What does a youth specialist do?
A youth specialist's role is to oversee the safety and welfare of children and young adults, ensuring that they get the necessary support and guidance. Their responsibilities include performing initial assessments and interviews to identify needs, conducting home inspections and evaluations, providing essential advice, and spearheading programs and projects that cater to the disadvantaged youth. Furthermore, there are instances when a youth specialist may execute interventions or refer families to other services. Should there be any signs of neglect or abuse, it is essential to coordinate with the authorities right away.
Youth specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real youth specialist resumes:
- Lead a number of psychotherapy groups including DBT.
- Tutor children with academic basics- learning phonics, mathematics, and reading comprehension.
- Monitor DCF involve adolescents and assist them in making safe choices in the community.
- Follow state and local laws when processing a new resident, run fingerprints when require.
- Career demand annual training in conflict avoidance, diversity, CPR, emergency response, and protective custody.
- Instruct interviewing workshops, run computer classes, re-establish work experience and job shadow opportunities within the community.
- Train in first aid and CPR, crisis prevention, community emergency response team, medical aid, and suicide prevention.
- Case management work on the computer and paperwork, contacting outside services such as DCF, therapists, doctors, and schools
- Excel in intravenous catheter insertion for administration and laboratory assessment.
- Obtain and coordinate services and resources need to implement rehabilitation plans and objectives.
- Assess client progress towards rehabilitation and institutional adjustment; evaluates information and prepares reports describing program participation adjustment.
- Provide everyday living activity for autistic individuals, pass medicine, dress patients, help with communication, and restrain patients.
- Assist with Wednesday night and Sunday night bible studies.
- Help lead a Wednesday night bible study for high school students.
- Construct curriculum to teach Jewish teens about philanthropy and charity.
Youth specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Youth Specialists are proficient in Crisis Intervention, Direct Care, and Mental Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Youth Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Crisis Intervention, 9%
Provide direct advocacy/mentoring, crisis intervention, and community linkages for girls on probation and involved in commercial sexual exploitation.
- Direct Care, 9%
Provided direct care supervision to PA 150 state wards (serious violent/sexual juvenile offenders aged 13-21) in a residential setting.
- Mental Health, 8%
Created and implemented juvenile justice/mental health grant program promoting more efficient community cooperation in serving Michigan's juvenile population.
- Quality Care, 6%
Ensured that residents were provided with quality care in matters of health, safety, clothing, hygiene and meals.
- Restraints, 6%
Participated in a number of resident restraints using both physical and mechanical techniques.
- Social Work, 6%
Maintained open communication with assigned social workers and therapists regarding resident's treatment goals.
Common skills that a youth specialist uses to do their job include "crisis intervention," "direct care," and "mental health." You can find details on the most important youth specialist responsibilities below.
