OACCA, currently known as the Ohio Children’s Alliance). In 2018, he was named by Ohio Governor DeWine to the state’s Foster Care Transitional Advisory Taskforce.
A strong proponent of professionalism in his chosen field, Dr. Bonsutto is a founding board member of the international Child and Youth Care Certification Board and has served as a co-chair of three International Child and Youth Care Conferences. In addition, Dr. Bonsutto is a seasoned trainer having presented at numerous international, national, state, and regional conferences.
