Position Details:
Grid Level: Grid 38, $28.56/hour
Work Location: 713 Johnson Street, outreach / in community and the publicly-accessible location (when determined), Victoria, BC.
Hours of Work: 19 hours per week; shifts to be determined
Anticipated Start Date: December 13, 2021
End Date: September 1, 2022 or the return of the employee on leave
To Apply: Please submit your resume and cover letter to jobs@avi.org by Monday, November 29, 2021
Job Summary:
The Harm Response Team Systems Navigator will provide support to the Harm Reduction Response Team and work closely with the Team to identify and provide short term counselling, psychosocial and health-related supports and referral services to individuals struggling with substance use, mental health, and chronic health issues. The Harm Reduction Response Team Systems Navigator will be responsible for ensuring supportive case management services are offered within a harm reduction and health promotion framework and works with Response Team clients to assess needs and develop client directed goals in the community.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- Identifies Response Team clients who are seeking access to support and referrals.
- Provides outreach and support in a variety of settings including parks, encampments, shelters, drop in centers, people’s homes, community services and to people living outside and/or in temporary and fixed Overdose Prevention sites and other areas of Victoria, in all types of weather
- Actively engages Response Team clients and other clients in care by providing basic harm reduction information and access to harm reduction supplies.
- Demonstrates leadership qualities and ability to take on supervisory support when required
- Contributes to mentorship and modeling of practice for Response Team Support Workers that is in line with principles of social justice, trauma-informed care and cultural humility.
- Supports Response Team Leads to work collaboratively with community partners
- Provides outreach-based supports in the community including accompaniment to appointments, home visits, and advocacy in accordance with the established care plans.
- Uses brief assessment, crisis response, and counselling skills to help meet immediate, basic needs and make appropriate referrals to other health and support services.
- Provides advocacy to clients by working with them on issues such as housing, medical, legal and other support agencies.
- Liaises between the Response Team clients (or participants) and the Response Team members to support participants and assist with collaborative and proactive problem-solving as needed.
- Conducts individual or group information sessions, and develops educational materials to meet clients’ needs, as required.
- Provides information related to harm reduction, HIV/AIDS, and hepatitis C to other service providers, such as government and community-based agencies, and within medical and educational settings.
- Drives co-workers and services users to various area’s in the Capital Region District.
- Maintains both paper and electronic confidential client files.
- Fosters safety by following protocols related to violence prevention and critical incidents such as overdose and other medical emergencies.
- Engages in planning, evaluation, reporting, and program development as directed.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
University degree in Health or Social Services, Counselling, Social Work, Psychology, etc.), or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Proof of Vaccination Status, as required by the Provincial Health Order for Hospital and Community Health Care Services staff
A valid Class 5 BC Driver’s License
The Harm Reduction Response Team Systems Navigator will have a minimum of four year’s relevant work experience and will demonstrate the following minimum requirements:
- Direct service delivery and advocacy experience with community-based and provincial support services and systems (financial aid, housing, healthcare, justice system, etc.).
- Demonstrated skills, experience, and commitment to harm reduction principles and practices.
- Demonstrated ability to establish respectful rapport, provide support and advocate for a diverse range of individuals who are actively using substances and living with significant barriers to their health and well-being.
- Demonstrated empathic observer invested in respectful relationship-building.
- Demonstrated skills, experience, and knowledge in the areas of harm reduction/health promotion practices, safer sex and safer drug use practices, addictions, safer sex, sex work, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, poverty, trauma and mental health.
- Demonstrated practice of social justice, cultural humility, trauma-informed and public health approaches and models of social support and health care.
- Understanding of the impact on individual health and well-being, as well as the considerations for service delivery related to systemic barriers associated with poverty, mental health, substance use, trauma, racism, ongoing colonialism, heterosexism, and gender discrimination
- Experience managing hostile interactions, utilizing non-violent communication and using trauma informed practice
- Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills and demonstrated commitment to working within a collaborative team approach.
- Organized and able to triage crises, urgent demands and complex situations.
- Demonstrated knowledge of group process and facilitation techniques
- Understanding of health promotion and client-centered/harm reduction focused models of social support and health care
- Experience with overdose response, including administration of naloxone, is an asset.
Skills and Abilities:
- Commitment to honor local indigenous communities and to recognize the ongoing impacts of colonial violence.
- Committed to social justice, equity, anti-racism and decolonization.
- Practiced advocacy skills and ability to effectively navigate complex and convoluted systems access requirements of various health and social supports (eg. income assistance, housing, healthcare, addictions treatment options, etc).
- Physical ability to carry out the duties of the position and operate related equipment.
- Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team and to carry out independent responsibilities without supervision.
- Demonstrated leadership skills
- Strong communication skills (verbally, written documentation, etc).
- Demonstrated time management and personal organization skills to effectively support a full caseload.
- Case management skills including advocacy and referral
- Ability to anticipate and identify challenges and proactively address through collaborative problem-solving.
- Crisis intervention skills with a diverse population facing significant structural barriers.
- Ability to problem solve with creativity, flexibility, assertiveness
- Ability to document and report
- Ability to work outdoors during all types weather in all seasons.
We encourage applications from, but not limited to, Indigenous Persons, persons of colour, persons living with disabilities, persons who use/d illicit drugs, persons with experience of sex work, persons who live with HIV and/or hepatitis C and persons representing diverse genders and sexualities.