Experienced Youth Care Worker — Residential Treatment Position Overview
Sturdy Wings is expanding and preparing to open multiple residential homes. We are seeking experienced, highly capable Youth Care Workers who can enter a fast-paced residential treatment environment and perform their responsibilities with sound judgment, consistency, and professionalism.
This is not an entry-level position. Successful candidates must be able to work independently, take initiative, follow established policies and care plans, recognize and respond appropriately to risk, and contribute meaningfully to a strong team. Although comprehensive organizational orientation and site-specific training will be provided, applicants must already possess the foundational knowledge, professional maturity, and practical skills required to support youth with complex needs.
Our Youth Care Workers provide direct care, supervision, emotional support, crisis intervention, and life-skills development to high-risk and vulnerable youth. This work requires more than compassion. It requires reliability, emotional regulation, situational awareness, accountability, strong professional boundaries, critical thinking and analysis, and the ability to make safe decisions under pressure.
The strongest candidates will have direct experience in residential care, group care, treatment settings, child intervention, mental health, addictions, or comparable environments. They will demonstrate that they can recognize what needs to be done, act within their scope of responsibility, communicate concerns promptly, and complete all required duties without continual prompting or correction.
In recognition of Sturdy Wings’ mandate, preference may be given to qualified Indigenous applicants. Applicants are encouraged to self-identify if they wish.
Key ResponsibilitiesDirect Youth Care and Supervision
- Provide active, consistent, and attentive supervision in accordance with each youth’s care plan, safety plan, level of supervision, and identified needs.
- Build respectful and meaningful relationships with youth while maintaining clear and appropriate professional boundaries.
- Support youth with daily routines, education, appointments, community activities, structured programming, and transitions.
- Model emotional regulation, accountability, respectful communication, problem-solving, and healthy interpersonal behaviour.
- Recognize changes in a youth’s presentation, behaviour, or level of risk and respond appropriately.
- Anticipate needs and complete routine responsibilities without waiting to be repeatedly directed.
- Balance relationship-based care with the structure, consistency, and accountability required in a residential treatment environment.
Safety, Risk Management, and Crisis Response
- Maintain continuous awareness of youth behaviour, interpersonal dynamics, environmental risks, and overall site safety.
- Respond calmly and effectively to emotional dysregulation, conflict, self-harm concerns, substance-use concerns, aggression, absences, and other high-risk situations.
- Apply approved prevention, de-escalation, crisis-intervention, and safety-planning strategies.
- Exercise sound judgment while remaining within organizational policy, the youth’s care plan, and the scope of the position.
- Follow all requirements concerning supervision, contraband, searches, medication, restricted items, community access, and incident response.
- Contact on-call management promptly when consultation, authorization, or escalation is required.
- Complete immediate and appropriate follow-up after incidents, including notifications, documentation, environmental checks, and restoration of safety.
- Remain composed, professional, and solution-focused during emergencies and high-stress situations.
Trauma-Informed and Therapeutic Support
- Apply trauma-informed, strengths-based, person-centred, culturally responsive, and developmentally appropriate practices in all interactions.
- Understand that trauma-informed care requires empathy and connection while still maintaining safety, expectations, consistency, and accountability.
- Support youth in developing emotional-regulation, coping, communication, decision-making, and conflict-resolution skills.
- Use co-regulation and relationship-based approaches without engaging in therapeutic counselling beyond the position’s scope.
- Encourage participation in educational, recreational, cultural, therapeutic, and community-based activities.
- Respond to challenging behaviour with curiosity and professionalism while avoiding power struggles, shaming, punitive language, or personal reactions.
Documentation and Communication
- Complete accurate, detailed, timely, and objective documentation, including but not limited to: legal log book records, communication logs, medication records, shift-exchange documentation, and incident reports.
- Clearly distinguish observed facts from assumptions, interpretations, or third-party information.
- Document significant events, changes in presentation, interventions, outcomes, and required follow-up.
- Communicate relevant information promptly to coworkers and management to support safety and continuity of care.
- Provide organized and complete shift exchanges.
- Review organizational communication, care-plan updates, safety information, and procedural changes before beginning assigned duties.
- Demonstrate strong written communication skills and understand that incomplete, inaccurate, or delayed documentation creates significant care and organizational risk.
Teamwork, Accountability, and Professional Conduct
- Arrive on time, prepared for the shift, and ready to assume full responsibility for assigned duties.
- Work collaboratively with coworkers, management, families, caseworkers, schools, clinicians, and community partners.
- Accept direction and professional feedback and demonstrate the ability to apply it consistently.
