Monthly Archives: December 2014

Christmas present ideas for a youth worker.

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Christmas present ideas for an Ultimate Youth Worker

Twas the week before Christmas and if your like me, your wondering what to get for some of your youth work family. It needs to be something to help them grow. Something witty. Something that won’t break the bank. We believe that one of the best Christmas present ideas are one that extends our knowledge and our practice… A book. Developing your professional self is one of our pillars of practice and we believe that reading is one of the easiest and most cost effective professional development activities a person can engage with.

A good book for a youth worker is one that is well researched, has been peer reviewed and is able to develop new skills or understanding. It might not necessarily be a youth work specific book. It might be on management, on productivity or on neurology. It may be from a youth worker or a consultant, an academic or and economist. You never know who will build your knowledge! A good book is one of those great Christmas present ideas.

But which book shall you send to your colleague, boss or trusted staff member. There are literally thousands of books on working with young people, It can be hard to choose. For a good framework for choosing the right book for a youth workers professional development check this out. Whatever book you choose make sure it is one you would want to read yourself… that way you can borrow it later 🙂 Just remember that the best Christmas present idea is one that shows you care.

Here are a few of our favourite book ideas for this year. It is not an exhaustive list but it is definitely a list of books we have on our shelf. Whether you are a frontline worker, a team leader or a manager there is a book here for you. Feel free to take one or more of them!

Any book you buy helps fund us to keep this blog going 🙂

Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

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Celebrate successes: The youth work mountaintop.

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Celebrate successes

Tonight I met a bunch of youth workers for dinner to celebrate the amazing work they had done throughout the year. We ate, we drank and reminisced about the work that had been done. Camps, friday night programs, mentoring, leadership development and much much more. Over some amazing Thai food we spoke about the future and how to support the young people to begin developing their own programs. It was a real encouragement to see the amazing work that can be done by committed youth workers who are passionate about their young people.

Celebrate

Its great to celebrate on top of the mountain of success

As youth workers we often hear the stories of difficulties, trouble and trauma. But, it is the mountaintop moments which keep us encouraged. By mid year I was a bit over everything. I had been teaching, running programs and generally just scraping by. As I was about to start a new mental health class in July, I was floored when a new student happened to be a former young person I had worked with almost a decade ago. I cried, we hugged it was a very touching moment.

A client of ours recently took on a new job after a transition time in their organisation meant they had to move on. We caught up together over a chocolate milkshake and chatted about the new role and the amazing opportunities it would hold. We spoke about the successes he had in his previous role, the families he supported, the young people he helped back to school and the training opportunities he provided. We laughed till we wept and in the end were encouraged by each others company.

When the tough times hit it is easy to see them. It is these times that we need to focus on the mountaintop experiences of our past. They will help us get through the tough times and encourage us to continue to stay the course. Celebrate your successes!

Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

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End of year and can’t be stuffed: no motivation.

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I have been speaking to a lot of youth workers in the slow grind to the end of the year and it seems we are all losing motivation. It is always a tough grind to the end of the year however this year seems to have upped the ante. Many youth workers we speak to have lost their jobs, their programs have been de-funded and as a sector we are really feeling the pinch. Organisations are taking the brunt of this major transition as they try to meet KPI’s before years end with minimal staff. As usual young people luck out.

Youth work motivation

Focus on your intrinsic values

A few organisations we work with have been able to buck this trend a little. Their staff, even though losing their jobs, have been professional to the end. Organising other supports where possible and opportunities for their young people to continue to become more amazing. These youth workers have put their own career opportunities as a second priority to the needs of their young people.  Their organisations and senior management have supported their staff admirably. They have provided vocational counselling, Employee Assistance Programs and one on one support so that their staff can get through this time as best as possible.

Motivation is low in the youth sector. Its a tough time for organisations, youth workers and young people alike. However our motivation as youth work professionals is not a condition of how well we support our young people. As professionals we must serve our clients to the best of our ability even when our motivation is low. I was speaking to a group of youth work students who are also feeling this low motivation. They feel like the work they have done to gain their qualification is all for nought because of the issues facing the sector. As such their motivation has taken a beating.

[Tweet “Focus on your intrinsic values and those ‘I can’t be stuffed’ days will be few and far between.”]

With longevity in the field comes wisdom about these changes. Around every ten years or so the social services sector in Australia gets hit with budget cuts. We lose our funding and then over the next couple of years we have wilderness experiences until Government realises that they actually need to support young people. If our motivation is linked to funding we will always have ‘I can’t be stuffed moments’. If our motivation is linked to our own intrinsic values then these temporary setbacks for our profession will leave little mark.

Focus on your intrinsic values and those ‘I can’t be stuffed’ days will be few and far between.

Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

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Youth work in the silly season

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Surviving is key to the silly season.

December One. The beginning of the silly season. The first day of the run to the end of the year. ‘Every year I dread this time. Yeah there is the awesome Christmas parties and friends and the end of the year. The flip side however is that it is also really busy. It is also the time of year that really hits home for a lot of our clientele just how much their lives are not the same as others. Their short on cash, their family doesn’t look like someone else’s, their future doesn’t look like they thought it would and everything looks bleak. During this time of year many of the young people I had worked with came to crisis.

silly seasonThe dichotomy between the joyous and the pain of the silly season which we as youth workers are stuck between is mind-blowing. It is often this time of year that we see a rise in family violence, crime and suicide. It is all of this and more which makes our days busy. We find that from clock on to clock off we are aware of the suffering of our young people. It is also this time of year that many youth workers are also struggling. As our young people suffer so do we. It is vicarious trauma.

[Tweet “The dichotomy between the joyous and the pain of the season which we as youth workers are stuck between is mind-blowing”]

So in the beginning of this silly season I ask you to consider two things. First, remember that this time for your clients may be one of the hardest. They may need extra support from you during this time just to deal with the fact that the silly season brings forward a lot of raw emotions. Second, I ask you to think about how you and your colleagues are coping. What are you doing to look after your self care? How are you looking out for each other? Perhaps only a couple of drinks at the Christmas party this year!

If we can look out for ourselves and look out for our young people just a little more emphatically over the coming month then perhaps we can limit the effects of trauma and vicarious trauma which comes during the festive season.

Lets look out for each other!

Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

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