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for a youth specialist to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what youth specialists do because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a youth specialist resume shows how youth specialists use compassion: "worked with byron-nelson high school and fossil ridge high school to encourage student leadership and compassion among the students. "
Time-management skills. Another essential skill to perform youth specialist duties is time-management skills. Youth specialists responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." Youth specialists also use time-management skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "work independently and with a team of psychologists, social workers and teachers to make deadlines in a timely manner. "
Interpersonal skills. youth specialists are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to youth specialist responsibilities, because "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." A youth specialist resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "facilitate group activities such as problem solving, goal planning, self-esteem, interpersonal skills, behavior management, etc. "
Problem-solving skills. For certain youth specialist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a youth specialist rely on this skill, as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what youth specialists do: "provided crisis intervention and dispute resolution. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for youth specialist responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of youth specialists all the time, as "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." An excerpt from a real youth specialist resume shows how this skill is central to what a youth specialist does: "transported youth to community services and court appointments, create curriculum for evening students such as communication skills and exercises. "
Organizational skills. Another skill commonly found on youth specialist job descriptions is "organizational skills." It can come up quite often in youth specialist duties, since "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day youth specialist responsibilities: "counseled residents in conflict resolution, anger management, leadership, and organizational behavior. "
The three companies that hire the most youth specialists are:
- Southwest Key Programs25 youth specialists jobs
- Sheltering Arms20 youth specialists jobs
- Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley15 youth specialists jobs
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Youth specialist vs. Residential counselor
A residential counselor is responsible for guiding and providing the residents with their basic needs and other resources to support them in their daily living. Residential counselors' duties include maintaining the safety of the community by enforcing safety guidelines and procedures for the residents' compliance, organizing productive and engaging community activities, updating the residents of any changes and policies in the community, and resolving conflicts by counseling and understanding each resident's differences. A residential counselor must have excellent communication and decision-making skills to ensure the development of residents in a living facility.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, youth specialist responsibilities require skills like "quality care," "restraints," "good judgment," and "kids." Meanwhile a typical residential counselor has skills in areas such as "medication administration," "developmental disabilities," "mental illness," and "autism." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Residential counselors tend to make the most money working in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $35,120. In contrast, youth specialists make the biggest average salary, $41,293, in the government industry.On average, residential counselors reach similar levels of education than youth specialists. Residential counselors are 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Youth specialist vs. Youth advocate
Youth advocates are individuals who responsible for maintaining the human rights of youth while assisting them in developing their skills in all areas of life, such as education, health, employment, and relationships. These advocates are required to discuss youth development and involvement with various leaders in the community. They must provide crisis interventions by performing one-on-one and group meetings with young adults. Youth advocates must also work with mental health professionals within the community so that they can guide teenagers with drug or alcohol problems and mental health issues.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, youth specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "quality care," "restraints," "therapeutic environment," and "good judgment." Meanwhile, a youth advocate has duties that require skills in areas such as "youth development," "social services," "life training," and "community outreach." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Youth advocates earn a lower average salary than youth specialists. But youth advocates earn the highest pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $31,171. Additionally, youth specialists earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $41,293 annually.In general, youth advocates achieve similar levels of education than youth specialists. They're 2.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for youth specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Angelo State University
Youth specialist vs. Youth worker
Youth workers specialize in handling and providing support to young individuals with behavioral difficulties. They are primarily responsible for devising recreational projects, handling the budget, producing progress reports, managing intervention programs, and counseling troubled youth while keeping their information confidential. There may be instances where one must also search for opportunities and apply for funding or sponsorship. Furthermore, as a youth worker, it is vital to assess an individual's condition to determine their needs and ensure that they will receive the proper treatment.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from youth specialist resumes include skills like "quality care," "restraints," "social work," and "therapeutic environment," whereas a youth worker is more likely to list skills in "youth development," "child care," "support services," and "youth program. "
Youth workers earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $32,651. Youth specialists earn the highest pay from the government industry, with an average salary of $41,293.When it comes to education, youth workers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to youth specialists. In fact, they're 2.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Youth specialist vs. Youth counselor
A Youth Counselor's role is to provide guidance and interact with children or teenagers in need of care and counseling. The duty of a Youth Counselor is diverse, and it highly depends on the organization or employer. However, the responsibilities mostly revolve around establishing rapport with the youngster while trying to work on their issues, ensuring their welfare by monitoring their emotional and physical state, coordinating with families or other facilities, suggesting treatments, and performing crisis intervention if necessary.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between youth specialists and youth counselors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a youth specialist might have more use for skills like "quality care," "restraints," "foster care," and "good judgment." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of youth counselors require skills like "necessary paperwork," "emergency first aid," "cpi," and "meal preparation. "
In general, youth counselors earn the most working in the professional industry, with an average salary of $38,048. The highest-paying industry for a youth specialist is the government industry.youth counselors reach similar levels of education compared to youth specialists, in general. The difference is that they're 1.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of youth specialist
Updated January 8, 2025











