Youth Services (read time: 15 min)

Written By Second Day

So you want to work in Youth Services?

In the US, youth are consistently left behind by the social safety net. While a disproportionate amount of political and financial energy goes into K-12 education, the other systems that support youth are critically important. Youth services typically refers to work with homeless and runaway youth, the youth in the child welfare or foster care system, youth that are victims of domestic violence, immigrant and refugee youth, and youth in the criminal justice system. Compounding inequity and institutional failings have led to some of the starkest outcomes in life trajectories.

For example, over half of homeless youth report mental health challenges and half struggle with drugs or alcohol. Over one-third of homeless youth have reported exchanging sex for food, shelter, or drugs. Trauma and rape rates among unaccompanied youth are two to three times higher than those of the general youth population. Unaccompanied youth often find themselves the victims of physical and sexual assault and robbery.

Take youth in foster care as another example一 50% of foster youth will not graduate from high school on time and 48% of girls in foster care become pregnant by age 19. Upwards of 70% of youth involved in the juvenile justice system have been involved in the child welfare system, as have 60% of child trafficking victims. There are 424,000 foster youth nationwide, and within four years of aging out of the system, 70% will be on government assistance and less than 12% will ever earn their college degree. Kids in foster care are 4x more likely than other children to attempt suicide.

No matter which system you look at, it is clear that the US is failing its youth. More than 4 in 10 children live in a household struggling to meet basic expenses, and between 7 million and 11 million children live in households in which they are unable to eat enough because of the cost. There are also huge racial disparities一 black and Hispanic youth are about 3x more likely to be in poverty than white youth. If we actually lived in a country of opportunity for all, we wouldn’t operate like this, but these issues rarely reach the top of political agendas.

The good news is this might be starting to change. The child allowance passed as part of the American Rescue Plan should significantly cut down child poverty, and there are more and more solutions being proposed each day to make sure the youngest in society are supported and given the resources they need to thrive. Philanthropists, direct care workers, and new initiatives are bringing renewed energy to the field to support the hundreds of thousands of committed field staff in this work. If you want to be part of this movement and help to change these outcomes for future generations, a career in youth services might be a great fit for you.

This career guide is here to demystify the process of finding a job in youth services. To inform our work, Second Day has spoken to experts in the field and gathered the best information out there for upcoming graduates and recent graduates. The guide will take you through the different entry-level positions to look out for in this field. Along the way, we will provide tips on actually getting a job in youth services. We’ll finish with our next three steps: actionable items you can take to make progress towards finding your first job in youth services. Let’s get started!

This guide was written by Rachel Angle in partnership with the Second Day team.

Many thanks to experts in the field who supported this work:

  • Alleanne Anderson, Political Associate at School House Connection

  • Danielle Igbani, Activities Director at the Children’s Activity Center

  • Ashley Marine, Deputy Director at Girl Forward

  • Dr. Matthew Morton, Research Fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

  • Ruth Anne White, Executive Director of National Center for Housing and Child Welfare

Where to begin? Starting points in youth services

Policy/Research

OVERVIEW

One way to get started in the world of youth services is by conducting research or policy analysis. Within a think tank or research institute, you’ll likely start out with a title like research assistant, research analyst, policy assistant, project analyst, so look out for these job postings. Especially at a larger organization, you’ll likely be assisting more senior team members with research projects: conducting literature reviews, recruiting study participants, project managing, and helping with data analysis. Over time, you’ll gain connections and a reputation in the industry, providing more opportunities to pursue research topics that are of interest. Since the topic of youth services is quite diverse, you could end up working in specialties such as child welfare, youth homelessness, juvenile justice, opportunity youth and more.

