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An Interview With Adam Griffith – Youth Worker In Thailand

April 10, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

Adam Griffith Youth Worker ThailandAs part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Adam Griffith, a youth worker in Thailand.

1. What type of youth work do you do?

There isn’t a good word for it in the English language. We live and work in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city and unofficial education capital of the northern region. Families, that are able, from the surrounding villages send their children into the city to study.

The schools these urban dwelling rural youth attend aren’t boarding schools. Housing options include staying with relatives, a temple or what most refer to in English as a youth hostel. Each of these independent hostels – or boarding schools minus the classrooms – look and feel a lot like orphanages, differing mainly in that most of the youth have parents back in their home village.

We are in the midst of creating a ministry to providing training and resources for the youth workers who staff these hostels, with the hopes of helping to turn them into places known for discipleship.

2. What do you do in an average week?

Last year this question would have been easy. I studied the Thai language at a university, with private tutors and practiced it with anyone patient enough to listen to me.

Life is more chaotic now though. Our team just finished a fairly large scale survey project trying to get a true assessment of the current assets and needs. We used the information we gathered from that project to create our strategy moving forward.

Each week seems so different from the last. The next couple, we’ll spend sharing the data from the survey project with the leaders of the hostels and introduce them to our ministry/foundation.

3. How long have you been doing this type of youth work?

My wife and I moved to Thailand a little over a year ago.

4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

I’ve volunteered at a few different church-based youth ministries and spent a few years working out of the YouthHOPE office, building a global youth ministry internship program.

5. What age range do you work with?

We focus on youth ages 12 to 24.

6. What’s unique about working with youth in Thailand?

The context of doing youth ministry based out of the youth hostels of Chiang Mai is unique in that the settling simply doesn’t exist in most of places around the world.

Our holistic approach to youth ministry might be considered unique by some.

7. What are some of the good things about your type of youth work?

I enjoy getting to work with both youth themselves and also youth workers.

8. What are some of the challenges of it?

The Thai language is very tough for native English speakers to learn. Most of the hostels that self-identify as being Christian in some way were set up by independent missionaries or churches, so there is no network, no website, no one who really knows how many of these youth hostels there are.

Alongside our survey project, we’ve began creating a database of where they are and how many youth live at each one, but we estimate there is another hostel we are still unaware of for each of the ones we are currently connected with in some way.

No blue print, no books to read on the positives of one approach versus the other and no one who has been doing it for decades to ask for advice.

9. Why are you passionate about doing youth work in Thailand?

Both my wife and I have known since college – and since before we knew each other – that we wanted to do youth ministry outside of the States. After we got married, we began praying about what type of youth ministry and where.

Eventually, our current teammate Anirut Rattanapamonsook shared with us his story of growing up in a youth hostel. He shared with us stories of his friends getting sucked into drugs or sex-trafficking, and then he shared with us his vision to move into the city and create a preventative ministry focusing on discipling this demographic of youth.

I’m passionate about the potential impact these youth could have, if discipled, as they spread back out around the northern part of this almost entirely Buddhist nation.

10. What would you recommend for someone wanting to get into this type of youth work?

Get in touch with YouthHOPE. Share with them where you are at, and they will be able to point you to a few next steps.

11. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

No. I hope not at least, most days I feel quite under-trained and under-qualified. A passion for working with youth, a willingness to be flexible, a high tolerance for ambiguity and a teachable spirit would all be highly recommended though.

About Adam (and his wife):

Adam & Kristy‘s story as a couple begins the same time YouthHOPE’s story began. They met in FL after moving down to work with YouthHOPE as recent Bible College graduates (Cincinnati Christian & Ozark Christian) with a passion for doing youth ministry outside of the States.

They quickly took a liking to each other & were married in April of 2010. Adam & Kristy deeply value the 3 years they spent serving on the development team and trust that the knowledge & experience they gained during that time will be of great value as they now focus on ministering to youth in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

You can follow Adam on Twitter and find out more about YouthHOPE here.

Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about Thai youth work. If you’re also a youth worker in Thailand, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments too.

If you work in a different youth work field we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

You can also connect with us by:

  1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
  2. Following us on Twitter
  3. Liking us on Facebook
  4. Signing up to our RSS feed

 

What Type Of Youth Work Do YOU Do?

April 3, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

If you’re a regular reader of Youth Workin’ It, you’ll know that we’re currently running a series on different types of youth work around the world.

This is where we interview a new youth worker each week about their youth work niche. So far, we’ve interviewed a couple of youth pastors, a university professor, a youth speaker, a Girl Scout troop leader and many more. They’ve been from the US, UK, Kenya and Australia, so it’s given the series a true global flavor.

We want to interview even more youth workers, no matter what type of youth work they do, no matter where they live and no matter whether they’re professionals who are paid for what they do or volunteers who do it in their spare time.

Which is where you come in. We want to interview YOU as part of this series – if you’re reading this, there’s a very good chance you’re a youth worker, so you’re pre-qualified!

The interview’s nice and simple – there are 12 questions we’re asking everyone that helps provide us and all our readers a better idea of the different types of youth work that people do and what’s unique about them.

To take part in the series, just complete the three fields listed below and hit “Send” – we’ll then get in contact soon after to send you the questions.

    Your Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    What type of youth work you do (required)

    n.b. We won’t spam you or add you to any kind of mailing list – we’ll only be using your email address to contact you for the interview.

     

    An Interview With Shae Pepper – Girl Scout Troop Leader

    March 27, 2013 By Shae Pepper Leave a Comment

    Shae Pepper Girl Scout Troop Leader
    How many Girl Scout cookies can you fit in a Smart car…

    As part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Shae Pepper who, in addition to being a Prevention Training Specialist, is also a Girl Scout Troop Leader.

    1. What type of youth work do you do?

    I’m a volunteer Girl Scout Troop Leader.

    2. What do you do in an average week?

    My troops aren’t like your ‘typical’ or ‘traditional’ Girl Scout Troops. I lead three different troops in the public housing (low-income government subsidized) areas in my city.

    While a traditional troop has 4-10 girls, I have 12-25 depending on the troop location and week. My girls range in age from 5-15, so I have all the levels of Girl Scouts in each troop – Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors (we don’t have any Ambassadors right now who are Juniors/Seniors in High School).

    We meet 3-4 times per month all year round. While many troops take a break during the summer to go on vacation or camp, we continue our program as the majority of my Girl Scouts won’t be doing anything special during their summer holidays.

    Some things that we do are your usual Girl Scout activities – we say The Promise and The Law at the start and we have a Friendship Circle at the end. We just finished selling Girl Scout Cookies and we work towards badges.

    Badges that my girls have worked towards and earned include:

    • Painting and Drawing – for making cards, signs and a paper sisterhood quilt
    • Athletic – for learning the basics of soccer
    • Girl Scout Way – for learning all the basics of being a Girl Scout, particularly how to be a sister to every Girl Scout
    • Naturalist (not to be confused with naturist!) – the girls learned about bugs, trees and flowers
    • Friendship Bracelets – we made these in various patterns and swapped with one another
    • Money Manager – after learning about budgeting during cookie sales
    • Special Extra Badges – for learning about local emergency services, doing community service, having excellent attendance and other fun and educational activities

    We plan trips, but due to the troop sizes and economic status of most of the families, we don’t do as many as a traditional troop might. Last year we went to a local amusement park and a local water park. This year we’re hoping to do some camping and maybe return to the water park as that was the highlight of last year.

    3. How long have you been leading Girl Scout troops?

    I’ve been a troop leader for just over a year.

    4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

    Prevention programs, school-inclusion programs, youth participation programs, social-inclusion/social-enterprise programs, faith-based youth ministry, youth re-entry program design and project-based education programs.

    5. What age range do you work with?

    I work with girls and young women who are between the ages of 5-17.

