How To Become A Youth Care Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a youth care specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.,

Christopher Todd Belser Ph.D.

Group homes are often the only place to go for children who cannot be with their families, whether because of disability, problems at home, or other reasons. These children need extra support in order to survive and thrive, and the youth care specialist is part of the team providing that much-needed support.

The day-to-day work of a youth care specialist differs based on the needs of their patients. They could lead seminars about useful topics such as career preparedness, work with children in group or individual treatment plans, and help youth with tasks such as going to school and managing meals. The youth care specialist also communicates with other members of the team, such as social workers.

This is not your typical 9 to 5 job. The youth care specialist is often expected to work around the clock in order to provide children with supervision at all times and may even have to come in during weekends and holidays. This is also a more emotionally taxing job than many office gigs, although, for many youth care specialists, the joy of helping youth in need is worth it.

What general advice would you give to a Youth Care Specialist?

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.

Dr., Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, Vanguard University

Opportunities come in many different shapes and sizes, but they are still out there. Whether you are seeking to land a job in education or the non-profit sector, you will need to familiarize yourself and get used to all things digital, for the sake of communicating effectively. The younger your student or service partner's mindset, the more digitally savvy you will need to be, especially in the classroom and in the non-profit world.

ScoreYouth Care SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,955

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.9

Growth Rate 12%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.11%

Asian 6.00%

Black or African American 10.35%

Hispanic or Latino 16.43%

Unknown 5.13%

White 59.99%

Gender

female 62.64%

male 37.36%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.1

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.2

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a youth care specialist

Explore youth care specialist education requirements

Most common youth care specialist degrees

Bachelor's

55.3 %

Associate

17.6 %

High School Diploma

12.1 %

Start to develop specific youth care specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	18.31%
Patients	12.71%
CPR	6.41%
Direct Care	5.84%
Social Work	5.32%

Complete relevant youth care specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New youth care specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a youth care specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real youth care specialist resumes.

Research youth care specialist duties and responsibilities

Provide individualize intervention for problematic behaviors using TCI techniques such as de-escalation, to prevent and/or manage crisis.
Transport FEMA trailers and levele foundation using bulldozers and bobcats.
Maintain current credentials and certifications as required such as such as CPR and first aid certifications.
Provide everyday living activity for autistic individuals, pass medicine, dress patients, help with communication, and restrain patients.

Prepare your youth care specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your youth care specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a youth care specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Youth Care Specialist Resume templates

Build a professional Youth Care Specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Youth Care Specialist resume.

Apply for youth care specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a youth care specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do youth care specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Youth Care Specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2024

Pros

purpose, options 4 exponential learning

Cons

can be easy to get burnt out, pay is ok

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019