The mission of the Wyoming Association of Child and Youth Care Professionals (WyACYCP) is to promote quality child and youth care practices in Wyoming and to develop and support projects that enhance the professional status of youthwork.

In order to accomplish this goal, we will support and develop educational programs that keep child/youth care personnel current on theories and techniques, both those that have been developed over the past few years, and those that are continuing to unfold in the fast-evolving field of child care. We are a voluntary organization.

If we are to effectively pursue our goal we need your support. Specifically we ask that you-

Join as a paid member of the association and encourage your co-workers to do the same.

Let your Supervisors know that you want to be a part of the association so that you can be more professional and maintain a fresh approach to youth work.

Let your superiors know of your training needs.

Prepare and advocate for certification. Youth work does not have to be a job you keep for three months and move on from. IT IS A PROFESSION. Be willing to go the extra mile to be better.

Post newsletters on staff message boards.

Volunteer to help with newsletters, designing a web page, etc.

Send news for the newsletter. We want your input!!


Like all of our fellow professionals in the field of child/youth care, our primary concern is to ensure the safety of the children/youth in our care, while providing them with an atmosphere where learning and behavior change can occur.

In order to promote quality child/youth care in Wyoming, we have defined several areas of concentration for our association. They are as follows:

We have adopted ethical standards of practice for child/youth care professionals.

We will provide conferences and workshops designed to increase the professional competence and knowledge of child/youth care personnel.

We will provide channels through which information relevant to the child care profession can be effectively exchanged between associations, agencies, workers and the consumer.

We will develop strict certification guidelines and procedures so that individuals who choose to be certified to work with children/youth have the highest possible qualifications and abilities, and are, indeed, competent professionals.

We are encouraging the development, teaching, and practice of safe and reliable child/youth behavior management techniques based on sound, empirical evidence of effectiveness.

Finally, we have become a member of the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice. ACYCP is the national association of youth work professionals. Their focus, like ours, is the enhancement of knowledge and competency of child/youth care practitioners. The ACYCP has been a leading resource for us in defining a professional code of ethics, arriving at realistic standards for certification of child/youth care professionals, and in accessing educational components.

We believe that our association can improve on-the job competency, effectiveness, and longevity of child/youth care practitioners in our state. We anticipate that it will foster an increase in the number of individuals choosing child/youth care as a career. We know that augmenting the knowledge base of child/youth care personnel and promoting good treatment and behavior management techniques benefits everyone -- agencies, workers, and most importantly, the children and youth entrusted to our care.

If you have any suggestions for us, or if you would like to find out more about our association, please email us.Thank you for your continued dedicated service to the children and youth of Wyoming.