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CHAPTER TWO Contextual and Practical Introduction: The Emergent Role of Global Child and Youth Care Work in Possibility Development Andrew J. Schneider-Muñoz Child and youth care work has emerged as a set of tools, techniques, and strategies attuned to positive youth development it is focused on organiz- ing developmental opportunities for the success of youth around the world. Educators, social workers, youth workers, other allied profes- sionals, parents, and community leaders all practice child and youth care. Child and youth care work uses evidence-based competencies— including guidance, communication, and cultural competence—to form relationships that support healthy development and change. These rela- tional competencies are especially expressed through the experience of activities in everyday life (Mattingly, Stuart, & VanderVen, 2002). Approximately 1 billion youth live in the world today. About one per- son in five is between the ages of 15 and 24, which means that approxi- mately 18 percent of the world’s population is youth, assuming we define youth by those parameters. Additionally, children between the ages of 5 and 14 years comprise nearly 20 percent of the world’s population