    6. What’s unique about being a Girl Scout troop leader??

    I’m able to provide the Girl Scout Leadership Experience for approximately 60 girls who otherwise wouldn’t have access to Girl Scouts based on the area that they live in and the cost associated with traditional troops.

    7. What are some of the good things about Girl Scout troop leadership?

    Girl Scouts is a recognized program, so everyone knows when we’re doing activities in the community centers or out in the neighborhood what kinds of activities and *hopefully* behavior they can expect. It’s providing learning experiences that these girls might not have had the opportunity to experience otherwise, like camping or small business management through cookie sales.

    It’s also exposing them to new people and places. Some of the girls had never left our city before going to the water park in the next town. They’re constantly learning and practicing ‘how to be a sister to every Girl Scout’, no matter who she is or how different she may be from themselves.

    My favorite thing is obviously spending time with the girls. I enjoy doing activities with them – we recently recorded Girl Scout Harlem Shake videos at each troop. I love seeing them and watching them learn and explore new things. I LOVE seeing how proud they are of their badges and sashes. And I enjoy all the artwork I get to hang up in my office.

    8. What are some of the challenges of it?

    There are a lot of girls. I mean. a. lot. of. girls. for the types of activities we do and want to do in the future. But given a choice between restricting troop numbers to a more traditional size or getting creative with my activities and funds, I’ll choose creativity every time. I want every girl that wants to be in our troops to join in.

    Behavior can be a challenge. Besides working with so many girls, not all of them have a stable home life with parents who are providing the necessary boundaries, but I’ve seen tremendous change in those behaviors over the last year. Girls who have been consistently coming know the expectations at troop and help encourage others to follow the standards set out in the Girl Scout Law.

    I have a really hard time getting volunteers. I have a committed and passionate few, two of whom are Girl Scout moms which is awesome (the third of which is my own mom – who completely rocks the Girl Scout Troop Leader role by the way!), but that’s it. I had more but they’ve gone by the wayside or come sporadically. One of the biggest barriers is the locations the troops take place in – they’re in communities where many volunteers are not comfortable travelling to.

    There can be a lot of paperwork to keep track of, particularly at cookie time. I also want to make sure my girls can earn as many badges as possible, so they’re receiving rewards that motivate them to work hard and learn new things. I therefore keep an extensive spreadsheet of their attendance and which badges they’ve earned which amounts to a lot of data entry each week. I’ve recently hired my oldest Girl Scout to be my assistant in this area – it provides skills for her to learn and takes some of the pressure off of me each week.

    9. Why are you passionate about this type of youth work?

    Everyone says to me, ‘you must love Girl Scouts’ and I say ‘No. I love my Girl Scouts but I don’t love scouting.’

    Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great program for the right moms and girls. But there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with being a troop leader and since my troops are larger and less traditional, we sometimes have a hard time fitting in the model provided by the Girl Scouts which can be frustrating.

    I love seeing the girls learn new things and I love their funny stories and silly comments…. like this one:

    (At our last cookie sale this Saturday it looked like we were going to have A LOT of cookies left)

    Ms. Shae: Looks like I might have a lot of Tagalongs to eat Mr. Stephen
    Brownie: No – if we have leftovers we can just take them into the woods and let the bears eat them
    Ms. Shae: I’m not giving perfectly good cookies to bears
    Junior: Besides, it says you you have to recycleable the boxes – it’s not good for nature

    Definitely the girls and their development into young ladies is what I’m most passionate about.

    10. What would you recommend for someone wanting to become a Girl Scout troop leader?

    Volunteer with a troop first and definitely try to be around for cookie time which can be hectic before you strike out on your own as a troop leader. The Girl Scouts also have great employment opportunities throughout the year and at their summer camp activities, which might be a great way to work full time for a historic girl-focused organization.

    Note:  Girl Scouts is an international organization so even if you’re not based in the US and reading this post, there is a chance that Girl Scouts is still in your country.

