The Child Life Competencies are a set of 5 Domains and 14 competencies which dictate the minimum acceptable level of a child life practice. These standards have been established and are regulated by the Association of Child Life Professionals to best guide an individual's clinical practice.

For my portfolio, I have selected one to two key areas of knowledge and skill for each competency, based on their relevance to my first and second internship placements. These competencies are supported using evidence from internship assignments, journal entries, and narrative reflections. To find this evidence you can click on the hyperlinked competencies listed below.

Domains & Competencies
I. Care of Infants, Children, Youth, and Families
A. The ability to assess the developmental and psychosocial needs of infants, children, youth, and families.
B. The ability to initiate and maintain meaningful and therapeutic relationships with infants, children, youth, and families.
C. The ability to provide opportunities for play for infants, children, youth, and families.
D. The ability to provide a safe, therapeutic and healing environment for infants, children, youth, and families.
E. The ability to support infants, children, youth, and families in coping with stressful events.
F. The ability to provide teaching, specific to the population served, including psychological preparation for potentially stressful experiences, with infants, children, youth, and families.
II. Professional Responsibility
A. The ability to practice within the scope of professional and personal knowledge and skill base.
B. The ability to continuously engage in self-reflective professional child life practice
C. The ability to function as a member of the service team
III. Education and Supervision
A. The ability to represent and communicate child life practice and psychosocial issues of infants, children, youth, and families to others.
B. The ability to supervise child life students and volunteers.
IV. Research Fundamentals
A. The ability to integrate clinical evidence and fundamental child life knowledge into professional decision-making
V. Administration
A. The ability to develop and evaluate child life services.
B. The ability to implement child life services within the structure and culture of the work environment