Youth Connector
Competition number: 1618
Date posted: July 24, 2023
Job type: Full time, 1 Positions
Application deadline: Until Filled
The Family Centre has a strong reputation for providing quality services basing our work on research and evidence based practices. We pride ourselves on providing leading edge training and strong, reflective supervision. Our intention is to create a healthy organization that is intelligent in its response to community issues and intentional about our respectful treatment of each other. We have a strong focus on Trauma Informed Care for the communities we support, as well as our staff teams. The Family Centre strives to hire a diverse team of employees, reflecting the diverse communities we support. The Family Centre is committed to Indigenous ceremony and practice and welcomes knowledge of ceremony and lived experience.
Mission:
The Family Centre exists to support families and children to help them flourish and to help people engage with one another in order to promote healthy, safe, and economically viable communities.
Vision:
Healthy families in healthy communities.
The Role:
The Family Centre is looking for a motivated and highly skilled individual who is interested in challenging frontline social work. The Youth Connector service was conceived to support furthering lifelong connections for youth and young adults receiving services from Children Services. Often these youth are disconnected from their families, communities and culture, and may be engaged in high risk activities including addiction, criminal justice involvement, sexual exploitation and unhealthy intimate partner relationships. The Youth Connector focuses on developing therapeutic relationships with the youth in order to increase their number of positive experiences, thereby diminishing the negative impacts of trauma. Youth are supported in developing a support network that enriches relationship, attachment, stability and belonging for themselves and when applicable, their children. Youth who have children, or become pregnant, require additional support as they may not have positive parent-child experiences or healthy attachment. Youth Connectors encourage interdependence and community integration through the development of life skills necessary to pursue education and occupation, manage finances, communicate effectively, resolve conflict, maintain housing, access community resources, recreation and hobbies.
Qualifications:
- Degree in Human Services Field, with related experience
- When eligible, application to and maintenance of membership in a professional organization
- Experience working with families from diverse cultures and experience working Child & Family Services and CSD beneficial
- Knowledge, skills and abilities to work with people who have experienced trauma
- Case management and facilitation skills
Mandatory Requirements:
- Police Information Check- Vulnerable Sector (completed within the last 6 months)
- Child Intervention Records Check (completed within the last 6 months)
- Our Children Are Sacred Youth Suicide Prevention Training or ASIST Suicide Intervention Training
- Registration with a professional body, if eligible (such as RSW)
When eligible, application to and maintenance of membership in a professional organization - Standard First Aid Level C CPR
- $2 million Vehicle Liability Insurance
- Reliable Vehicle, available for regular use and valid driver’s license
- 5-years Driver Abstract
Attributes:
- Strong interpersonal skills to help establish good working relationships with clients and colleagues
- Ability to establish clear boundaries and be sensitive to the individual needs of each youth and their family
- Ability to work in a team environment
- Reliable and flexible availability, including some evenings and weekends
- Ability to respond to crisis situations in a calm manner
- Understands the meaning in teachings and values embedded in ceremony, circle processes, and relational accountability
- Understands the importance of allyship with equity-seeking communities
Key Responsibilities:
- Expand the youth’s circle of support and reignite pre-existing relationships by being relentless in identifying and pursuing individual and community networks by incorporating Kevin Campbell’s approach to family finding methods
- Assess on-going risk for youth and safety plan accordingly within the Signs of Safety framework
- Support Indigenous youth to connect with their culture and follow protocol when participating in ceremony with them
- Use a Trauma Informed Care approach to support youth in exploring and understanding how their past experiences have impacted them by using the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire and Youth Resilience Measure as guides
- Successfully transition youth out of Children’s Service’s involvement by implementing strategies to achieve goals as outlined in the Transition to Independence Plan
What to Expect:
- Training – comprehensive onboarding/orientation process with includes service specific training, and agency wide core training.
- Feedback – a strong supervision model that provides regular formal and informal opportunities for feedback
- Performance coaching – formal and informal coaching regarding the development of personal and professional growth and development.
Compensation:
The Family Centre is committed to employee wellbeing and development. The comprehensive compensation package offered to employees reflects those values and is competitive within the marketplace.
- $49,112 to $63,892 annually
- On-call compensation
- 36.5 hour work week
- Fully paid Group Benefit Plan
- Wellness Program
- 3 weeks’ vacation
- RRSP matching
- Ongoing paid training
- Mileage compensation
- Paid sick time
- Agency-wide social events
- First People’s Circle and People of Colour Employee Support Groups
Closing Date:
Until Filled
Please send your resume and cover letter to:
Nicole Jiang
Manager, Family Support Services
The Family Centre thanks all applicants in advance. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. If contacted for an interview, candidates will have the option to participate via video call. The Family Centre is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to inclusive, barrier-free recruitment and selection processes and work environment. We will be happy to work with applicants requesting accommodation at any stage of the hiring process.
Staff Quote:
“I love building relationships with each youth on my caseload and seeing even the small differences I make in their lives. I enjoy how different each youth’s circumstances are. I love this because it makes my work with each of them different and makes my job change day-to-day depending on what each of their needs for support is.”