HOW TO GET A JOB IN YOUTH SERVICES

As a researcher aiming to find the best policies and programs to support youth, it is essential to center the voices of affected youth. The industry is progressing toward true community/population engaged research, and organizations will look for entry-level hires to understand the importance of learning from youth themselves. One of the best ways to prepare yourself for youth-centered research (and any population-focused research) is to work in the field before taking on a research role. This is both the best way to prepare yourself to succeed later in research and practical hiring advice. It will be quite difficult to get a job in policy/research without direct service experience, whether full-time or volunteer. The following section of this guide will take you through direct service work in youth services more in-depth so you can learn where to get started.

In addition to experience in the field, the next best skill set you can bring is data analysis skills. The more you can do on the analytic end of the research, the better. Learning the basics of a couple of programming languages such as Stata or R will set you apart as an applicant, and help you succeed starting out on the job. To learn more about working in policy/research roles, check out the Second Day guide here.

ORGANIZATIONS

Chapin Hall, Urban Institute, Child Trends, NORC, Brookings, Center for Study of Social Policy

Career Snapshot: Senior Policy Fellow at Chaplin Hall at the University of Chicago

Clare’s work at Chapin Hall focuses on using research, policy, and fiscal levers to improve outcomes for vulnerable children, youth, and families, and the systems serving them. Prior to joining Chapin Hall, she was the Deputy Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF). There, she provided leadership for federal programs addressing child abuse and neglect, runaway and homeless youth, domestic and intimate partner violence, and teen pregnancy prevention. During her tenure at ACYF, she co-led the development and implementation of a national well-being policy agenda. She was among the chief architects of the effort to address trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and toxic stress in children known to the child welfare system. She spent a decade at the Center for the Study of Social Policy helping states and urban jurisdictions change policies and practices to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families. This work included foundation-sponsored initiatives such as Family to Family and the Community Partnerships for Protecting Children, as well as federal court-ordered oversight and monitoring of child welfare systems. She started her career as a frontline social worker.

Direct Services

Working with youth in a direct service capacity is an excellent way to learn about the systems that affect vulnerable youth, build relationships, and provide services for the resilient youth that the system has left behind. The experts Second Day spoke to not only emphasized the demanding nature of this work, but also said these jobs are a great way to serve your community and advocate for children. Since there are so many ways you could work directly with youth, this guide will talk through some of your options at the entry level. The categories below overlap in some places, but they're helpful to think through different paths in youth direct services. To learn more about Direct Service, check out the Second Day guide here.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

These programs一often run through a nonprofit一help youth develop skills and build their identity. Though they sometimes overlap with educational programs, they’re more focused on social and emotional learning versus educational achievement. Many of these programs will either take place after school or in the context of a summer camp. Programming could include exploring a new skill set, sports and play-based activities, arts programs, or community-building activities. Mentorship programs are also a major player in this field. In terms of entry-level jobs, you’ll likely find positions like program assistant or program coordinator that both design and plan the events and sometimes run the programs on the front-end. You don’t need a master's degree to get a programs assistant job, but it is helpful to have experience with the content of your program. (For example, for a girls in STEM afterschool program, you have some STEM education experience). It’s also beneficial to come in with some experience working with youth (for example, experience as a camp counselor, or tutor).

EDUCATION-BASED PROGRAMS

This type of youth work entails helping students achieve academic success (increasing grades, graduation rates, college access, etc.). You could be a nonprofit programs staffer that comes into a school to provide a service like tutoring, or you could be employed directly by a school. For example, you might have known the school’s paraprofessionals, who act as aids in the classroom and help struggling students with additional time and attention. Some schools also have graduate support staff that help students apply to access higher education and scholarships. Programs and para jobs don’t require additional education, but if you’re doing any direct clinical work or counseling, you will need to be credentialed.

CLINICAL SERVICES

Clinicians provide important mental health services to vulnerable youth or youth who have experienced trauma. Clinicians can work in a school setting as a counselor, in an independent therapy practice, at a nonprofit organization with wraparound services, or in a hospital setting. Most of these clinicians have either a Bachelors of Social Work, Masters of Social Work or a Masters degree in counseling. Sometimes the difference in your required level of credential relies on the size of the team where you’re applying for a job. If you’re going to be working under a masters level supervisor, you might be able to come in at the bachelor’s level. In addition to a bachelor’s level social work degree, degrees in psychology and sociology can be helpful in getting these jobs.

SOCIAL SERVICES AND CASE MANAGEMENT

Case Management is one of the most common jobs for working directly with youth. As a social services worker, you will help youth and their families navigate the systems of social benefits like SNAP, TANF, and the Child Welfare system. In these jobs, you will work with a number of youth (depending on where you are employed, homeless youth, victims of domestic violence, current and former foster youth) to manage their services and provide counseling. For much of this work, and especially if you are employed by the state, you will need additional licensing (usually a Masters of Social Work, MSW). There are also forms of educational case management such as ensuring homeless students and refugee students are enrolled in public schools. One common job in this field is a McKinney Vento Liaison, who is responsible for homeless students in a given school. They might help with transportation to and from school, resources, tutoring, and anything else the student needs. This job does not require a degree. You can look at the Child Welfare League of America Job board to see what types of work are available.

How to get these jobs

The best way to get many of these jobs is by volunteering and showing prior experience working with kids. It will also teach you if youth services work is something you’re ready for, given that it can also be difficult mentally and emotionally. There are also some entry-level jobs as intake managers, who are a client's first point of contact if they call a hotline (like a Domestic Violence hotline). Working at a hotline can be a helpful experience to gauge your interest in the work and build client-facing skills.

Career Snapshot: Executive Director/Co-Founder of the Homeless Children's Playtime Project

Jamila has served as a social worker in our nation’s capital since she moved from Wisconsin in 1996 to work for the Children’s Defense Fund. After earning her master's degree in social work, she became a social worker at Bright Beginnings and then regional director for LIFT. While running Playtime as a volunteer, she served as a school social worker, then as community school director for the National Center for Children and Families at a DCPS in southeast D.C. for five years, where she managed a mental health and after-school program. She ran Playtime as a volunteer since it was founded in 2003, and she assumed the role of first full-time executive director in 2009.

Advocacy

OVERVIEW

As a youth services advocate, you will work at the local or national level to influence government policy. In general, an advocate will have a set of legislative priorities determined by the policy team of their organization, and work to pass that legislation into law. To fulfill this ultimate objective, advocates spend their days writing up bill summaries and calls to action for members, building relationships in government, and working in a coalition with other stakeholders on a relevant issue. Constituents are key to building momentum for a piece of legislation, so an advocate might recruit and then prepare relevant constituents for a meeting with their elected representative. The day-to-day of an advocate is quite dynamic in order to be responsive to the legislative possibilities of the moment. For example, if an advocate has been driving hard on a funding bill combating youth homelessness, and then learns about potential movement on a bill redefining the standards of “literally homeless” to include couch surfing because of a change in current events, a member of congress, or cabinet member, they will have to shift to accommodate the potential passage of that new piece of legislation. Because of the constantly changing nature of the job, an associate has to acutely understand both the legislative process and the political dynamics of the moment.

HOW TO GET A JOB IN YOUTH SERVICES ADVOCACY

When it comes to skill building, writing will be an important piece of work as an advocate. Preparing writing samples (topic-specific if possible) will make the application process easier. In terms of experience, work in topic-specific direct service, government/politics, and organizing can help you get a job as a youth services advocate. Most advocacy organizations focus on a limited set of youth services issues (youth in education, youth homelessness, child welfare, juvenile justice, etc.), so the closer you can get to mission-aligned work the better. However, any work with youth will provide you with helpful experience to inform advocacy work. You can gain this experience while volunteering. if you are able, or through an internship. Learn more about direct service work with youth in the corresponding section of this guide.

Since an advocate's job is to influence the legislative process from the outside, any internal knowledge or experience regarding the workings of government will be quite useful. This includes work, internship, or volunteer experience at the national and local levels. Professionals in the field recommend working in local government as a way to get your foot in the door and build connections with advocacy organizations. This will help you build connections in government you can use later on when working as an advocate. Another great way to build credentials in the advocacy world is to be an active constituent. Call your representatives, testify in council meetings (channel your inner Mark Zuckerberg while testifying before congress^), and follow local news. Since part of the job is recruiting constituents for these activities, having followed through on your own will help highlight your 1) commitment to the cause, and 2) understanding of the process.

ORGANIZATIONS

School House Connection, Think of Us, Child Welfare League of America, National Network for Youth, National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY)

Career Snapshot: Executive Director of the National Network for Youth (NN4Y)

Darla’s current work leverages her skills as a leader and a public interest attorney to create an organization that truly reflects its values. Before joining NN4Y, she created and launched the Fight Child Exploitation in Tourism Initiative in South Africa and worked to reform foster care in Washington, DC. As a federal policy advocate, she fought to secure assistance for families navigating the complex criminal justice and child welfare systems and fought to end the practice of shackling incarcerated pregnant mothers. She holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Pennsylvania State University, an M.A. in Nonprofit Management from the University of Roehampton, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Building a career in youth services

BONUS! Questions to guide your thinking

Where do I want my work to be located?

If you want to do advocacy/political work or service work in youth services, place is essential. Especially if you have time before graduation to put down roots (or end up moving back to your hometown), deciding where you want to be early will set you up for success. The most tangible advocacy work gets done on the local level, so organizations want you to be invested in the long-term success of a community. Make the case for what sets that place apart from others, (you need more than just “it’s a cool place to live”). Moving back to your hometown (or somewhere you lived growing up) for work post-grad might not seem like the most appealing, but it’s your best case for place-based commitment, especially when you’re looking for that elusive first job out of college. If you’re set on moving elsewhere, look into fellowship programs (service year or otherwise), which will help facilitate connections in a new place.

If you are interested in research, place isn’t as important, but can still be helpful for networking.

How does my privilege and prior experience factor into my ability to do this job?

When working in youth services, and especially in direct services,  it is important to think through your motivations for doing this work, and your positionality vis a vis the people you’ll be working with. Though direct service may be your entry point, it is crucial not to think of it as a means to an end or checking a box. You are entering individuals' lives at a moment when they are vulnerable and have been let down by system after system. Be there to listen, to learn, and to be in solidarity. The experts Second Day spoke with emphasized how they ended up learning far more from the people they met on the job than the other way around. Doing this work will allow you to see the world and the people you serve from a far broader perspective. Our experts recommend entering these spaces with compassion, and being ready to have your assumptions challenged.

Connecting opportunities

Many working in youth services know acutely how these systems have failed in the past. It is a world of high turnover and far too many people have been involved in transactional ways. Yet, it is also a field of opportunity and there is increasing potential for bringing the attention and resources to this work that it deserves.

The most common path is starting in direct services. Some people stay in this direct service work, either improving in their existing roles, gaining credentials, shifting to adjacent roles, or growing into management roles over time. Others shift to advocacy or research work, often grounded in their experiences with direct service. A less common route, but one that happens, is shifting in the other direction, from research and advocacy back into direct practice. In general, there are lots of benefits to deepening the understanding of these systems by combining academic learning and applied practice.

Of course, many people also start in this work but shift to other work throughout their career. Most often, this involves utilizing the skills or expertise they’ve built in another field of social change or getting an advanced degree and pivoting into another industry entirely.

Next three steps

  1. Decide on one of these 3 paths to pursue, and which population of youth you’re most interested in working with

  2. Start volunteering with youth in your community at a school or direct services organization to decide if this work is for you!

  3. Write a resume that highlights your experience working with youth.

Last updated: July 2021

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