Agency Profile


Nature of the Agency/Organization:

1. General description of your agency (include size, description of service...):

IDM Youth Services provides a therapeutic group home for youth in the care of the Ministry of
Children and Family Development. IDM is a private agency that currently has 9 homes, and is
constantly gaining employees. As IDM’s website perfectly states, they give exceptional care by
“using a hybrid of strength based, trauma informed, therapeutic, and restorative philosophies,
IDM staff support residents in various domains- inclusive of behavioral adaptation, health and
hygiene, recreation, social scaffolding, life skills adaptation, legal support, education, job and
trades training and much more.”

(http://idmyouthservices.ca/index.php)

2. General age of clients:

The general age of youth in the care of IDM ranges from 10-19. At the resource I will be
completing my practicum, the person served at Nil Tu,o House are between the ages of 10-15.

3. How does the agency or organization refer to those being served: as clients, patients,
youth, or something other?

The agency refers to those being served as persons served. Most employees refer to those being
served as youth.

4. Number of clients:

3 persons served at Nil Tu,o House.

5. Description of the “average” client:

Every youth that comes into care is different. However, the “average” youth that comes into the
care of IDM has some kind of behavioural and emotional difficulties. Unfortunately, most
youth have experienced a significant amount of trauma and abuse in their lifetime, which has
caused individualized responses from the youth.

6. Does your placement agency or organization have emergency plans? Where are these
located?

Yes, each resource has a binder labeled “emergencies” that has specific instructions for staff to
follow in case and emergency that may arise. There is also a policy binder located in each
resource that has instructions for staff, if there is ever any policy questions or issues.
7. What reporting methods are used by the agency? Can you find the method for incident
reporting? Is there other reporting that you will be expected to do (such as updating a
record of medicine given)


IDM employees have the legal obligation to document incident reports and follow the
procedures outlined in the ‘Policy and Procedure Manual’. An incident report is completed by
an employee and then is submitted within 24 hours to the senior manager of the resource. From
there the senior manager will forward a copy to all stakeholders (director, social worker, etc.).
There are also daily reports on each youth, and weekly reports on each youth. As a practicum
student, I am not allowed to deal with the medication that is to be given to the youth, however, I
may write daily reports on the youth.

8. Are there rules and regulations such as a dress code at your organization or agency?
Why are these in place?

IDM employees are required to follow the basic guidelines that are stated in the code of ethics
when deciding what attire is suitable for work. This guideline is in place to ensure employees are
dressed in a manner that promotes the establishment of safe and healthy relationships and
boundaries with the persons served

9. Is there a policy manual? If yes, does the manual outline the professional ethics expected
of employees?

Yes, there is a policy manual which outlines the professional ethics expected of employees. It is
found within the employee package, as well as located in each resource.

10. Does the agency or organization keep confidentiality or privacy guidelines?

Yes, IDM has very strict confidentiality and privacy guidelines in order to keep the youth and
the staff safe at all times.

11. If there are no written codes of ethics or confidentiality guidelines in place in your
practicum setting, where will you find the ethics that will guide your practice there?

There is code of ethics set in place for the Child and Youth Care professional working in British
Columbia. This is called the CYCABC. As a Child and Youth Care Practitioner, it is important
to always abide by the code of ethics set out for any professional working in the field.

SET TWO

1. Is there a mission statement? If yes, do you see CYC perspectives and values (think
back to CYC100) reflected in the mission?
 “IDM Youth Services is a private agency, fully funded by the Ministry of Children and
Family Development. The overall goal of IDM Youth Services is to support the young
person so that they may increase social, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
We commit to standing by our clients to enable, foster, and support their growth through
personal empowerment. We strongly believe that providing our clients with a stable home
and consistent caregivers is an essential aspect of why our service delivery has such success.”
(http://idmyouthservices.ca/about-us/mission-statement/)

The mission statement is very much CYC based in values and perspectives. IDM is working
alongside youth to ensure their safety and wellbeing, by supporting their personal needs in a
very therapeutic way, which is what CYC practitioners do on a daily basis. IDM also sees the
value in stability along with providing consistent caregivers to youth, which has been a very
important perspective seen by many CYC professionals.

2. Is this organization connected to a parent organization? If so, which one?

IDM is not connected to any parent organizations.

