New CWCY WEBSITE! - Coming Soon!

Canada's Waiting Children and Youth Program (CWCY) is Canada's only national photo listing website, managed by the Adoption Council of Canada, which assists in matching children and youth in the child welfare system, with permanent families. The website features photographs and profiles of waiting children and youth, as well as a section for approved prospective adoptive parents to include their information.  Approved prospective adoptive parent(s) and social workers, after registering, will be granted access and be able to search the CWCY website. The ACC will then connect parties upon an expression of interest.  

AGING OUT WITHOUT A SAFETY NET For youth between 16-30 years of age with lived experience in the child welfare system. Those who attend are interested in sharing their lived experience to effect policy and create changes in our child welfare system. This project will also help to identify barriers and develop solutions to economic insecurity. To learn more visit: www.adoption.ca 
Next Focus Group takes place June 8th, 2019 in Edmonton, AB.

JOURNEY HOME is a guided bus tour that simulates what it feels like for children and youth to enter, live in, and age out of the child welfare system.

To learn more visit: www.adoption.ca 

Next bus tour takes place June 20th, 2019 in London, ON.

SHAZAM! A free movie screening was held at the Scotiabank Theatre in Ottawa

A huge thank you to Warner Bros. Entertainment for sponsoring a screening of Shazam! Movie for Youth in Care Day! And a huge thank you to the members of our Ottawa YSO team for providing opening remarks - a fantastic job as always! Thank you as well to Adopt4Life - Ontario's Adoptive Parents Association for their participation! And of course a thank you to the 91 wonderful folks who came out to the screening - nearly a packed house!

Child and Youth in Care Day WEBINAR Q & A
with Adopt4Life, Adoption Council of Canada and Ontario Children's Advocacy Coalition

A live Q+A with young people in and from the child welfare system was held on May 14th for Children and Youth in Care Day, in Ontario. It was an interactive Facebook Live Q+A about the issues that matter to young people in and from the child welfare system. The panelists spoke to the meaning of Children and Youth in Care 2019, as a legacy of the Ontario Children's Advocate office, which was at the heart of its creation. They discussed how organizations can engage youth in vital and meaningful ways and how allies can plan activities with—and in support of—young people facing unique barriers. Let's raise awareness and stand up with children and young people in and from the child welfare system!

STANDING UP FOR YOUTH - YOUTH SPEAK OUT Teams Across Canada

The ACC works with young people, including Alisha and Susan, to help them advocate about the importance of having a permanent family. Our program, called Youth Speak Out, trains youth to speak in public, to participate on panels and to create films and artwork about why they need permanent families.

We have Youth Speak Out teams across Canada: in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Guelph, Halifax, Fredericton, Iqaluit, along with additional members in Toronto, London ON, Sydney N.S., Moncton N.B., and Nanaimo B.C. ACC plans on expanding our teams to Richmond Hill, Timmins and Thunder Bay, ON over the course of the next three years.

The Adoption Council of Canada held BEST PRACTICES TRAINING in Halifax, Nova Scotia with the Social Services Department on May 8th, 2019

The Adoption Council of Canada's Best Practices workshop provides training for prospective adoptive parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, social workers, and other child welfare professionals. Training is given to support the best interests and needs of the children and youth currently living in the child welfare system, particularly those living with visible and invisible disabilities.