Youth Development Practitioner
Job No:
81557
Location:
Melbourne, VIC
- Join a dynamic not‐for‐profit organisation, committed to supporting young people who live, work and play in Carlton and Parkville
- Attractive remuneration with salary packaging to maximise your take home pay
- Flexible hours and TOIL scheme, ensuring you achieve a healthy work life balance
About the Organisation
Drummond Street Services (DSS) is a non‐for‐profit, non‐denominational agency that provides family services, mental health and wellbeing, relationship counselling, parent support and education for families, children and young people that reflect the diversity of the communities in which we provide support. DSS has 127 plus years in the development and delivery of innovative services that strengthen families and communities with a strong focus on evidence‐based/informed practice and across the prevention and early intervention spectrum of universal and targeted support.
Programs include:
- Parenting programs and community education that promote healthy strong families;
- Prevention programs throughout the family life cycle to increase families strength;
- Early intervention programs at key family transitions where families are particularly vulnerable, such as birth of a child and relationship difficulties;
- Tertiary programs to intervene in areas which impact on family relationships such as separation and divorce, family violence, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse; and
- Maintenance programs which assist families which have negotiated difficulties such as separation and are re‐partnering.
About The Drum ‐ Youth Services
The Drum ‐ Youth Services is a vital part of DSS, as an agency with continues to lead family mental health and wellbeing services in new and innovative directions. Located in Carlton, The Drum is contracted by the City of Melbourne to deliver responsive services for diverse young people who live, work, and play in Carlton and Parkville. This includes providing individual support within the context of family, including assessment, information and referral, case‐management, support, and counselling. The Drum compliments individual support with a range of public health initiatives including health promotion, early intervention and prevention. For example, we deliver a youth peer leadership program, community education seminars, and assertive community engagement programming to develop tangible pathways of support for socially marginalised/vulnerable people. We deliver international programming that seeks to lessen the impacts of structural disadvantage and social exclusion, with a specific focus on public housing residents, CALD young people and international students, and young people who identify as LGBTQI.
About the Opportunity
Based in the Carlton office, the Youth Development Practitioner will operate across outreach locations in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. Your purpose will be to support young people to connect, participate, engage, and realise their potential as healthy, resilient, respected, fulfilled, and active citizens.
The Drum is looking for an empathetic individual with demonstrated knowledge of adolescent development and how social determinants of health impact on young people and their families, resulting in socio‐economic disadvantage, unemployment, early school leaving, mental health issues, substance abuse, as well as having an understanding of how racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia negatively shape young people's lives and experiences.
The Youth Development Practitioner will be involved in leading the design, delivery and evaluation of programs for young people of diverse backgrounds with a focus on our capacity building initiatives.
At present this would include:
- Education support programs (a homework club and initiative’s within school settings);
- Coordinating the youth peer leadership program; and
- Coordinating VoiceFest - a FreeZA funded initiative bringing together diverse young people to plan and deliver drug and alcohol free events for their peers
About the Benefits
You will be joining a supportive and welcoming team of passionate professionals, dedicated to combating discrimination and marginalisation. The position requires you to have the flexibility to work some evenings (12pm ‐ 7pm) and weekends. You will enjoy the flexibility of a TOIL scheme to acknowledge these out‐of‐hours shifts, and you can negotiate days/hours to work to suit your commitments.
DSS is committed to the ongoing professional development of staff. You will enjoy monthly workshops, access to conferences (intra‐ and inter‐state), and support to study while you work if desired.
DSS will offer the successful applicant an attractive remuneration package, negotiable based on your experience. Additionally, you will receive salary packaging opportunities up to $16,050 to significantly increase your take‐home pay!
Join an organisation that is making a difference within the lives of young people in inner‐city Melbourne ‐ Apply Now!