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Youth specialist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Carla Alphonso,

Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical youth specialist skills. We ranked the top skills for youth specialists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 9.5% of youth specialist resumes contained crisis intervention as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a youth specialist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 youth specialist skills for your resume and career

1. Crisis Intervention

Here's how youth specialists use crisis intervention:

Provide direct advocacy/mentoring, crisis intervention, and community linkages for girls on probation and involved in commercial sexual exploitation.
Worked with youthful offenders by offering therapeutic services and crisis intervention to offenders.

2. Direct Care

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

Here's how youth specialists use direct care:

Provided direct care supervision to PA 150 state wards (serious violent/sexual juvenile offenders aged 13-21) in a residential setting.
Provided direct care services to juveniles ages 12- serving their sentences in a Non-Secure Placement close to home program.

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 specialists use mental health:

Created and implemented juvenile justice/mental health grant program promoting more efficient community cooperation in serving Michigan's juvenile population.
Delivered therapeutic services for over 300 children and adolescents experiencing mental health and behavioral issues.

4. Quality Care

Here's how youth specialists use quality care:

Ensured that residents were provided with quality care in matters of health, safety, clothing, hygiene and meals.
Maintain agency standard of quality care to each youth within the facility.

5. Restraints

Here's how youth specialists use restraints:

Participated in a number of resident restraints using both physical and mechanical techniques.
Performed and supervised individual restraints as the situation required.

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7. Therapeutic Environment

Here's how youth specialists use therapeutic environment:

Assist with educational, social and recreational activities while ensuring a safe and therapeutic environment.
Provide supervision and guidance to juvenile delinquents in a residential and therapeutic environment.

8. Foster Care

Here's how youth specialists use foster care:

Assist in organization and follow-through of recruitment activities, annual events, and national foster care/adoption conference.
Provided Foster Care Case Management - Provided individual therapy sessions supervised by a licensed Counselor.

9. Good Judgment

Here's how youth specialists use good judgment:

Exercise good judgment in analyzing situations and making good decisions, and to organize and present facts and opinions.
Skilled with utilizing good judgment, and verbal de-escalating techniques to calm and redirect clients acting out.

10. Kids

Here's how youth specialists use kids:

Facilitated basketball and soccer practice for elementary and middle school aged kids
Supervised kids in juvenile detention.

11. Therapeutic Crisis

Here's how youth specialists use therapeutic crisis:

Apply cognitive behavior theory and therapeutic crisis intervention techniques throughout the resident's daily programming and social interactions.
Provided supervision and assistance during crisis situations to include therapeutic crisis intervention and prevention.

12. School Administration

Here's how youth specialists use school administration:

Meet with school administration, families, and community members.

13. 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 specialists use cpr:

Trained in first aid and CPR, crisis prevention, community emergency response team, medical aid, and suicide prevention.
Substitute Teaching Certificate, Advanced First Aid, CPR, and MCCA Med Aid certified for State of Missouri.

14. Criminal Justice

Here's how youth 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.

15. 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 specialists use direct supervision:

Provided direct supervision to children with behavioral issues to optimize appropriate social interactions, enrichment and recreational activities.
Provide direct supervision over all employees and residents in 24/7 Juvenile Community Correctional Facility.

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What skills help Youth 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 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 specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Assistant Chair, Graduate Program Director, and School Counseling Coordinator, Old Dominion University

Getting experience working/volunteering in schools, and other capacities working/volunteering with youth: learn the culture of education, build rapport and be in relationship with youth and their families.

What type of skills will young youth specialists need?

Ananda Rosa

Field Education Director, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Social Work graduates will need to demonstrate an understanding of social work competencies, ethics, and values. They also need to have "soft skills" such as good listening skills, flexibility, practical communication skills, empathy, time management, teamwork, and leadership skills. Also, partly due to the pandemic, they need to have increased competency in providing telehealth services. Most students have the technical skills to operate online platforms. Still, they will need to incorporate and demonstrate all the skills listed above into that mode of service delivery.

Do you want to know more?

List of youth specialist skills to add to your resume

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

Crisis Intervention
Direct Care
Mental Health
Quality Care
Restraints
Social Work
Therapeutic Environment
Foster Care
Good Judgment
Kids
Therapeutic Crisis
School Administration
CPR
Criminal Justice
Direct Supervision
Client Supervision

Incident Reports
Residential Treatment Facility
at-Risk Youth
Compassion
Community Resources
Behavior Management
Role Model
Substance Abuse
School Programming
Conflict Resolution
Treatment Programs
Independent Living
Youth Engagement
Youth Supervision
Community Services
Medical Appointments

Group Therapy Sessions
Crisis Situations
Delinquent Youth
Juvenile Offenders
Behavioral Issues
Individual Youth
Anger Management
Behavioral Problems
Crisis Intervention Training
Foster Children
DHS
Custodial Care
Resuscitation
Court Hearings
DYS
Juvenile Residents

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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