Who we Are

Child and Youth Network

London's Child and Youth Network (CYN) is comprised of over 170 organizations across the city that are working in new and different ways to support families in London. For over a decade, CYN partners have utilized research and collective knowledge to improve life for children, youth, and families in our community. The community's vision: "Happy, healthy children and youth today; caring, creative responsible adults tomorrow" guides the work of CYN partners to create positive changes in the following priority areas:

• Ending poverty. 
• Increasing healthy eating and healthy physical activity.
• Making literacy a way of life.
• Creating a family-centred service system.

The CYN Agenda: 2017-2021 outlines the commitment of CYN partners to create population-level change to achieve our vision for London's children, youth, and families. 

History

2007

• More than 60 local service providers met to discuss how to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families in London. To move the yardstick on large-scale and complex challenges, organizations recognized the need to work together to form London's Child and Youth Network.

2008

• Developed London's first Child and Youth Agenda - a dynamic, three-year plan for collective action.
• The case for collective action is compelling: 
  • 1 in 4 children born in London is living in poverty
  • More than 1 in 4 are not ready to learn in Grade 1
  • More than 1 in 5 did not graduate from high school
  • 1 in 4 are overweight or obese
• In addition mental health challenges faced by growing number of children, youth and their parents/caregivers was top of mind.  

2012

• Developed the second Child and Youth Agenda. 
• CYN partners utilized the Collective Impact approach as a lens to understand how to approach collective changes and deepen the impact of the work.

2015

• Undertook a comprehensive impact assessment to understand how London was changing.
• The year-long assessment illustrated countless stories of positive change for families and service providers impacted by the work of the CYN. It also indicated that the work isn't done. 
• The impact assessment demonstrated that CYN partners' ability to positively improve outcomes for individuals and families has greatly improved, and efforts moving forwards needed to focus on how to scale up these positive impacts across the whole population.

2017-2021

• Through a collective approach that aims to blend the best of Collective Impact with the principles of inclusivity, community development, equity, and collaboration, CYN Agenda: 2017-2021, the third collaboratively developed plan for change in our community was endorsed by CYN partners.
• In this agenda, where evaluations demonstrate impact and potential for growth, the focus is on scaling up initiatives to broaden and deepen our impact on the population-level measures we seek to influence.
• At the same time, CYN partners continue to explore and incubate innovative ideas to improve outcomes.

Our Story

In this video, Lynne Livingstone, Chair of the Child & Youth Network (2007-2019) shares the development of the Family-Centred Service System Priority of the Network and the results of a 2014 study of the impact of Family Centres in London, Ontario.