- Take responsibility for decisions, actions, communication, and assigned duties.
- Address concerns through appropriate professional channels and contribute to practical solutions.
- Maintain confidentiality, ethical conduct, and professional boundaries at all times.
- Follow organizational policies, procedures, care plans, safety protocols, and lawful management direction.
- Participate actively in orientation, mandatory training, supervision, team meetings, competency assessments, and performance reviews.
- Maintain the emotional maturity required to avoid becoming personally reactive, defensive, or involved in workplace conflict.
- Request consultation when genuinely required while remaining capable of independently managing the routine expectations of the position.
Household and Daily Living Responsibilities
- Prepare and serve meals in accordance with established meal plans, dietary requirements, and food-safety standards.
- Maintain a clean, organized, safe, and welcoming residential environment in accordance with organizational expectations and Alberta Health Services requirements.
- Complete routine cleaning, sanitization, laundry, household checks, and assigned shift responsibilities without repeated reminders.
- Support youth’s participation in age- and ability-appropriate household responsibilities.
- Use daily routines and shared responsibilities as opportunities to develop life skills, independence, accountability, and community care.
- Understand that household upkeep is an essential component of providing safe residential care.
Required Qualifications
Applicants must possess:
- A completed diploma or degree in Child and Youth Care, Social Work, Human Services, Psychology, Addictions and Mental Health, Education, or another directly related field.
- A minimum of two years of relevant experience supporting youth with complex behavioural, mental-health, developmental, substance-use, or child-intervention needs.
- Demonstrated experience working independently in a residential, treatment, group-care, crisis-response, outreach, or comparable human-services environment.
- Practical knowledge of trauma-informed, strengths-based, person-centred, culturally responsive, and relationship-based care.
- Strong professional boundaries and an understanding of confidentiality, duty of care, mandated reporting, and role scope.
- Proven ability to assess situations, prioritize responsibilities, recognize risk, and make safe decisions under pressure.
- Strong verbal communication, written documentation, conflict-resolution, and interpersonal skills.
- The ability to receive feedback, correct errors, and independently maintain expected performance.
- The physical and emotional capacity to perform the duties of a residential Youth Care Worker.
- Availability to work rotating shifts, including days, evenings, awake overnight shifts, weekends, and statutory holidays.
Mandatory Employment Requirements
Successful applicants must provide:
- A current Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Search.
- A current Child Intervention Record Check.
- A valid Class 5 Alberta driver’s licence.
- A satisfactory driver’s abstract.
- Current Standard First Aid and CPR certification.
- Valid Alberta Food Safety Basics certification or the ability to obtain it before beginning independent shifts.
- Proof of any additional credentials or training identified in the application.
- Reliable transportation and the ability to report for scheduled shifts consistently.
- Professional and recent references.
Employment is conditional upon the successful completion and verification of all required screening and credentials.
Preferred Qualifications and Experience
Preference may be given to applicants who possess:
- Experience in residential treatment, group care, youth shelters, child intervention, mental-health treatment, addictions services, or crisis stabilization.
- Experience supporting youth with self-harm, suicidal ideation, substance use, aggression, exploitation risk, trauma responses, FASD, neurodevelopmental differences, or complex mental-health needs.
- Training in non-violent crisis intervention, suicide intervention, self-harm response, medication administration, trauma-informed practice, Indigenous awareness, or addictions and mental-health support.
- Demonstrated knowledge of Indigenous histories, worldviews, cultures, ways of knowing, and community-based approaches to care.
- Experience working respectfully with Indigenous youth, families, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, communities, and service providers.
- Experience completing professional running records, critical-incident reports, medication documentation, and care-plan reporting.
Who Will Be Successful in This Role
This position is best suited to someone who:
- Notices what needs attention and responds appropriately.
- Follows through without requiring continual reminders.
- Can manage routine responsibilities independently while recognizing when consultation is necessary.
- Remains calm, observant, and professional when a shift becomes challenging.
- Communicates concerns early rather than allowing problems to escalate.
- Understands that consistency, documentation, cleaning, supervision, and policy compliance are all essential parts of youth care.
- Accepts accountability and does not minimize, deflect, or conceal mistakes.
- Can build strong relationships without compromising professional boundaries.
- Brings maturity, sound judgment, reliability, and a genuine commitment to providing safe and respectful care.
Applicants should clearly identify their direct experience with residential care, complex youth needs, crisis response, professional documentation, and independent shift responsibilities in their résumé or cover letter. Only applicants who demonstrate that they meet the position’s core qualifications will be selected for an interview.
Pay: From $25.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
