Make a Real Difference – Join Our Team of Therapeutic Youth Workers

Are you someone who naturally builds trust, remains calm in a storm, and sees potential where others might see problems? At Jo’s, we’re looking for individuals who bring a steady hand, an open heart, and a sense of purpose to their work with young people who’ve had a rough start. These are not ordinary roles—and we’re not looking for ordinary people.

About Jo’s House
Jo’s is a unique, therapeutic residential care model in South Australia that puts relationships and emotional safety at the centre of everything we do. We provide a home for young people who are unable to live with their families due to child protection concerns. We nurture and support them to heal from their past trauma, and gain meaningful connection to community as they enter adulthood.

What You’ll Do:

As a Therapeutic Youth Worker, you'll provide day-to-day care, guidance, and connection to young people living in residential settings. You’ll work closely with each young person to help them feel safe, build emotional regulation skills, and develop a stronger sense of self-worth.

As a Therapeutic Youth Worker you will be working directly with young people. Typical tasks will include:

· Engaging with young people through an authentic and meaningful relationship, supporting them to develop and grow their identify.

· Assisting young people with all daily living activities and routines, including nutrition, health, hygiene, school, homework, extracurricular activities and social engagements.

· Supporting young people with crisis intervention, counselling and co-regulation during periods of complex behaviour presentations.

· Role modelling with young people for healthy ways to engage with family, friends and the community.

· Management of household tasks.

What You’ll Bring:

Bachelor Degree or Certificate IV in social services (Social Work, Social Science or Youth Work etc)

Availability to work a 24/7 roster including sleepovers

An ability to stay grounded, even in challenging situations

Strong listening skills and a compassionate communication style

A sense of accountability, fairness, and quiet confidence

A reflective mindset—you think before you react

Previous experience in youth work, teaching, nursing, aged care, support work, or parenting could be beneficial—but we value who you are as much as where you’ve been.

What’s in it for you?

Purpose-driven work where no two days are the same

Opportunities to grow your career in a respected organisation making real social impact

A supportive, professional environment where your contribution matters

· In addition to your salary, you can potentially package up to $15,900 per year pre-tax and additionally a $2,650 Meals and Entertainment card. To see how this could potentially benefit your take home pay, visit our salary packaging provider, Access Pay

· Annual Flu Vaccination

· Purchased Leave

· 1 Week Paid Cultural Leave for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Staff

· 1 Day of Community Engagement Leave

· Early Intervention & Psychosocial Support Program

· Employee Assistance Program

· Discounted Health Insurance plans

· Discounts on Mobiles and Internet plans

Learn more about our work and the benefits on offer unitingcommunities.org

How to apply

We’d love to hear from you!

We run regular group interviews as part of our commitment to building strong, well-matched teams. If this sounds like the kind of work that would speak to your strengths and values, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply now and start a journey that matters.

Finally, please note Uniting Communities takes the safety of children, young people, and vulnerable adults seriously. Successful candidates must adhere to our code of conduct and undergo relevant pre-employment checks.

UC acknowledges that community members—particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally diverse individuals, gender-diverse people, people with disabilities, older people, and those who have experienced social factors, including a history of living in out-of-home care—have valuable experiences to offer. Please contact us if you have questions about your suitability for a role, because we want you here.