Residential Youth Worker – Therapeutic Children's Home
Salary: £32,946.42 per annum, plus opportunities for additional earnings through extra shifts
Contract: Full-Time
Location: Downpatrick and Dungiven, Northern Ireland
Make a Difference. Build Relationships. Develop Your Career.
Join Safe Places as a Residential Youth Worker and help provide therapeutic, relationship-based care to children and young people who have experienced trauma.
At Safe Places, it's all about the young people.
We're looking for compassionate, resilient and committed Residential Youth Workers to join our therapeutic children's homes in Downpatrick and Dungiven.
This is more than a job in residential care. It's an opportunity to build a rewarding career while helping children and young people who have experienced significant trauma to feel safe, develop trusting relationships and work towards positive futures.
About Safe Places
Safe Places provides therapeutic residential care through nurturing, trauma-informed homes where compassion, consistency and meaningful relationships are at the heart of everything we do.
We believe that positive relationships can change lives.
Our two-bed children's homes enable our teams to provide highly individualised care, create consistency and build meaningful, trusting relationships with the children and young people we support.
About the Role
As a Residential Youth Worker, you will play a vital role in the day-to-day care and support of children and young people who have experienced trauma.
You will:
- Build positive, trusting and meaningful relationships with children and young people.
- Provide therapeutic, child-centred care within a safe and nurturing home environment.
- Support young people's emotional, social and practical development.
- Work as part of a small, consistent team using trauma-informed practice.
- Respond confidently and professionally to complex and pain-based behaviours.
- Help young people develop resilience, independence and positive life experiences.
Residential care can be challenging as well as incredibly rewarding. We're looking for people who can remain calm, compassionate and consistent during challenging moments and who understand the importance of relationships when supporting children and young people who have experienced trauma.
This is a full-time, shift-based position and includes sleep-in duties within a registered children's home. Sleep-in duties are included within the advertised salary.
Your Working Pattern
We believe it's important that candidates understand the working pattern from the outset.
Our structured rota is designed to provide consistency for our young people while supporting a healthy work-life balance for our teams.
- An average of 38 working hours per week, including an average of two sleep-in duties per week.
- Hours are managed through an Hours Bank System, meaning the number of hours worked may vary from week to week while balancing over the agreed period. Your normal salary remains consistent.
- A rotating example for four-week rota could consist of 2 shifts, 2 shifts, 2 shifts and 3 shifts across the four-week period.
- Each shift is 24.5 hours, comprising 16.5 hours of working time and an 8-hour sleep-in period.
- Opportunities are available to work additional shifts and increase your earnings.
Invest in Your Career
We want our Residential Youth Workers to develop, progress and build rewarding careers within therapeutic residential care.
From the beginning, we'll invest in your learning and development through:
- A three-week paid induction programme
- Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) training, with refresher training every six months
- Trauma and Attachment training
- Safeguarding training
- Medication Management training
- Health & Safety and Fire Safety training
- Ongoing professional development
- Reflective supervision and coaching
- An Individual Professional Development Plan following successful completion of probation
- Structured opportunities for career progression, including Youth Worker 2 and Key Worker roles
Supporting You to Do Your Best Work
Working in therapeutic residential care requires resilient, well-supported teams. We recognise the importance of supporting the people who support our young people.
Our wider benefits and support include:
- 33 days' annual leave
- Annual Leave Loading
- £250 loyalty bonus every six months following successful completion of probation
- 24/7 therapeutic on-call support from trained TCI Post Crisis Response staff
- Triple Tier Employee Wellbeing Programme, including confidential external counselling
- Monthly paid group reflective practice sessions
- Planned and structured rotas designed to support work-life balance
- Hours Bank System to help promote a healthy work-life balance
- Opportunities for additional earnings through extra shifts
- The opportunity to help shape the future of therapeutic residential care across Northern Ireland and the UK
Could You Be a Safe Places Residential Youth Worker?
We're looking for people who are:
- Compassionate, caring and emotionally intelligent.
- Resilient and able to remain calm under pressure.
- Passionate about improving the lives of children and young people.
- Committed to trauma-informed, relationship-based care.
- Able to provide consistency, boundaries and reassurance, including during challenging situations.
- Positive team players with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Open to learning, reflection and professional development.
- Motivated to build a rewarding career within therapeutic residential care.
Above all, we're looking for people who understand that relationships matter and who have the commitment and resilience to be a consistent, positive presence in a young person's life.
Essential Criteria
Applicants must have:
- A minimum of one year's experience supporting children, young people or adults who present with behaviours that can be challenging.
- A Level 3 qualification in Health & Social Care, Youth Work, Social Care or another relevant discipline.
- A full UK or Irish driving licence held for at least one year, with no more than three penalty points.
- Ability to obtain a satisfactory Enhanced Access NI check.
- Ability to register with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC), or already be registered.
Desirable Criteria
- A degree in a relevant discipline.
- Experience working within children's residential care.
- Experience supporting children and young people who have experienced trauma using trauma-informed approaches.
Ready to Make a Difference?
The work isn't always easy, but the relationships you build and the difference you can make can be significant.
If you have the resilience, compassion and commitment to make a lasting difference in a young person's life — and you're looking for an organisation that will invest in your development and support your career — we want to hear from you.
Applications
Opportunities are available in Downpatrick and Dungiven. Please indicate your preferred location when applying.
Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis, and suitable candidates may be invited to interview as applications are received. We therefore encourage early applications.
Safe Places reserves the right to close this vacancy once sufficient suitable applications have been received.
How to Apply
Please complete an application form via the Safe Places website.
A full Job Description can also be downloaded from our vacancies page.
Safer Recruitment
Safe Places is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including Enhanced Access NI clearance, NISCC registration, employment references and all other relevant safer recruitment requirements.
Safe Places is an Equal Opportunities Employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.
Applications may be retained for up to six months to fill future Residential Youth Worker vacancies unless you request otherwise.
Pay: £32,946.42 per year
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
