youth worker

relief worker

residential supervisor

intervenant des services à la jeunesse

home care worker

Pioneer Youth Services

I come into work everyday with a plan "A" and a plan "B." Keeping the kids busy is key to running a successful shift. The most important part of this job is keeping the kids safe. That means supervising them. Engaging the kids in activities that they enjoy, participating "with" them to show support and model appropriate social behaviour is part of the treatment plan. Structured and predictable environment is something these kids have not previously experienced in their family home. For example: having a healthy breakfast in the morning may not have been an option in the family home, at PYS kids are expected to come to the breakfast table because its healthy and social. Workers eat with the kids to help kids learn portions, make healthy choices, use manners and engage in appropriate conversation.
Building a rapport with the youth can be challenging but not impossible. They sense your passion and they sense apprehension. We try to help the kids to feel safe by showing them even when they are completely out of control, we are in control and neutral. We don't work with "bad" kids we work with kids who suffer from significant mental health symptoms. They have experienced trauma and extreme rejection from the very people who were supposed to care for them. Before they were even born they may exposed to drugs and alcohol and now struggle with the effects of a damaged brain. 
I come to work everyday knowing the risks of their impulsive, and sometimes/often angry behaviour. It takes great people to work with the clients at Pioneer. Skilled, patient, flexible, non-judgmental, energetic, thoughtful, mindful, considerate, kind, forgiving, and passionate. I am so thankful for the staff in this agency that I work along side of who really do care. There are so many fantastic people who give so much of themselves to make a difference for these kids.

A typical day at Pioneer Youth Services consists of general household responsibilities like cooking, cleaning, shopping for groceries or needs for the individual clients, as well as laundry.  The clients that I serviced were absolutely the most wonderful young men I have ever met.  Like most houses and clients you have your "up" days and also your "down" days but every day is another chance to make a difference in our clients lives.  
The gentleman I woked with needed alot of assistance with his personal day, ie. getting dress, toileting and supervision but each day I encouraged him to put his toast in the toaster, and lead a more independant life.  On special outtings, my client enjoyed swimming but would drop his body to the ground and refuse to walk to the car.  Many times we would wait for him to decide to move or provide creative way to get him to the car.  One place WalMart offer a wheel chair for clients that struggle with walking issues.

The management were helpful with individual review offered every six weeks.  The staff that I worked with were amazing!  Some staff had different approaches to our clients, some worked, some not so much but each staff came with their special ability and we had some amazing suppers, and outtings.  

I think the hardest part of my job was shifts when staff moved on from the company and having to break in a new staff member.  

The most enjoyable part of the job is coming in and seeing their smiling faces, working to see that moment when they get something or just knowing you made a difference in their lives.

I really enjoyed these boys, for me it was like going home each day. As each boy moved to adult residence, it was good to know that each of them were so individual and special.

A typical day at Pioneer Youth Services consists of general household responsibilities like cooking, cleaning, shopping for groceries or needs for the individual clients, as well as laundry. The clients that I serviced were absolutely the most wonderful young men I have ever met. Like most houses and clients you have your "up" days and also your "down" days but every day is another chance to make a difference in our clients lives. 
The gentleman I woked with needed alot of assistance with his personal day, ie. getting dress, toileting and supervision but each day I encouraged him to put his toast in the toaster, and lead a more independant life. On special outtings, my client enjoyed swimming but would drop his body to the ground and refuse to walk to the car. Many times we would wait for him to decide to move or provide creative way to get him to the car. One place WalMart offer a wheel chair for clients that struggle with walking issues.

The management were helpful with individual review offered every six weeks. The staff that I worked with were amazing! Some staff had different approaches to our clients, some worked, some not so much but each staff came with their special ability and we had some amazing suppers, and outtings. 

I think the hardest part of my job was shifts when staff moved on from the company and having to break in a new staff member. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is coming in and seeing their smiling faces, working to see that moment when they get something or just knowing you made a difference in their lives.

I really enjoyed these boys, for me it was like going home each day. As each boy moved to adult residence, it was good to know that each of them were so individual and special.

I have worked at PYS for over a decade in many capacities.  I have worked in the overnight, relief, front-line, assistant and residential supervisor roles.  Residential treatment is one of the most challenging fields of employment that I have ever worked in physically and mentally.  However, it is also the most REWARDING.  

Pioneer homes are very busy, and no matter what role you take on as an employee the job is demanding.  Pioneer deals with challenging clients who can no longer live with biological family or foster families.  It takes a team effort to support and manage the youth through their routines/treatment on a daily basis.  Keeping youth safe and out of the legal system is a huge part of this job.  Collaboration with regional police, psychiatrists, medical doctors/specialists, court agents/probation and family and children's services gives employees exposure to community resources and  multidisciplinary approaches for treatment.  There's never a dull moment!

Like any job there are pro's and con's to be considered.   Each employee is going to have a personal perspective of Pioneer Youth Services because of their own individual experiences within the company.  I have seen many people come and go.  I also know employees who have been with Pioneer for two decades because they love the job.

Resilience and patience are two of the skills that I am most proud of enhancing through my experiences at Pioneer.  If you are looking for employment in the fields of psychology, social work or the legal system I would suggest looking at available job opportunities within this agency.

I worked here for many years. I formed amazing, long lasting relationships with my co-workers and residents. 

Management on the other hand is sneaky,  careless, uneducated and unprepared for the level of behaviours the clients can have. They will hire just about anyone who wants a job, if you have a diploma in the field or not. As long as your a body, that’s all they care about. 

I went above and beyond, staying late, coming early, spending my own money on clothing and necessities for the kids when the company didn’t have any left in budget. STILL, I was looked down upon, and verbally abused by management. The only way they would like you is if you kept quiet and did what they said (which was never in best interest of the kids).

The houses (not many left now) were falling apart, unsafe and not fit for the needs of the residents being served in the home. All they care about is profit! They will shove as many kids as possible in the same house weather that house was fit for that resident or not. They will also not provide the level of support needed for the residents. I worked in their home for autistic teen males and not only was there 10 of them, but all of them required 1:1 staffing for safety reasons and only a handful were given the support they needed. Which made things a lot more difficult and unsafe for EVERYONE. Kids were often running away, attacking eachother and you spent most of your shift putting out fires. 

This place will give you all the experience you need in a lifetime for this field of work. But please think of your own sanity.

I was employed at Pioneer Youth Services as a front-line staff.  I have recently left this position to relocate.  

A typical day at work really depends on what shift your working.  As a front-line staff the schedule rotates every 3-4 weeks depending on the residence you work at.  

The job requires the staff to work as a team and sometimes independently  to assist and support the youth that live in the residences to be successful in completing daily expectations and managing their emotions.

The best part of working in this position was that I was working with youth who experienced a variety of significant mental health issues first hand. I was able to learn how to support them when they were in crisis.

The hardest part of this job is learning to manage paperwork, and other job duties to ensure everything is complete.  This job requires you to have excellent time management skills. (Good common sense also helps)  The youth's behaviour's on any given shift can be unpredictable  and can take time and patience to manage, this can quickly consume the time you have on a shift. Thankfully I was working with a fantastic group of individuals who were very supportive and we all helped each other.  I have learned a great deal from my job and from those I worked with.  


==

I have been an employee at Pioneer Youth Services for several years and I enjoy my job.  It is a very busy environment, which is what I love, and you learn something new every day.  The kids are wonderful, they have their challenges but that is why they are with Pioneer.  Working at this place has taught me so many new skills and I have learned so much over the years.  Supervisors are very helpful and teach and guide the staff, so they have a better understanding as to what their job is.  Training is offered and is quite helpful.  The pay is significantly higher than any other company that offers residential treatment. There is a high staff turnover but that is due to staff not knowing what they are getting into when they work in this environment or not having the skills that are needed to work with the type of kids that Pioneer has.  I like the open communication with the Supervisors of the homes and the staff as this is helpful in the learning process.  There are many positives to the job, being able to be a part of making a difference in someone's life, spending time doing fun things with the kids, learning new skills and working with some amazing people.  I would highly recommend working here as it is a great place to be.

Obviously working with youth in group homes comes with serious challenges, but I've never been so ill-equipped and constantly under-prepared for a job. It felt like there was no support, no work-life balance (you stayed until the work was done), I was often injured (but not seriously enough to go home most times), and there wasn't enough funding for us to really DO things with the kids so they'd often get bored and unwell. Most of the other frontline staff were incredible within our means, and I don't blame the kids, but it was an incredibly unhealthy environment. I called in sick more times working here for a year than I did the combined five years previously at a different company (and not because I was physically ill, but more often because I couldn't bring myself to go in).

When it comes to this job, you would never find me complaining about the youth. The youth are what makes this unsupportive and stressful workplace worth it. Pioneer will hire anyone, wether they have experience or not, and do not care when an employee is clearly not fit to do this job, even if it is detrimental to the youth. I witnessed multiple staff purposefully set off the youth, put the youth’s safety in danger by not following simple protocols, and overall not care about the kids. Unfortunately, management does not care about the kids, so these issues get swept under the rug. The issue with this company is head office. Head office has given up completely on actually trying to make this company better, the only reason why it’s still standing is because of the employees who are dedicated to the kids. 
I believe this company could be great, but i truly believe that it won’t be unless management changes.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Youth worker 3 salaries reported	$24.51 per hour
Relief worker 2 salaries reported	$17.70 per hour
Residential supervisor 1 salary reported	$28.08 per hour
Intervenant des services à la jeunesse 1 salary reported	$25.76 per hour
Home care worker 1 salary reported	$17.43 per hour

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