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Peer Support Worker

Who We Are:

Aunt Leah’s Place is a non-profit organization that helps prevent youth in foster care from becoming homeless and mothers from losing custody of their children. Aunt Leah’s Place aims to support youth on their journey to self-sufficiency; providing supported housing, job training, and education on essential life skills.

 

Job Summary:

Our ideal candidate shares our passion for improving the outcomes for youth and families affected by the foster care system. From day one, you will have a hands-on impact, providing program services, with the underlying objective of enhancing the quality-of-service outcomes and participant satisfaction.

Reports To:  Link Program Coordinator

Salary: Starting at $23.00/ hr

Qualifications & Requirements:

  • Minimum high school completion or equivalent
  • Lived experience in the foster care system
  • Minimum of 1 year related experience preferably, in peer support working with under-housed youth and families and individuals experiencing homelessness

Assets:

  • RentSmart training
  • Mental Health First Aid
  • Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Certification

 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

  • Communication skills (verbal and written)
  • Flexibility/adaptability in managing multiple priorities
  • Ability to follow and implement program policies and procedures
  • Computer/technical literacy
  • Interpersonal abilities and teamwork skills
  • Planning/organizing and budgeting skills
  • Cultural safety/competency
  • Documentation skills
  • Creative problem solving
  • Knowledge of the Residential Tenancy Act
  • Crisis management, de-escalation, and conflict resolution skills
  • Knowledge of the principles of Housing First
  • Ability to work independently

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

  1. Direct Care:
  • Provide outreach and support to participants, primarily in an office setting
  • Support, encourage, and collaborate with participants through developing a trusting relationship, using a trauma-informed approach to practice. Responsibilities include:
    • Facilitate housing readiness
      • Support with budgeting as it pertains to housing – understanding rent amounts based on the type of housing, location, etc.
      • Connect participants to tenant resources, including the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) and the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC)
    • Connect participants to affordable housing
      • Support participants with housing searches, educate participants on how to respond to housing postings, and provide advocacy with landlords, as needed
      • Connect participants to emergency housing, supportive housing, and private market housing options
      • Support participants with Aunt Leah’s housing subsidy applications, if applicable and in collaboration with Housing Case Manager and Link Coordinator
      • Connect participants to external housing subsidies, as needed
    • Provide housing advocacy and support housing maintenance
      • Support participants with tenancy challenges, to prevent evictions
      • Educate participants about tenants’ rights and responsibilities
      • Connect participants to other external housing-related workshops and resources
      • Refer participants to other internal and external services, including mental health, education, and employment supports, as needed
    • Prevent homelessness through moving support
      • Book movers for participants, as needed
      • Connect, or reconnect, participants to tenant resources
  1. Direct Care (Housing First):
  • Embrace the Six Principles of Housing First:
  • Rapid access to housing with supports:
    • Support participants with finding and securing permanent housing as rapidly as possible
    • Assist participants with rehousing if needed
    • Understands that housing readiness is not a requirement to secure housing
  • Offering participants’ choice in housing:
    • Provide choice in terms of housing options as well as the services participants wish to access
  • Separating housing provision from other services:
    • Understand that acceptance of any services, including treatment, or sobriety, is not a requirement for accessing or maintaining housing
  • Providing tenancy rights and responsibilities: 
    • Educate participants on tenancy rights and responsibilities, in accordance with the Residential Tenancy Act
  • Integrating housing into the community: 
    • Understand that, in order to respond to participant choice, minimize stigma, and encourage client social integration, more attention should be given to scattered-site housing in the public or private rental markets
  • Strength-based and promoting self-sufficiency: 
    • Facilitate participants’ self-determined goals toward independence and self-sufficiency
    • Collaborate with internal and external life skills, education, employment, mental and physical health, and housing services
  1. Direct Care (other duties):
    • Inform past participants of upcoming events and activities, and participates in the planning and facilitating of events and activities as required
    • Assist with facilitating drop-in and workshops for participants, as needed
    • Follow up on internal and external referrals, as requested by Aunt Leah’s Case Managers and Link Coordinator
    • Assist with creating, reviewing, and modifying service agreements with participants on a regular basis
    • Educate, inform, and advocate for participants regarding benefits and entitlements (government assistance, housing subsidies, etc.)
    • Connect with Aunt Leah’s Youth Advisory Committee, as directed
    • Effective use of Motivational Interviewing (collaboration, evocation, and autonomy)
    • Demonstrates reflective practice and use of a strengths-based approach
    • Perform other related duties as directed
  1. Professional Boundaries:
    • Maintain professionalism at all times by modeling appropriate language, topic of conversation, and a positive and healthy attitude
    • Ensure relationships with participants are strictly platonic
    • Establish clear boundaries with participants (e.g. direct conversations to positive lifestyle choices, explain your role with the participants, and ensure interactions with participants remain professional)
  1. Professional Development:
    • Participate in ongoing professional development through Relias, Aunt Leah’s Online Training Software
    • Meet with Link Coordinator for regular coaching meetings and to prioritize, review, and reflect on the workload
    • Complete any other training assigned by Link Coordinator
  1. Financial Responsibilities:
    • Responsible for providing receipts and coding used for Link participants when making purchases on Float card
    • Ensure that expenses follow budget guidelines
  1. Health and Safety:
    • Ensure that drop-in/resource and programming area is clean and tidy and maintained to Health and Safety Standards
    • Participate in an annual review of Aunt Leah’s Health and Safety Policies and Procedures and Link Program Manual
    • Participate in emergency drills in the office as required
  1. Communication:

