Summary of the Position:
Grid Level: 38, $27.84/hour
Work Location: 111-2787 Jacklin Rd
Hours of Work: Casual hours Monday – Friday, potential for regular hours in the future
Start Date: ASAP
To Apply, please submit your resume and cover letter to jobs@avi.org by December 13, 2020
Job Summary:
Under the direct supervision of the Manager of Westshore AVI Health Centre, or designate, the Casual Westshore Systems Navigator is responsible for the delivery of support, advocacy, harm reduction and outreach services to individuals accessing the Westshore AVI Health Centre. They will work as part of a multidisciplinary health team to provide a broad range of psychosocial and health-related supports to individuals in accordance with the clinic’s goals and objectives. This role is key to the clinic’s goal of keeping people engaged in care and maximizing treatment outcomes.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- Uses brief assessment, crisis response, and counselling skills to help meet immediate, basic needs and make appropriate referrals to other health and support services.
- Distributes safer drug use supplies, safer sex supplies and naloxone kits, and provides information and training in harm reduction, overdose prevention and overdose response.
- Contributes to mentorship and modeling of practice that is in line with principles of social justice, trauma-informed care and cultural humility.
- Proactively engage with people who use/have used opioids and individuals who are living with, or at risk for, HIV/hepatitis C using a collaborative, person-centered approach grounded in harm reduction and trauma-informed practice
- Proactively support patients of the clinic to remain connected in care including early identification of at-risk clients, regular reviews of client charts, assessments of clinic policies and procedures etc.
- Makes appropriate referrals to patients and their family to other health and support services.
- Assists patients with the paper work required to obtain disability status
- Provides advocacy to patients by performing duties such as speaking on their behalf in areas such as housing, medical, legal and other support and government agencies
- Provides outreach services as needed in the community including accompaniment to appointments, home visits and hospital visits, as appropriate.
- Maintains confidential records in accordance with privacy requirements.
- Fosters safety by following protocols related to violence prevention and critical incidents such as overdose and other medical emergencies.
- Maintains both paper and electronic confidential client files in the clinic’s EMR.
- Engages in planning, evaluation, reporting, and program development as directed.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
Education, Training, and Experience:
- University degree in Health or Social Services, Counselling, Social Work, Psychology, etc.), or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Registration as a Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers would be an asset
- Valid Class 5 BC Driver’s License and use of own vehicle for work purposes.
- First Aid training and experience responding to critical incidents
The Westshore AVI Systems Navigator will have a minimum of three years relevant work experience and will demonstrate the following minimum requirements:
- 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.
- 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 knowledge in the areas of safer drug use, addictions, safer sex, sex work, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, mental health, etc.
- Case Management skills including advocacy and referral
- Demonstrated practice of social justice, cultural humility, trauma-informed and public health approaches and models of social support and health care.
- Experience managing hostile interactions, utilizing non-violent communication and diffusing techniques.
- Ability to problem solve with creativity, flexibility, assertiveness and a ‘cool head’ in dealing with complex issues.
- Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills and demonstrated commitment to working within a collaborative team approach.
- Demonstrated time management and personal organization skills
- Experience with overdose response, including administration of naloxone, is an asset.
Skills and Abilities:
- 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.
- Strong communication skills (verbally, written documentation, etc).
- Organized and able to triage crises, urgent demands and complex situations.
- Demonstrated empathic observer invested in respectful relationship-building.
- Ability to establish and maintain rapport with individuals who have experienced trauma and abuse due to structural violence, stigma and discrimination.
- Ability to anticipate and identify challenges and proactively address through collaborative problem-solving.
- Crisis intervention skills with a diverse population facing significant structural barriers.
- 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).
- Demonstrated skills, experience, and knowledge in the areas of harm reduction/health promotion practices, safer sex and safer drug use practices, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, poverty, trauma and mental health.
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.