Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between youth development professionals and child protective investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a youth development professional and a child protective investigator. Additionally, a child protective investigator has an average salary of $47,903, which is higher than the $43,758 average annual salary of a youth development professional.
The top three skills for a youth development professional include youth development, direct care and productive relationships. The most important skills for a child protective investigator are patrol, social work, and local law enforcement.
| Youth Development Professional | Child Protective Investigator | |
| Yearly salary | $43,758 | $47,903 |
| Hourly rate | $21.04 | $23.03 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 91,372 | 15,938 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Youth Development Professionals are specialists in implementing and overseeing programs to help adolescents discover their abilities and interests. They are responsible for coordinating career days and field trips, organizing mentorship sessions, create youth outreach projects, and assisting community organizations in youth provision development. Other duties include supporting the training of volunteer youth workers as well as ensuring service provided adheres to professional standards and current regulations. A Youth Development Professional may specialize in a specific development sector, such as healthy living, experiential learning, or public service.
A child protective investigator is responsible for investigating incident reports for child-violating cases, collecting court evidence of child abuse, and keeping the child under safe custody for protection. Child protective investigators conduct field investigations by locating the area of concern, interviewing witnesses, and analyzing similar cases of violence. They coordinate with medical professionals to check the child's condition and record any signs of trauma and injuries. A child protective investigator may also attend court procedures to represent the child and testify to press charges with the abuser.
Youth development professionals and child protective investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Youth Development Professional | Child Protective Investigator | |
| Average salary | $43,758 | $47,903 |
| Salary range | Between $20,000 And $95,000 | Between $37,000 And $61,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Camden, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | MUFG EMEA | Saks Fifth Avenue |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a youth development professional and a child protective investigator in terms of educational background:
| Youth Development Professional | Child Protective Investigator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Criminal Justice |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | SUNY at Albany |
Here are the differences between youth development professionals' and child protective investigators' demographics:
| Youth Development Professional | Child Protective Investigator | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 41.0% Female, 59.0% | Male, 32.4% Female, 67.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |