By Lola Acton.

 Child and youth workers work with troubled children and adolescents who face a variety of emotional, behavioral or physical problems. The problems can arise within the family, at school, as a result of drug and alcohol abuse or because of conflicts with the law. Child and youth workers use guidance and treatment programs to help young people deal with their problems.

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a high school diploma completion of a community college or university program in child and youth care is usually required experience working with children either as a volunteer or in a summer or part-time job is very valuable

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other useful skills include first aid and CPR training

   Interpersonal and communications skills are essential since you are part of a team.

You must be patient and understanding, especially when dealing with young children. No matter what the behavior, you must be willing to provide the support, encouragement and treatment that will help children under your care to overcome their problems.

You should be creative and energetic. It is also helpful to know about music, sports and everything else that is of interest to the age group with which you work.

 Work With Others: Accept and provide feedback in a constructive & considerate manner as to show your clients that you do want to help & understand.  Be Flexible: Respect, be open and supportive of the thoughts, opinions and contributions of others.

   Communicate; Listen & ask questions to understand & appreciate the points of views of others. Its important to be very open & non-judge mental in this profession. Think & Solve Problems; Evaluate situations to make recommendations or decisions to help people recognize their options. Manage Information; Access, analyze & apply knowledge and skills from various disciplines.

   Be Responsible: Plan & manage time, money and other resources to maintain a healthy emotional and physical well being. This is essential to your clients because they need a stable person to rely on.

Be adaptable: Be innovative and resourceful. Identify & suggest alternative ways to achieve goals & get through problems. Deal with people, problems and situations with honesty, integrity and personal ethics.

 Average Hourly Earnings: $19.98

 Outlook: Fair  Average Unemployment: 5%  The number of job seekers will likely match the number of job openings.  Work prospects for this career will continue to be fair. employment growth rate will likely be average due to Canada’s ability to attract foreign production and the continuing positive impact of increased government spending on Art/Culture.

Changes in technology can obsolete some jobs causing people to be laid off, downsized, or just plain inconvenienced. But…

I don’t believe technology will greatly affect this career because, technology cannot replace a person who has been through what you have, & learned from their experiences to take advice from & relate to.