FT Child & Youth Counsellor

Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC) is a diverse, dynamic, multiservice Indigenous health and wellness agency.  We strive to provide quality, wholistic health services by sharing and promoting traditional and western health practices to enable people to live in a more balanced state of well-being. SOAHAC provides services to Indigenous people including those who live on and off reserve, status, non-status, Inuit, and Metis within the Southwest, Waterloo Wellington and Erie St Clair regions. SOAHAC has a mandate of ensuring that health services are accessible, of high quality, and are culturally appropriate. It is SOAHAC’s objective to build health care capacity within Indigenous communities.  Currently, we are seeking the services of a Child & Youth Counsellor to join our interdisciplinary staff team to work at our Windsor site.

Reporting to the Integrated Care Manager, the Child & Youth Counsellor assists in providing a positive, welcoming environment for community members, individual clients, their families, and staff. The successful candidate will be involved in a wide range of social work services with a focus on supporting children, youth and their families to improve wellness, achieve stability, and increase resilience. Services will be provided in Windsor and to surrounding First Nations communities and will respond to other internal referrals.

Requirements

·      Bachelor’s level education in asocial service field and professional membership (RSW required), combined with at least 2 years’ direct experience.

·      Knowledge of Indigenous culture, values, and history.

·      Commitment to the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional well-being of Indigenous people.

·      Awareness of health and wellness issues pertaining to Indigenous People.

·       Community work experience with children, youth and families to improve wellness, coping skills, and provide empowerment in the following areas: substance abuse, mental health, poverty, housing, legal, social assistance, education, family violence, crisis intervention.

·       Training or certification in mental health and substance abuse screening and assessment, relationship violence screening, crisis intervention/assessment, counseling techniques, trauma/abuse, life skills, supporting people living with disabilities.

·      Computer proficiency including proven ability to use relevant technology (i.e. computer based data collection)

·      Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team environment

·       Proof of current/ valid license from regulatory body required

·      Valid Ontario Driver’s “G” license; clean driver’s abstract, as well as proof of personal auto insurance (must be insured a minimum of 3 years and in good standing)

·       First Aid/CPR certification required

·      Willingness to participate in Indigenous Cultural Safety Training, teachings and ceremonies;

·      Clean and current police check as a condition of employment

·      Up to date immunizations and records

Responsibilities

·      Support Indigenous children, youth and families at SOAHAC by providing culturally appropriate professional social work services.

·       Work closely with internal SOAHAC teams as required

·       Develop wellness goals/plans and empower children, youth and their families

·       Complete social work functions including paperwork/form completion, screening and assessment of needs, and advocacy, linkages to appropriate services, brief counseling, referrals, crisis support, and case management. It will also include program development and facilitation of workshops.

·       Provide these services in the Windsor office and travel to surrounding First Nations as needed.

·       Manage and meet targets for caseload and maintain direct service requirements

·       Manage indirect services, administrative duties, client statistical reporting systems as per funding requirements

·       Attend and actively participate in team meetings, case review and case conferencing as needed.

This job may require additional responsibilities and duties as assigned by Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre.

SOAHAC values diversity and is an equal opportunity employer; however, hiring preference will be given to qualified Indigenous applicants. SOAHAC is committed to providing employment accommodation in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. If you require accommodation to apply or if selected to participate in an assessment process, please advise Human Resources.

If you are interested in applying to this position, please forward you cover letter and resume to careers@soahac.on.ca.