Webinar Provided by CYC Net in Partnership with ACRC
$20 Registration Fee ACRC Members $40 Registration Fee Non-Members
Supporting the Autonomous Self of Young People in Care
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 2 - 3:30 p.m. CT
In this presentation, Dr. Gharabaghi explores the role of autonomy and the autonomous self for young people living in out of home care. He argues that we can use our core values of relational practice, care, engagement, and focusing on everyday life events as a way of advancing young people’s sense of who they are and how they might be in the world and in the social contexts impacting them. Supporting the development of an autonomous self is quite different from supporting independence or preparing young people to go off on their own. The autonomous self is ultimately the vehicle through which young people will navigate interdependence as they journey through their life course.
Presenter:
Dr. Kiaras Gharabaghi Dean of the Faculty of Community Services, Toronto Metropolitan University
Kiaras spent 25 years working directly with young people in residential care settings across different service sectors ranging from child welfare and treatment settings to youth custody, in-patient psychiatric units and youth homeless shelters. Dr. Gharabaghi started his career in the human services in the 1980s, working directly with young people facing adversity, managing not for profit youth serving programs in child welfare, child and youth mental health, and youth homelessness, and providing family support services to newcomer families. Currently, Dr. Gharabaghi is the dean of the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University. Previous to this, he was Director of the School of Child and Youth Care, also at Toronto Metropolitan University. His own background is marked by both forced and voluntary migrations spanning three continents, multiple languages, and engagement with multiple faith groups. He is author of over 300 books, articles and creative writings, including A Hard Place to Call Home: A Canadian Perspective on Residential Care and Treatment for Children and Youth (Canadian Scholars Press, 2019).
