About the Society for Children and Youth of BC

The Society for Children and Youth of BC is a unique provincial non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to improving the well-being of children and youth.

Since 1974, the Society has focused on providing a strong voice representing children and youth and advocating for their well-being in British Columbia. Using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a foundation, SCY has a track record of creating and delivering programs that have motivated change in legislation, policy, and practice in Canada.

The Society’s pioneer role in the field of child sexual abuse prevention starting in 1979, has resulted in the development of a nationally acclaimed school-based program and has influenced many policies including changes in the Evidence Act (Bill C-15).

For over three decades, SCY has also focused on children’s environments and the importance of play which has lead to improvements to large numbers of play environments, the development of national guidelines and an increased understanding of children’s needs. Based on the principles of the UNCRC, SCY has been actively engaged in the promotion of Child and Youth Friendly Communities and has been developing a series of community assessment tools for housing, community development, early childhood, Aboriginal communities and municipalities.

Since Canada’s ratification of the UNCRC, SCY has taken a leadership role in child rights promotion and the production of education materials and tools to facilitate and monitor compliance. SCY’s groundbreaking work on the “Four Star Rating System” that rates legal statutes ‘through the eyes of a child and the lens of the UNCRC’ has been applied to provincial legislature in BC, Alberta, and Ontario as well as federal legislation. In 2004, SCY developed Canada’s first youth-led child rights monitoring process.

In November 2012 SCY launched BC's first multi-media Child Rights Public Awareness Campaign (www.everychild.ca). The campaign promotes child and youth rights in everyday life and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a model for all programs, services, and support to children, youth, and families.