    11. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

    You just need to do the required Girl Scout training and pass a background check.

    12. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

    It’s a lot of fun working with the girls. Seeing them earn badges is really rewarding and seriously – who would want to miss this?

    About Shae:

    Shae Pepper has been a Professional Youth Worker for seven years and a Volunteer Youth Worker for eight years. She has a Master’s in Youth Work and Community Development from DeMontfort University in Leicester, England. Shae has provided training for youth workers in England, the USA and Rwanda and has worked with young people aged 8-21 in England, Rwanda, the USA and Thailand.

    Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about Girl Scouts. If you’re also a Girl Scout Troop Leader, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments too.

    If you work in a different youth work field we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

    You can also connect with us by:

    1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
    2. Following us on Twitter
    3. Liking us on Facebook
    4. Signing up to our RSS feed

     

    An Interview With Stephen Pearson – A Deputy Youth Services Manager

    March 20, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

    Stephen PearsonAs part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Stephen Pearson – a deputy youth services manager in the UK.

    What type of youth work do you do?

    Face to face, I deliver local prevention projects to young people at risk of being NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) which is a local authority commissioned contract. The other part of my role is managing a commissioned contract from the LEA (Local Education Authority) for 3 youth centres.

    What do you do in an average week?

    There is no average week as it is a case of managing priorities and operational need. I am involved in supporting youth centres to obtain an NYA (National Youth Agency) Quality Mark at present and setting up sessions in schools to meet targeted young people in order to present a variety of prevention projects so that they can self refer.

    How long have you been doing this type of youth work?

    I have been doing youth work for approx 15 years and that has never changed, meeting the needs of young people. Working in this local context involves working for a voluntary sector organisation that is part of a consortium who work together to deliver against commissioned contracts for youth work. I have been doing this now for a year and the model in Surrey is unique and like no other I know of in the UK.

    What other types of youth work have you done previously?

    Open club based work, group work and project based work, forums and steering group work, detached and outreach, off site trips and outdoor education, international exchange developmental youth work, mentoring, sports coaching, various accredited programmed youth work including Duke of Edinburgh, inclusion / exclusion projects, school based youth projects, youth justice prevention programmes.

    What age range do you work with?

    10 to 19 year olds

    What’s unique about your particular type of youth work?

    It has a prevention element attached to the work. It is also built on principles of voluntary engagement of young people and young people are identified via a list derived from schools based on a set of varying criteria.

    There are elements of specialist youth work in the projects which are mentoring, counselling and family intervention and other recreational activity aimed at building relationships and rapport with young people. This is a school holiday diversionary activity programme and creative media digital arts small group work projects.

    Where young people choose to come through the recreational route on our projects, we work to build an effective rapport and relationship with young people so that they would choose to access additional services. As we meet them again, youth workers use a simple tool to assess needs in the young people and negotiate a support package agreed by the young person aimed at meeting that immediate need.

    Where there are cases of complex needs, multidisciplinary meetings are held to discuss types of intervention that could be offered to the individual. The youth worker through their relationship with the young person would assist to forge a referral process to another professional.

    What are some of the good things about your type of youth work?

    Through that prevention agenda you can focus your resources on young people at risk and develop what is hopefully a fluid process to meeting their needs. Young people help shape that service with feedback and involvement in making decisions.

    What are some of the challenges of being a deputy youth services manager?

    Short term funded commissioned projects. You begin to get to a point where you are confident through the plan, do and review cycle and testing that you have a youth work product that works. Then you have to await for a set of criteria to be published to ascertain whether what you have done will now meet the needs of that criteria to be recommissioned and continue delivering. Difficult when some of the funding pays salaries.

    Why are you passionate about this type of youth work?

    I am passionate about the prevention projects because I have designed them and refined them to see them having impact and meeting needs. I am passionate about good quality centre based youth work provision because I know it works from personal experience and can serve a multitude of needs in the community it seeks to serve.

    What would you recommend for someone wanting to get into this type of youth work?

