Child and Youth Care Worker (Full-Time)
Location: Red Deer
Schedules:
- Day (7:00 am - 3:00 pm) 6 days on, 3 days off rotation
- Evening (3:00 pm - 11:00 pm) 6 days on, 3 days off rotation
- Overnight Awake (11:00 pm – 7:00 am) 6 days on, 3 days off rotation
Before you read on…
- This is not just a shift on your schedule.
- This is a role where a child’s trust, joy, and sense of safety depend on you showing up, fully present.
- If you’re simply looking to add another job to your roster, this is not the right fit.
- But if you are ready to laugh, play tag, shoot hoops, set healthy boundaries, and be a steady, caring presence through the hard days and the good ones, keep reading.
Why Your Transparency Matters
Our goal is to provide excellence in service for the children we provide care for and build a team with the comfort, knowledge, and skills to truly make a difference.
This work will test your patience, stretch your creativity, and demand your accountability. But it will also give you the chance to make a lasting impact in the life of a child who needs it most.
When expectations are clear from the start, we can prevent unexpected disruptions, which can be heartbreaking for the children and the team.
What Success Looks Like
- A child smiles because they feel you genuinely care.
- They invite you into their world, whether that’s basketball, video games, or simply a quiet walk.
- You set respectful boundaries: “Internet time is done for today,” and they know you mean it, firm but fair.
- You help them navigate complex emotions with patience, empathy, and consistency.
A Day in the Life
- Build trust through playful engagement and mentorship.
- Guide youth through crisis in challenging situations by using role modelling, encouragement, and crisis intervention strategies.
- Support them with your presence, engagement, and accountability.
- Create moments of joy, whether that’s organizing a game, cooking together, or teaching life skills.
- Document daily activities and observations with attention and care.
- Collaborate with Program Supervisors to support individualized therapeutic plans.
Behaviour Management Comparison
Please note: The Child & Youth Care Worker (CYCW) role is significantly different from a daycare or childcare position.While both involve supporting children, the purpose, approach, and level of responsibility in a CYCW role are unique and specialized.
What Behaviour Management Looks Like in a CYCW Role
In this role, you will be working with children and youth who often have complex behavioural, emotional, and trauma-related needs. Behaviour management is not about basic supervision, it is about understanding the underlying causes of behaviour and responding in a therapeutic, relationship-focused way.
Key aspects include:
- Providing individualized, trauma-informed care tailored to each child's history and needs.
- Supporting children and youth who may display behaviours such as aggression, resistance, withdrawal, or emotional dysregulation.
- Actively building
trusted, meaningful relationships that help promote healing and stability.
- Teaching coping skills, modelling healthy boundaries, and providing consistent emotional support.
This work is
intensive, relational, and specialized, requiring empathy, patience, and the ability to understand behaviour as communication.
How This Differs From a Daycare Setting
A daycare environment typically focuses on group routines, play-based learning, and general supervision.
Behaviour management usually involves guiding children through common developmental challenges such as sharing, turn-taking, and following simple rules.
Additionally:
- Children in daycare generally come from stable home environments with minimal trauma-related behaviours.
- Care is short-term and group-based, rather than deeply individualized.
- The role emphasizes routine and safety, not therapeutic intervention or long-term relationship building.
What You Bring
- A deep passion for supporting youth with complex behavioural and emotional needs.
- Patience, compassion, and the ability to stay calm in tough situations.
- A balance of playfulness and structure, you can laugh, run, and play, but also hold firm boundaries.
- Knowledge (or willingness to learn) around trauma-informed care, wholistic well-being, and child development.
- Experience in youth care, working with complex behavioural needs, social work, or related fields is an asset.
Your patience already shines, having taken the time to read and reflect on this opportunity. Give yourself the space to truly consider whether you are ready to open your heart, and to commit to a life-changing role for both you and the youth, if you are, we would love to hear from you.
Compliance Regulated Requirements
- Own a reliable 4-door vehicle to transport the individual(s)
- An active Alberta Class 5 Driver's License
- A clear Alberta 10-year Driver's Abstract (10 years driving experience is not required)
- A current Standard/Intermediate First Aid with CPR Level C (Canadian Provider in person, or blended)
- $2 Million Alberta Auto Insurance Liability coverage
- Clear Criminal Record with Vulnerable Sector Check obtained in last 5 months
- Clear Intervention Record Check obtained from Children Services in last 5 months
Regulated Physical Requirement
To perform this role, the employee must be able to:
- Walk and stand for extended periods, including long distances.
- Bend, kneel, crouch, and maintain balance to prevent falls.
- Work in varied environments, including outdoor and seasonal conditions.
- Lift, push, or pull up to 10 lbs. occasionally; reach overhead and outward.
- Perform fine motor tasks (typing, grasping, holding) and repetitive movements.
- Communicate verbally and maintain physical stamina for both short and long durations.
The PERKS!
Permanent Full-time employees receive:
- Health, dental, and vision benefits
- Employee & Family Assistance Program
- Group RRSP matching after one year
- We are partnered with ZayZoon, an employee benefit that gives you instant access to your wages ahead of payday.
- Career growth opportunities in a growing, award-winning organization
- Innovative technology to assist in your daily routine of providing care
- Mobile App. access technology
- Cornell University TCI Training (Therapeutic Crisis Intervention)
- Ongoing training & professional development
- A collaborative and diverse organization supporting you through your journey in making an impact in the lives of youth, so you never feel alone!
We thank all applicants for applying; however, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
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