The Child and Youth Well-being Minor (CYWB) is an interdisciplinary, academic program at Winthrop University that focuses on providing students from across the campus with the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills working with children, youth, and their families. The CYWB minor exposes students to primary domains of child well-being including cognitive functioning, physical functioning, behavioral/emotional functioning, and social functioning. The CYWB minor helps to prepare students for a variety of careers to better anticipate and respond to the many and complex needs of children and families.
TITLE IV-E CHILD WELFARE SCHOLARS PROGRAM
MINOR ADVISOR
Dr. Kori Bloomquist
128 Bancroft Hall
803/323-2649
TESTIMONIALS
Annamarie Yates, Class of 2024
I came across the Child & Youth Well-Being Minor during the second semester of my freshman year. As a Psychology major, I wanted to pick something that would allow me to learn more about helping others. I knew I wanted to be a therapist but wasn't sure what age group I wanted to work with. So, I decided to try it out and see if I was interested in working with children. From taking courses for the CYWB minor, like Parenting through the Lifespan, Families and Children: Policies and Services, and Families and Children: Practice and Trends, I found that there is a lot of need for trained professionals in the field. I discovered about Attachment Theory and Adverse Childhood Experiences and how much our experiences in early childhood influence our development. I learned that prevention is always better than treatment and because of this, I now know that early intervention in a child's life is key! This minor taught me how to encourage resilience in children and families to prevent future adversity. I would recommend this minor to anyone who wants to help ensure every child grows up happy, healthy, and safe.
Fantasy Ifversen-Davis, Clas of 2024
As a sophmore, I decided to become a child and youth well-being minor because the main population that I plan to serve in the future is children, specifically to help children overcome and cope with traumatic experiences that they have faced in their lives. From this minor, I wanted to learn how a child's environment can impact their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development and the implications that this has later in their life. As a CYWB minor, I gained so much more knowledge than I imagined! This minor offered such a wide variety of class options, allowing me to branch out across so many different subjects such as social work, education, political science, and nutrition. This opportunity showed me how all of these disciplines are interconnected and that each holds a vital role in addressing the complex needs of children. The CYWB minor widened my perspective as a young, professional and provded me with such a well-crafted and rich foundation of knowledge for the social work profession. I can say with certainty that the application of the social work practices and theories that I learned in my required courses prepared me well to work with children and advocate for their well-being within various institutions.
