Looking back at 1994 - 1996...
January 6, 1996
In July 1994 Martha Kirby was hired as the NYICN's second National Director. She would work in a co-directorship with Dianah Smith (National Development Officer) until 1996. During these two years, Dianah and Martha made great improvements to the Network including new and meaningful engagement opportunities for youth in care; the election and training of a nationally representative Board of Directors; newly established partnerships and funding contracts, and two important research initiatives.
The first research project entitled Gambling With Our Lives was released as a video documentary in 1995. The video features ten youth in and from care from each province to discuss proposed changes to income assistance (Social Security Reform) and the impact this would have on young people exiting the child welfare system. Later that year the Network released a second research study, Into the Hands of Youth . A follow-up project to the NYICN's publication Pain...Lots of Pain (Raychaba, 1993), this research focuses on the prevalence and impact of family violence and abuse in the lives of youth prior to, and as was revealed in many cases, during their involvement with the care system. Approximately 200 young people participated in the project through surveys and small discussion groups in each province. A number of these young people would later take on roles of leadership as volunteers, staff, and board members of the NYICN and local youth in care networks.
Check out 1996-1998 by clicking the link below.
See also:
http://www.youthincare.ca/news/show.cfm?id=1606
For more information contact:
Yvonne Andrews
yvonne@youthincare.ca