3. Where does the organization or agency receive its funding from? Who governs the
organization or agency? Is it not-for-profit, or is there a Board of Directors, or is it a
government agency, or is the governance composed of some combination of these?

IDM as a whole is funded by the Ministry of Children and Family Development and is a private
agency started and run by Todd McDonald. Specifically the resource that I am working at is a
little different, because it is overseen by Nil To,u Child and Family Services therefor there are
certain regulations and standards that we must abide by. There is also a federal funded contract
through Aboriginal Affairs.

4. What licensing / accreditation / legislation does the organization operate under?

Each of the resources are accredited by CARF. The resource I am at is licensed through the
Ministry of Children and Family Development and Nil Tu,o Child and Family Services and
abide by their regulations.

5. Where is the organization or agency located within the larger CYC/social service
community? What interrelationships are there with this organization or agency and
others?

IDM is affiliated with CARF, VIHA, Nil Tu,o, Ministry of Children and Family Development,
and Aboriginal Affairs

6. What are some of the traditions or history of the organization or agency?

The history of this agency is largely focused on Todd McDonald’s past as a youth in the care
of the Ministry. He had a terrible experience living in foster homes and group home until his
father (Ian Dennis McDonald) contacted him in hopes of repairing their relationship. As
 Todd grew up, he eventually pursued his passion of working with youth in crisis. After years
of working in other agencies, Todd moved to Vancouver Island and started his first IDM
home in 2010. Since then the agency has changed and expanded rapidly with a total of 9
resources on the island.

SET ONE

1. How many employees are there?

There are currently around 70 employees at IDM (but numbers are constantly changing).

2. What are the job titles or basic roles and responsibilities of the people who work there?

Director-Assistant to the Director-General Manager-Assistant General Manager-

Administrative Manager -Facilities Manager-Team Leaders-Staff
Team leaders and staff working directly in the house roles include running the household,
taking youth to school/appointments, doing recreational activities with youth, and so on.

3. Where does the leadership in this organization come from? If you perceive there is no
leadership present in the organization or agency, where will you go to get it?

The leadership from this agency comes from the team leaders and managers of all the
specific houses, along with it coming from the director (Todd McDonald) who is the one that
leads everyone in the agency.

4. What is the team structure? Is the team organized hierarchically, or in another fashion?
Is there an organization chart?

There is an agency flow chart located in the office of each resource that is organized in a
hierarchical system ranked by authority.

SET TWO

1. Are professional qualifications for employment required for some of these roles?
(are some of the caregivers required to be certified ECE instructors, or licensed
psychologists, for example?) What is the range of professional credentials
represented in the organization or agency? (For example, an organization could
have employees with a BSW, or BA in CYC, or MEd, or another with a
Business.Administration degree.) What professional values will those roles bring to
the organization?


The applicable credentials for employment include:

a) Clean criminal record check

b) A vehicle and a class 5 BC Driver’s License with a Driver's Abstract
 c) Valid first aid and Foodsafe certification (or willing to get this within 3 months upon
hire)
d) Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Training via Mandt System (or willing to get this
within 3 months upon hire - internal training available)
e) Preferential experience includes applicants who have:
o Experience working with at-risk youth and/or people who have experienced trauma,
exhibit extreme behavior, have cognitive delays, mental health diagnosis, etc.
o Experience administering and documenting daily medication
o Experience working with suicide prevention and self-harm behavior
o Completed (or are in the process of completing) a degree or diploma in an applicable
field (education, psychology, child and youth care, counselling, etc.)

2. What is the starting wage?

24 hour shift: $202

Half Overnight: $125
Hourly: $17

3.Do the people working in your organization or agency function collaboratively or

independently?

Individuals working at IDM work collaboratively with other service providers such as social
workers, police, and other employees within the company. Each house has been assigned a sister
house (house closest to them in distance) where staff can support and work closely with each
other. All staff members are also able to communicate through email and other means at each
resource. On top of that, each staff is able to pick up a shift at almost any IDM house.

4. Given what you have seen so far, what are some of the beliefs and values that guide the
practice of the team in your organization or agency?)

One of IDM’s beliefs is to not incorporate punitive punishment into their practice. Instead of
punishing the youth if there is bad behaviour, they focus on figuring out what caused that
behaviour and working with the youth to deal with the deeper problem. They are there to
provide a supportive and loving environment for the youth, not one that is based around
punishment.