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Youth services specialist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Carla Alphonso,

Christina Erickson Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical youth services specialist skills. We ranked the top skills for youth services specialists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 12.1% of youth services specialist resumes contained social work as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a youth services specialist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 youth services specialist skills for your resume and career

2. Role Model

A role model is a person with desirable qualities who inspires other people to emulate their example.

Here's how youth services specialists use role model:

Provide leadership to residents by means of positive role modeling as well as utilization of all possible teaching moments.
Act as a positive role model for the youths during their rehabilitation.

3. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how youth services specialists use mental health:

Develop individualized programs for youth experiencing mental health or behavioral difficulties.
Provided direct behavioral interventions to youth with mental health disorders.

4. Crisis Intervention

Here's how youth services specialists use crisis intervention:

Utilized crisis intervention and counseling techniques to deescalate volatile situations and restore calm.
Accredited Certifications/Applicable Training: Crisis Prevention Intervention: Nonviolent Crisis Intervention.

5. Incident Reports

An Incident Report, in a medical facility such as hospitals and nursing homes, is a type of paperwork filled out immediately after and in the case of an incident of some sort, with the goal of describing the incident and its consequences, as well as the measurements taken after or during the incident, as well as any other information relevant to said incident. Such an incident might be a patient acting out or a patient being injured.

Here's how youth services specialists use incident reports:

Determine and assess youth progress within the program and documents using incident reports.
Complete incident reports for incidents that occur on and off the facility.

6. Criminal Justice

Here's how youth services specialists use criminal justice:

Worked mutually with local criminal justice system to implement sentence alternatives and sanctions.
Perform head count for clinical staff and management (Criminal Justice Sites) and complete reports and paperwork as needed.

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7. Direct Care

Direct care is the act of identifying people with special needs and offering the necessary care for them.

Here's how youth services specialists use direct care:

Provided direct care supervision to adjudicated youth residing at NHS Academy.
Direct care staff that is responsible for the safety and well being of the youth placed in the home.

8. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how youth services specialists use community resources:

Refer families for family-based social services and other community resources as appropriate.
Distributed clients to benefit counselors and gave referrals for community resources.

9. at-Risk Youth

A child who is unlikely to transition successfully into adulthood is considered an at-risk youth. Success can mean job readiness, academic success, or competence to be financially independent. It may also refer to the ability to avoid a life of crime by becoming a positive representative of society. At-risk students may show/have to show indifference for academics, low educational performance, absenteeism, disconnect from the school, emotional, and behavioral problems.

Here's how youth services specialists use at-risk youth:

Coordinated day camp, summer, and after-school programming for At-risk youth, adolescents, and teens.
Created, structured, implemented and taught curricula to at-risk youth ages 6-18 years of age.

10. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how youth services specialists use cpr:

Participate in an individualized continuing education plan including CPR and First Aid.
Keep current CPR certification and Certification in Therapeutic Intervention Procedures.

11. Child Care

Child care means the care, supervision, or guidance of a child by a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or custodian for periods of less than 24 hours. Childcare could be either center-based such as a daycare or a nursery or home-based care such as nannies or family daycare.

Here's how youth services specialists use child care:

Provided Child Care support for grade levels Kindergarten through Fourth grade with groups of up to 30 children.
Experience dealing with various issues, including mental health, substance abuse, physical abuse and child care.

12. Direct Supervision

Direct supervision is a term used to indicate that a person is supervising a certain task or a certain person while being physically present or in close proximity. It refers to the presence of a person and the availability of their supervision in something if it is needed.

Here's how youth services specialists use direct supervision:

Provide direct supervision of students in active programming in a juvenile corrections/treatment facility for adjudicated male youth.
Key accomplishments included: Provided direct supervision/secure environment on assigned unit - including mentoring & tutoring residents.

13. Crisis Situations

Here's how youth services specialists use crisis situations:

Provide supportive counseling to youth and families in crisis situations.
Assess and manage crisis situations.

