Urgent Help
IS THIS AN EMERGENCY? Are you or others in danger? Do you need an ambulance or the police? 24 HOURS
Lifeline 24 hour phone line for crisis support and suicide prevention. 24 HOURS
13YARN 24 hour crisis phone line support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 24 HOURS

Dave’s Story

YSAS Worker  

Dave Pettingill has felt like a youth worker since he was three. He grew up with many foster brothers and sisters, and eventually, his parents used the family home as crisis accommodation. He loved meeting so many different kids. “From an early age I could see that behaviours were a symptom of coming from an unloving family, or a broken home, or trauma,” he says. “There was goodness and kindness behind those symptoms.”

Dave was going to follow his parents’ legacy until he got a job at McDonald’s. “I actually earned more than my mum per hour as a 16-year-old,” he says. “This was back in the year 2000, and so it wasn’t very appealing for myself…[youth workers] were grossly underpaid.” Dave went down the finance route instead, working as a broker and loan writer for nearly five years. But youth work kept calling. “Finally, the penny dropped, and I was like, I don’t really want to just make someone else rich. I’d rather live a richer life and follow this legacy.”

Dave now works at the YSAS Residential Withdrawal in Geelong, supporting young people detoxing from drugs and alcohol. Many of the skills he teaches them are simple – how to cook, clean their clothes, make the bed, and write a resume. Then there are the more intangible skills, like emotional regulation. “A lot of thoughts and feelings can come up and place young people in highly volatile emotional states, [so] you can teach them how to self-soothe,” he says. “A text message might come in that’s thrown their mindset, and having someone there just to walk them through and go – ‘hey, let’s go for a drive, this craving might just last 20 minutes.'”

Many of the young people come from families where talking is not encouraged. “They’ve got all this stuff circling like a tornado in their mind,” he says. “When they actually write or speak about it, they realise it’s not as full on as in their head.” Dave teaches young people how to separate their problems into things they can and can’t control. “Let’s just focus on the controllables, and try to compartmentalise the uncontrollables because you can’t control that. Let’s be gentle and kind to yourself.”

Some of the young people who stay at the Geelong detox have never seen the ocean. “They actually say it’s the best day of their life doing the Great Ocean Road,” he says. “They just constantly take photos and it’s really hard to get them in the car.” Some have told Dave their experiences at YSAS are their greatest childhood memories. “It’s awesome on one hand, but it’s really quite sad on the other, that they might just be here for one week,” he says. Dave has received many calls from young people who got a job because he helped them write a resume and cover letter. “It was just one hour out of my day going through it and encouraging them, so that’s really special.”

The latest from YSAS

Media Release  
16.08.2024

YSAS welcomes the passing of the Youth Justice Bill in the Victorian parliament’s upper house, bringing the state one step closer to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12.

YSAS Acting CEO Dom Ennis said it was an important reform that will make Victoria a better place for some…

CEO Message  
14.08.2024

Youth Support Advocacy Service is disappointed that the Allan’s Government has renounced its decision to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

Last year, the Government committed to raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 by the end of this year, and to 14 by 2027.…

Media Release  
30.07.2024

A coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, human rights, social services, health, youth, religious and legal advocates are calling on the Victorian Parliament to back and strengthen the Youth Justice Bill, which is due to be debated today.

Five years in the making, the draft laws present a promising…

Story  
27.06.2024
Jacinta Allen announces pill testing trial will launch this summer

Pill testing will be permanent in Victoria following an 18-month trial of both mobile and fixed-site services to determine how best to offer the free drug checks to users. The $4 million trial will see mobile-sites at 10 music festivals…

Media Release  
23.05.2024

Up to 330 young people per year who come into contact with police will be denied access to an effective program that can turn them away from crime and toward a better future.

Despite a recent rise in youth crime and concerns about community safety, the State Government did…

Media Release  
23.04.2024

YSAS welcomes the Allan government’s Statewide Action Plan to reduce alcohol-related harm, including the appointment of Victoria’s first Chief Addiction Advisor.

YSAS CEO Andrew Bruun said the plan demonstrates the government’s commitment to making evidence-based harm reduction policy and treatment available to those who most need it.

“A targeted,…

Media Release  
23.04.2024

Young people with lived experience of drug and alcohol-related harm are disappointed the Victorian government won’t create a safe injecting service in Melbourne’s CBD.

YSAS practitioners, addiction medicine specialists and experts with lived and living experience have supported the life-saving North Richmond supervised safe injecting service since its inception in 2018.

Story  
22.04.2024

John Albrecht has fundraised for febfast each year for 15 years, often raising over $10,000. Here are his top tips for boosting your fundraising efforts.

When it comes to charity fundraisers – think febfast, Run for the Kids etc. – it’s often the money-raising bit that’s the hardest. We diligently…

Make a donation

Help fund best practice solutions that support young people experiencing serious disadvantage.