    You cannot teach someone to have a heart for young people or passion to want to do the job with that client group. If you feel you have the raw materials and would like to give it a go, seek out a reputable organisation that has a robust system for the management of volunteers. Get rooted in a team, listen and learn.

    If you can see evidence of good youth work, there is a culture of debriefing and discussion about the youth work, good supervision and training and you as a person grow in your understanding of youth work, then you are in the right place to being mentored and coached onto whatever and however you see your gift taking you in the youth work field at your pace.

    Is there any special training or qualifications required?

    Life experience is beneficial but not essential. The only thing you need is ‘YOU’ as you are the one that interacts with that young person. I began my career as a volunteer and now work full time in the field.

    Is there anything else you’d like to share?

    Youth work is a vocation more than a career goal. The skill set of a youth worker is vital in society and like no other in assisting young people in their transition to adulthood. There will always be a need for youth work in the UK.

    About Stephen:

    Been a youth work practitioner for 15 years in a variety of different roles. Worked both in the voluntary and statutory sector. Graduated at Brighton University with a BA in professional education (Youth & Community). Am passionate about developing quality youth services that meet the needs of young people and raising up like minded youth workers in their discipline.

    You can follow Stephen on Twitter.

    Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about the type of youth work Stephen does. If you have experience doing the same type of youth work, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments as well.

    If you work in a different youth work field we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

    You can also connect with us by:

    1. Signing up to receive our posts via email
    2. Following us on Twitter
    3. Liking us on Facebook
    4. Signing up to our RSS feed

     

    An Interview With Sam Ross – A Youth Justice Worker

    March 13, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

    Sam Ross Youth Justice WorkerAs part of our series about different types of youth work, this week we have an interview with Sam Ross – a youth justice worker who’s also known as the Teenage Whisperer.

    1. What type of youth work do you do?

    For the last ten years or so I’ve been working as a youth justice worker, which simply put means that I work with young people involved in the criminal justice system. I supervise young offenders serving their sentences in the community and also meet with and support those serving sentences in young offenders institutes and secure children’s homes.

    The overriding aim is to rehabilitate them and help them to stop offending, by helping them to examine their thinking and their actions, and helping them address underlying issues and circumstances that increases the likelihood of their offending (e.g. drug and alcohol use, being the victims of abuse, housing issues, not being in any education, training or employment etc).

    2. What do you do in an average week?

    Too much, but at least boredom never sets in! In a typical week I would be meeting with young people serving sentences in the community, completing initial assessments or working through the issues or re-offending risk factors that have been identified. So I could be delivering sessions on peer pressure, anger, victim awareness, and alcohol and drug use to name a few.

    This could involve playing pool to get the defrost process going, watching film clips and discussing, playing a game to get them thinking, using art as a form of communication, motivational interviewing or kicking a football around. Sessions can also involve helping them access other agencies like setting up and attending an appointment with supported housing, prospective colleges or helping them make benefits applications.

    A fair bit of time is also spent on the phone or in person liaising with other agencies to coordinate our efforts to offer a cohesive joined-up approach for the young person. This might take place in schools, colleges, young offenders institutes, secure children’s homes, community children’s homes, foster carers, anywhere really. I’ll be regularly meeting with and touching base throughout the week with parents or carers, social workers, teachers, school support staff, housing officers, youth workers, the police, health staff (covering physical and mental health issues), children’s home staff and other Youth Offending Team staff.

    Another part of my role involves being on a rota to attend court when a young person has been arrested, charged and has been kept in a police cell overnight (or at the weekend until the Monday) waiting to attend court. This is usually because they are a persistent young offender and/or the offence which they have been charged with is very serious. They are then transferred to the court cells, where I meet with them and liaise with lawyers and court staff to see if it is possible to successfully address the court’s concerns about granting them bail by offering a bail support package. This involves meeting with the young person multiple times a week and beginning to address their issues. The rationale is that young people are statistically less likely to re-offend if their needs are addressed in the community rather than in the secure estate (i.e. prison or secure unit).