14. Restraints

Here's how youth services specialists use restraints:

Trained in youth restraints and de-escalation.
Maintain security, including intervention and/or participate fully in physical restraints of youth during altercations or emergencies.

15. Youth Services

Here's how youth services specialists use youth services:

Inventory, resupply, and maintain the youth services craft supplies with input from coworkers.
Maintain the library's Facebook page for the West Chester Youth Services Dept.

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What skills help Youth Services Specialists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on youth services specialist resumes?

Dr. Carla Alphonso

Professor of Sociology, Presbyterian College

Skills involving data collection and analysis remain important, and are one of the qualities that help sociology majors to stand out compared to their peers. Communication skills, especially strong writing skills but also confident, effective public speaking, are helpful in today's job market. Sociology students are also well-positioned in terms of problem solving and critical thinking skills. Many jobs that our students enter need applicants who are solutions-focused, and sociology helps students in that area.

What youth services specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Christina Erickson Ph.D.

Professor and Director of the Bachelor of Social Work Program, Augsburg University

Gap years are welcome for students. Generally, I see a great deal of maturity as students move through the four years of college and this is necessary to prepare them for the demands of being a professional social worker. A gap year often increases the maturity level of students and can provide rich experiences that prepare them for college. A good gap year for a social work student includes human interactions that require students to work across human differences. That difference can be in a variety of forms, age, culture, gender, faith tradition, experiences, or even ways of thinking. What matters most is the student's ability to describe their own growth as they worked across those differences. Not about how other people changed because of their interaction, but how they changed to meet their goals and learn from others. Experience solving problems is helpful, too. Even learning how to take the first steps to deal with a challenge and being able to describe the steps, grows critical thinking and evaluation skills important for the most successful social work practitioners.

What type of skills will young youth services specialists need?

Dr. Keith Lavine Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Lewis University

Probably the best place to start is to look at the latest competency model developed by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Below is the link to the webpage where individuals can learn more about the different competencies. Their model gets updated every few years, so it always reflects the latest thinking on what is essential for HR professionals in the field.

LearningAndCareer

Of all of the SHRM competencies, the one that is perhaps most noteworthy because of its increasing importance in the coming years is Global and Cultural Effectiveness. This is partly due to the changing demographics of the U.S. workforce, the growing use of teams in organizations, and the economy's continued globalization. More and more organizations recognize the importance and advantage of being diverse, inclusive, and culturally savvy. Not only will HR professionals be expected to be competent in these areas, like everyone else, but they will be increasingly tasked with helping organizations develop these competencies in their workforce.

I also think that adaptability will be a crucial competency for young graduates to possess as they enter the workforce in the coming years. Adaptability is one of the sub-areas of Global and Cultural Effectiveness. But I'm thinking of it in an even broader sense. With globalization and rapidly-developing technology, organizations face constant change, requiring all of us to adapt to the change continually. Fortunately, many new graduates are accustomed to this and don't know anything different, as this has been an increasing trend over the last 25 years. Also, this recent pandemic has required most of us to adapt in a big way.

What soft skills should all youth services specialists possess?

Erin Foster Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, Neurology and Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis

Grit, resilience, persistence; flexibility, adaptability; ability to work in multi/inter-disciplinary teams, collaborate, interpersonal skills; ethics, integrity; leadership & management.

Do you want to know more?

List of youth services specialist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a youth services specialist resume and required skills for a youth services specialist to have include:

Social Work
Role Model
Mental Health
Crisis Intervention
Incident Reports
Criminal Justice
Direct Care
Community Resources
at-Risk Youth
CPR
Child Care
Direct Supervision
Crisis Situations

Restraints
Youth Services
Substance Abuse
Social Services
Medical Care
Behavioral Issues
Child Abuse
Community Outreach
Early Intervention
Conflict Resolution
Group Therapy
Youth Ages
Technical Assistance

CYS
Homeless Youth
Program Policies
Independent Living
Anger Management
Financial Literacy
Court Appearances
Mathematics
Drug Abuse
Event Planning
PowerPoint

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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