AZA4310 - Child and youth care policy and leadership: Advocating for the rights of children and youth - 2019

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) rests on four pillars: survival rights, development rights, protection rights and participation rights. These pillars are used in this unit as they provide an appropriate policy and legislative framework for children and youth at risk and articulate the notion of children's rights. Inter-sectoral integration, the establishment of minimum standards of care, adjustments to legislation and programmatic responses are incorporated in this movement. Students will gain an understanding of the impact legislation has in the child rights' area locally and abroad through the application of case studies. The unit will cover the process of policy development and evaluation and will explore the skills related to the managerial responsibility of supervision. The aim of the unit is to prepare the child and youth care worker for the more strategic macro level responsibility of ensuring that services to children and youth are aligned with policy and legislation through procedural knowledge and supervision skills.

Upon successful completion of the unit, students should be able to:

1. Evaluate and design policies with the policy development process.
2. Identify and explain policy principles
3. Explore current legislative and policy frameworks that guide child and youth development services in South Africa
4. Provide an overview of international legislation that impacts on service to children and youth
5. Describe the rights of young people and promote these in practice
6. Integrate the role of advocate into the professional repertoire.
7. Demonstrate basic knowledge of grants and how to access them
8. Explain the skills underlying supervision and leadership

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Child and youth development - South Africa