Title

Children of Divorce in School-Age Care: A Resource Manual for the SAC Professional

Author

Carole Weisberg, Concordia University, St. Paul

Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Non Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Education

Keywords

school-age care, children of divorced parents, training

Abstract

Statistics show a dramatic increase in the number of marriages ending in divorce over the past 40 years. In 1950 there were 385,000 divorces nationwide or 2.6% per 1000 marriages. In 1996 that number just about tripled to 1,150,000 divorces nationwide (National Center for Health Statistics, Fastats, 1998). Approximately 1,000,000 children each year become children of divorce (National Center for Health Statistics, 1994 & 1995). For the school-age care provider and youth care specialist, I believe this presents a great challenge. It is my belief that these numbers translate into an increase in the number of children attending programs outside of school hours who are experiencing or have experienced their parent's separation and divorce. School-age child care providers and youth care specialists are in need of resources and support in terms of knowing and understanding the issues and learning how to deal with situations that arise as a result of divorce and separation. Although there is a wealth of information on children and divorce, there is, however, little material available which relates directly to the role of the caregiver when faced with the sensitive issues that children of divorce present. The goal of this manual is to provide a useful resource to assist the school-age care provider and youth care specialist in understanding, helping and supporting children 6-12 years of age and the families with whom they work who have gone through or are presently going through divorce and separation.

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