08/26/2026
In Memoriam: Jack Phelan
It is with profound sadness that the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta (C*CAA) mourns the passing of our friend, colleague, mentor, and visionary, Jack Phelan.
Jack was a humble, wise, and extraordinarily generous person whose warmth and unmistakable sense of humour could fill a room with laughter. For so many within the Child and Youth Care community, Jack was more than a respected educator and leader. He was a mentor, a trusted colleague, and a foundational influence who helped shape how generations of practitioners understood and lived Child and Youth Care practice.
Jack began his career in community work in 1967 and spent the next 15 years working in a variety of Child and Youth Care roles across the United States and Canada. He later joined MacEwan University in Alberta, where he became a deeply loved and respected professor in the Child and Youth Care program, eventually retiring as Faculty Emeritus.
As C*C-Net noted, Jack's contribution to the profession extended far beyond the classroom. He was a regular contributor to C*C-Net Press, authoring many articles for C*C-Online and numerous books. Jack shared his knowledge at countless conferences, workshops, and trainings over his career. His influential work on the developmental stages of Child and Youth Care practice, supervision, and relational dynamics provided students, practitioners, educators, and supervisors with a roadmap for moving beyond reactive management toward intentional, relational, and therapeutic engagement. His ideas became part of the language of our profession and continue to influence how Child and Youth Care is taught and practiced today.
Jack also held a special place within the Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta. He was an important leader in the development of Child and Youth Care in Alberta and was influential in the development of C*CAA's certification program. In recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the profession, Jack was named the 2013 C*CAA Visionary of the Year.
Retirement did little to diminish Jack's commitment to Child and Youth Care. He remained connected to colleagues, practitioners, students, and the broader international C*C community, continuing to share his wisdom, humour, and encouragement. It was especially meaningful that Jack remained actively engaged with the field, with a recent publication of Aspects of Relational Practice with Thom Garfat in 2025, and attending the World Child and Youth Care Conference in Newfoundland in June 2026, still connecting, contributing, and reminding us of the importance of relationship and community.
Jack's passing leaves an immeasurable space within our profession. Yet his legacy is equally immeasurable. It lives in his writing and teaching, in the practitioners and leaders he mentored, in the profession he helped shape, and ultimately in the lives of countless children, young people, and families who have been touched by practitioners influenced by his wisdom.
For those of us within C*CAA, we will remember Jack not only for what he contributed to Child and Youth Care, but for how he showed up within it - with humility, generosity, humour, curiosity, and an unwavering belief in the power of relationship.
We extend our deepest condolences to Jack's family, friends, colleagues, former students, and the entire Child and Youth Care community.
Jack will be deeply missed, lovingly remembered, and forever part of the story of Child and Youth Care in Alberta and around the world.
May he rest in peace.
Pictured: Jack Phelan receiving the Child and Youth Care Visionary of the Year Award from Pat Foran in 2013.