    And no view of my work would be complete without mention of the absurd amount of time I have to spend in front of a computer logging in minute detail what I am planning on doing with a young person and then what I actually did. Add to this a multitude of risk assessments and you have RSI! The assessments and logging of info is very important but there are times when ridiculous is the only word to describe it! A clear view of the bigger picture is definitely needed at these times.

    Oh, and sometimes I am called on to write a Pre Sentence Report for court which gives them the background to a young person and their offences so that the magistrates or judge can make an informed decision about what sentence to pass.

    So as you can see it is very varied and often manic, but very rewarding.

    3. How long have you been doing youth justice work?

    Over ten years now. I’m no longer doing it full time as I’m currently working on my website www.teenagewhisperer.co.uk offering advice on how to practically engage teens, particularly the most challenging disengaged ones.

    4. What other types of youth work have you done previously?

    Prior to working with young offenders I worked in a secondary school with kids with behavioural difficulties who were at risk of exclusion. I’d support them in the classroom alongside the teacher and also work with them one-on-one.

    5 What age range do you work with?

    In the UK the age of criminal responsibility is 10 and the youth justice system applies from then up until they turn 18, and I’ve worked with all ages, and yes even 10 year old kids.

    6. What’s unique about being a youth justice worker?

    You’re working in a statutory legal framework yet trying to marry that with a compassionate helping style and they often don’t seem like a match made in heaven. Youth work often is a voluntary thing, where involvement isn’t coerced, where youth workers are seen as purely helpers. In youth justice you are inevitably seen as a tool of the state, which you are. This can cause young people to avoid engaging with you which so often stands in the way of them trusting you and opening up, letting you see their pain and vulnerabilities which can be so important to the rehabilitative process. So there’s a sense of at least initially being unwanted by many, which can be quite unusual for youth work where kids are usually more willing!

    7. What are some of the good things about your type of youth work?

    Well there’s never a dull moment that’s for sure. You’re constantly on the move, going different places, meeting new people.

    For me anyway, I love the work precisely because it is so challenging. You’re never running on autopilot (or at least never should be) as you are constantly trying to work out the young people you are working with, working out what makes them tick, why they are behaving the way they are. I’ve said this before, but no-one behaves badly from a place of wholeness and it’s about working out along with a young person what the sources of their behaviour are and trying to rectify the situation, heal wounds, change some of their autopilot responses. And no two kids are the same, so even once you know what the issue is your way of helping them will vary each and every time.

    This type of youth work is never emotionally dull either. You laugh, you cry, you bang your head off the wall in despair, you lie awake in the small hours worrying sometimes and sometimes you get such breakthroughs you literally punch the air in joy and start dancing… until your manager walks into the room and starts laughing at you!

    8. What are some of the challenges of being a youth justice worker?

    Well I’ve already touched on the challenge of working with young people who don’t want to work with you. You have to develop a mighty thick skin if you’re going to survive. If you faint if someone swears at you you’re going to spend a significant amount of time on the floor. You also have to have a self-confidence and be self-assured because if you have a weakness you can be sure they will find it!

    Switching off can also be hard. When your heart is breaking at the circumstances of some young people’s lives it can be difficult to temporarily forget about it and get on with the business of your own life.

    You will also without any shadow of a doubt be overworked. You have to be organised, focused and well-motivated to survive and always clear in your mind as to why you are doing this work. You have to really care about the young people you work with if you are going to make a difference and if you are going to survive the many challenges and stresses that will daily come your way.

    And ultimately you have to accept that success is not an on-off-switch but more of a dimmer. For some the turning on process doesn’t happen and you see their face in the paper a number of years down the line. For others you see the whole process or more likely you see the beginning of it in your time working with them and never know how it ends as they age out the youth justice system. You just have to have faith and hope.

