Overview
Youth Advocate – Full/Part-Time, Lived Experience Valued Jobs in Coupeville, WA at Ryan’s House For Youth
We are hiring Youth Advocates to support youth and young adults experiencing homelessness or housing instability in Island County.
A degree is not required. Formal human services experience is not required. Lived experience matters here.
We encourage people to apply who have personal experience with homelessness, recovery, foster care, behavioral health challenges, poverty, systems involvement, parenting young, justice involvement, or rebuilding after hard life experiences.
We know many strong candidates may not see themselves as “qualified” for traditional human services jobs. If you care about young people, can stay calm under pressure, can follow expectations, and are willing to learn, we want to hear from you.
People with past justice involvement are welcome to apply. Background checks are part of the hiring process, but a record does not automatically disqualify someone. RHFY reviews each situation individually based on the role, timing, circumstances, and safety requirements.
Schedule: Hiring for 3 or more positions. Some evening, some day time, some rotating weekends.
Position type: We have several open positions including Full-time / part-time / on-call and day and evening shifts
Benefits: QSEHRA health reimbursement benefit for eligible employees, paid sick leave, training, and supportive team environment.
About our team culture
RHFY is building a team culture where staff support each other, communicate clearly, and work from shared expectations. This is not a “do your own thing” job. Youth Advocates are part of a team that relies on passdown, documentation, follow-through, and honest communication so youth receive consistent support across shifts.
We value lived experience, and we also expect staff to use that experience in a grounded, professional way. The goal is not to rescue youth or control them. The goal is to build trust, hold healthy boundaries, and support young people as they work toward their own goals.
RHFY is always growing and improving. Our systems, procedures, and expectations may change as we learn what works best. This role is a good fit for someone who can stay flexible, ask questions, adjust when needed, and move with the team as the program changes.
About the role
Youth Advocates support young adults in a 24/7 drop-in center, housing, and shelter environment. This role includes relationship-building, documentation, shift tasks, safety checks, cleaning, passdown communication, conflict de-escalation, and helping young people work toward their own goals.
This is direct service work. It is meaningful, and it can also be hard. Staff need to be reliable, calm, accountable, respectful, and able to follow program expectations while treating young people with dignity.
We work as a team. That means staff are expected to communicate with each other, share important information, follow through on assigned tasks, and avoid blaming other shifts, leadership, or youth when something is difficult. We focus on solutions, consistency, and doing the next right thing.
Main duties include:
Build respectful, professional relationships with youth and young adults.
Support youth in working toward their goals.
Complete documentation, passdown notes, and basic data tracking.
Help maintain a clean, safe, and welcoming environment.
Support daily routines, house expectations, and program rules.
Respond to conflict using calm communication and de-escalation.
Communicate concerns clearly to the team and leadership.
Follow confidentiality, safety, and mandated reporting expectations.
Participate in training and team meetings.
Adjust to changing program needs, procedures, and priorities.
Minimum requirements:
Must be at least 25 years old.
Must be reliable and able to arrive for scheduled shifts.
Must be flexible and able to adjust when plans, youth needs, schedules, procedures, or priorities change.
Must be able to stay calm and professional when the workday does not go as expected.
Must be able to work as part of a team and communicate clearly with coworkers and leadership.
Must be willing to ask questions, receive feedback, and keep learning.
Must be able to follow written procedures and shared program expectations.
Must be able to complete basic written documentation.
Must be willing to work with youth and young adults.
Must complete required background check review.
Preferred, not required:
Lived experience with homelessness, recovery, foster care, behavioral health, poverty, disability, systems involvement, justice involvement, or other relevant life experience.
Experience supporting youth, young adults, families, or people in crisis.
Experience in shelter, outreach, peer support, recovery, behavioral health, education, caregiving, or community work.
This may be a good fit if you:
Have lived experience or strong personal connection to homelessness, recovery, foster care, behavioral health, poverty, disability, systems involvement, or justice involvement.
Believe young people deserve respect, structure, honesty, and second chances.
Can build trust with young people without trying to “save” them.
Can hold boundaries respectfully.
Can work as part of a team, not just as an individual staff member on shift.
Can communicate when something is unclear, difficult, or not working.
Can be flexible when plans change or the shift does not go as expected.
Can follow program expectations even when situations are emotional or difficult.
Can write basic notes about what happened during a shift.
Can stay calm when youth are upset, frustrated, or testing limits.
Are willing to learn, ask questions, receive feedback, and grow.
This may not be the right fit if you:
Want a job that is only mentoring or hanging out with youth.
Prefer to work independently without regular team communication.
Struggle when plans change quickly.
Have a hard time receiving feedback or adjusting your approach.
Are not comfortable with documentation, cleaning, safety checks, passdown, or routine shelter operations.
Take youth behavior personally.
Struggle with professional boundaries.
Have difficulty following shared team expectations.
Are not able to stay calm during conflict.
Ryan’s House for Youth is an equal opportunity employer. We value lived experience, reliability, accountability, boundaries, teamwork, flexibility, and willingness to learn.
Pay: $21.00 – $25.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Professional development assistance
Application Question(s):
- This role requires documentation, cleaning, safety checks, passdown communication, and following written procedures. Are you willing and able to do all parts of the role?
Shift availability:
- Day Shift (Preferred)
- Night Shift (Preferred)
Work Location: In person
Title: Youth Advocate – Full/Part-Time, Lived Experience Valued
Company: Ryan’s House For Youth
Location: Coupeville, WA