Internal:

  • Complete daily log, monthly outcomes tracking, case notes in the Outcomes Tracking and Information System (OTIS) database and Critical Incident Reports, as needed
  • Attend meetings, including team meetings and monthly Staff Development
  • Collaborate with Aunt Leah’s life skills, education, employment, and residential housing departments
  • Liaise and seek direction from the Link Program Coordinator in crisis situations
  • Attend Aunt Leah’s events as directed by Supervisor; this may include but is not limited to youth recreational overnight trips, day trips, and workshops, etc.

External:

  • Liaise with community partners, professionals, and other stakeholders with the goal of connecting youth to relevant services and agencies
  • Liaise with Aunt Leah’s Youth Advisory Committee, as directed

 

Confidentiality:

  • Communication between Peer Support Worker and the participant is confidential
  • Follow Aunt Leah’s Society Policies and Procedures and Aunt Leah’s Code of Ethics (includes Child and Youth Care Association of BC Code of Ethics, Aunt Leah’s Privacy Policy, BC Rights of Youth in Care & UN Rights of the Child)

 

Physical Demands & Work Environment:

  • Full-Time Temporary (6 months with the possibility for extension to March 2024); generally, 37.5 hours/week; average shift is 7.5 hours/day; scheduled monthly by the Program Coordinator. Some flexibility is required
  • Work is performed mainly in an office environment with the flexibility to work remotely as needed
  • Primarily based out of the New Westminster Office; may be required to work from the Seymour Office in Vancouver as needed
  • This position requires some lifting of heavier objects

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy: As of January 4, 2022, Aunt Leah’s Place has implemented a COVID-19 Vaccination policy. Aunt Leah’s Place strongly encourages all employees to be fully vaccinated (2 doses) for COVID-19. Rather than a mandatory vaccine policy, we are implementing a voluntary disclosure of vaccination. Employees will fill out a “voluntary disclosure” form indicating their vaccination status. Employees that do not wish to voluntarily disclose their vaccination status will be considered unvaccinated for operational planning purposes. The voluntary disclosure form will be included in the hiring process.

 

Living Wage Employer: As a certified living wage employer, we are committed to compensating our employees a living wage that allows working families to support the healthy development of their children and participate in the social, civic and cultural lives of their communities. Embracing a living wage policy aligns with our Strategic Goals and provides our staff a great place to work!

 

We Offer: A comprehensive benefits package that includes: dental, extended health care including vision care and prescription, RRSP matching, generous vacation, and personal time package, and an employee discount at our Thrift Store.

 

To Apply: Please send your resume and cover letter with salary expectations, quoting Peer Support Worker in the subject line, to [email protected] . Short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews. Thank you for your interest in joining Aunt Leah’s Independent Life Skills Society!

We encourage qualified people of all gender expressions and identities, sexual orientations, visible minorities, Indigenous persons, and persons with disabilities to apply if you are interested in supporting our mission and mandate and like what we have to offer

Peer Support Worker
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