    9. Why are you passionate about youth justice work?

    Quite simply there is something inside of me that aches for the forgotten, the dumped, the rejected, the broken. And that is what each and every one of the young people I have the privilege of working with is – they are in some way, broken. They are broken first and foremost, offenders later.

    We are all in our own ways broken. For some our little bits of brokenness manifest themselves as being a moan, others eating too much, others drinking too much, others being lazy, others working out too much and so the list could go on. None of us is perfect and I think it is so easy to self-righteously forget this when thinking about our troubled youth who manifest their brokenness in offending. They are often far more broken than ourselves, broken by others’ abuse or neglect, broken by the consequences of their own decisions. And to be this broken before they even hit 18 kills a little piece of me. They should be in their prime, the world their oyster, not their prison. So I have to do what I can to see their potential and help them see theirs. To help them see that their yesterday does not have to be their unrelenting tomorrow. To see that someone cares to the bottom of their heart and cares enough not to walk by and call them scum but to stop and help them up.

    I believe everyone was put on this earth for a reason, and this is mine. If I didn’t work to help these young people, in practice and through Teenage Whisperer I would feel greatly impoverished.

    10. What would you recommend for someone wanting to become a youth justice worker?

    Start. Sounds simple, almost banal, but really, just start. If you are passionate about working with troubled teens then start working to help their situation in whatever way you can.

    Youth Offending Teams in England and Wales always have opportunities for volunteers. It might be driving a young person to an appointment or supervising them as they complete a reparation task, like repainting someone’s wall they’ve graffitied. Or being on a restorative justice panel helping to decide how to help a young person to repair the harm they have done. This could then lead on to paid work if you were interested, your direct experience would make you stand out as an applicant.

    If you’re not in England and Wales you could get in contact with your local childrens’ social services department for pointers as to who to contact. Or just do a Google search for juvenile / young offenders and your local area and see what comes up. Alternatively get in touch with charities that work with troubled teens in general or offenders in particular and see what you can do for them.

    You really can’t go far wrong starting with voluntary work. It tests your appetite for it and it gives you a wealth of experience that will count for a lot when it comes to making job or training course applications. And don’t be put off if the work isn’t directly with young people. If you show willingness and make your desires known you will hopefully get to where you want to be. I know plenty of admin workers in organisations who have successfully made the sideways step.

    11. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

    I can only really speak from a British perspective on this one. You can start working at the lowest level in a Youth Offending Team with a handful of GCSEs, supporting the work of qualified workers. Youth Offending Teams are multidisciplinary taking in probation workers, social workers, healthcare workers, qualified youth workers and the police so you could get qualified in these areas with degrees etc. before specialising in youth justice and getting the Professional Certificate in Effective Practice in Youth Justice.

    I think the bottom line is that if you have the passion and a desire to gain knowledge and experience there could be a place for you. Some of the best workers I know are the ‘lower level’ ones, so don’t let a lack of degrees etc put you off. The most important qualifications are compassion and determination.

    12. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

    Doing this work breaks you down and builds you up all at the same time. You are daily shown in overdone technicolour what life is for some people and it catches your breath. You are daily shown in overdone technicolour what life should be about, and you breathe. There is so much to teach young people in this role, but they don’t half teach you too. They daily teach me the importance of humility, compassion, thankfulness, perseverance and about hope. This work largely makes me who I am and I am a better person for it and for knowing these young people. It really is a form of youth work that blesses and is a blessing.

    About Sam:

    Sam Ross, popularly known as the ‘Teenage Whisperer’ is an expert in connecting with and helping the most challenging, disengaged and troubled teens to turn their lives around. She has worked in both educational and youth justice settings, both with young people and their parents or carers. Really understanding teens is the beginning, middle and end of her work and she helps professionals and parents achieve this through her website, providing advice, insight and resources: www.teenagewhisperer.co.uk You can also connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.

    Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about being a youth justice worker. If you have experience doing youth justice work, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments as well.

    If you work in a different youth work field we’d love to interview you for this series, so please get in touch!

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