Integrated Child & Youth Clinical Counsellor - Exempt

Career Opportunity

Integrated Child & Youth Clinical Counsellor - Exempt Role

Mission Public School District is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded and shared lands of the Stó:lo people, which includes Sq'éwlets, Leq'á:mel, Sema:th, Matheqwí and Qwó:ltl'el First Nations.

Mission Public Schools is dedicated to providing our students with an educational environment that nurtures the development of an Educated Citizen. Located in the beautiful Fraser Valley, Mission is a vibrant and diverse community with over 6200 students and 1000 employees. We are committed to providing a safe, equitable, and inclusive educational system for all students in our thirteen urban and rural elementary schools, two middle schools, one secondary school, distributed learning centre, alternative learning centre, and vocational and technical college.

Reporting and accountable to the Director of Student Services, the primary responsibilities of this position are to work as part of the multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional integrated child and youth team to provide therapeutic counselling services and school liaison support for children, youth and families experiencing mild/moderate mental health needs, and to manage and oversee the Youth Peer Support Worker position. This role includes outreach work with the community to support a cluster of Public, Independent and First Nations operated schools within the geographic region.

This role is also required to be available to perform time-sensitive work outside of regular (9-5) working hours as required, e.g., emergency counselling to children and youth and their families and does not follow the school calendar and works 12 months of the year.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Specific Responsibilities:

• Support the ICY team and schools served to mitigate and address factors which may precipitate mental health and substance use challenges for children and youth.
• Provide child/youth and family therapeutic counselling through a lens of intervention and/or prevention support. Monitor the progress of child/youth on their case load.
• Responsible for recruitment, selection and hiring of school-based employees assigned to the portfolio within the program
• Perform the functions of a manager of employees in the Youth Peer Support Worker positions as a part of the ICY teams including:
• Provide orientation, coaching, training and mentoring to direct reports
• Manage employee conduct related matters including conduct employee relations related investigations with the human resources department, issues discipline and discharge of the employee when necessary
• Manage employee attendance including informal and formal discussions with employees when absenteeism is continuously impacting service delivery; provides consideration to all applicable leave of absence requests
• Manage employees including routine informal performance feedback, the development of employee work plans, and conduct staff performance review and related development plans reviews.
• Interpret and comply with applicable collective agreements, participate in the grievance and arbitration process, and consult with human resources to provide feedback on collective bargaining initiatives necessary to support to the program and community
• Manage assigned budget including staffing budgets allocated to the portfolio
• Liaise between school staff and the ICY team, to represent and advocate for the needs of all children and youth (birth to 18) within the geographic area with a focus on prevention/early intervention wherever possible.
• Provide support for the Youth Peer Support Worker to participate as a core ICY team member.
• Attend and actively participate in integrated child and youth team meetings.
• Provide oversight and supervision of the Youth Peer Support Worker to provide peer-based mentoring and emotional support to youth ages 12-19 with the following:
  • to support systems navigation and resource distribution to youth;
  • in facilitating or co-facilitating groups for children, youth and families as needed;
  • to encourage membership in the school community.
• As needed and as appropriate, attend school-base team meetings, partner and community agency meetings.
• Facilitate multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional team decision making through a consensus building process.
• Deliver workshops and ongoing training to families, district staff and community agencies as determined by the ICY team.
• Lead counselling groups for children, youth and families as needed.
• Cultivate a collegial atmosphere with case supervision and case consultation.
• Work in collaboration with school and school district counsellors.
• Consult with and coordinate support services from outside agencies when needed (e.g., community services, RCMP).

Team Responsibilities:

• Teams use a collaborative planning process and a common care plan for each child or youth, developed with a family/caregiver-centered approach, with consideration of the child/youth’s voice.
• Teams work closely with schools and primary care to help with early identification of children and youth who may need support and assist them to access services.
• Team practice will be informed by key principles including cultural safety and humility, trauma-informed care and family-centered care.
• Team members bring expertise and related experience and will provide a range of services including assessment and screening, consultation, and therapeutic services.
• Teams adjust service intensity to meet the specific needs of children and youth.
• Teams connect children, youth and families to higher intensity and more specialized services and supports or help transition young adults to adult services and supports when needed.
• Team hours of operation will be flexible and responsive to meet the needs of community.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• In-depth knowledge of the psychosocial development of children and youth.
• Ability to abide by ethical principles and act with integrity, accountability, and judgment in the best interests of the child/youth, families, and available services.
• Ability to maintain professional currency and have strong knowledge and experience in counselling including substance use/addictions, harm reduction philosophy, principles and practices, mental health/mental illness, and concurrent and co-occurring disorders.
• Knowledge of population-specific mental health and substance use care, including: Ethno-culturally diverse and racialized communities, gender questioning/gender fluid youth, child/youth with disabilities or diverse abilities with behavioural diagnoses, neurodevelopmental disorders, or intellectual disabilities with co-occurring mental health needs.
• Demonstrated cultural agility to work respectfully, knowledgeably, and effectively with Indigenous peoples with an understanding of Indigenous worldviews and approaches to healing.
• Knowledge of social determinants of health, health inequalities and intersectional analyses.
• Demonstrated ability provide collaborative leadership with child/youth, teachers, families, administrators, and community agencies within a multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional team environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively with diverse populations.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and use discretion when sharing sensitive information to individuals on a need-to-know basis.
• Highly effective organizational skills and proven ability to prioritize work while simultaneously meeting the needs of a diverse caseload.

Education & Professional Certification:

• Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology, Educational Psychology, Psychology or a related field and must include a 300-hour supervised practicum or equivalent. Preference may be given to a candidate with school-based practicum experience.
• Must be a Registered Clinical Counsellor and meet educational and training criteria to be a member of the BC Association of Clinical counsellors (BCACC) or a Registered Clinical Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers (BCCSW).

Experience:

• Preferred minimum of 3-5 years of experience working with families, children, and youth in a clinical counselling setting.
• Experience in clinical and/or educational interventions with children, adolescents, and families (including crisis intervention).
• Experience leading and managing employees including hiring, coaching and mentoring, performance and attendance management, and applying corrective discipline preferably in an unionized environment.
• Recent training and successful experience in mental health initiatives and suicide prevention.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience liaising between community partners.

This position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found, however, applications received by June 28, 2024 at 4:00pm will be assured full consideration.

OUR OFFER

This is an exempt position with a comprehensive employee benefits package:

• extended medical, vision and dental
• life insurance
• short- and long-term disability
• Employee Family Assistance Program
• Municipal Pension
• 13 paid holidays, plus sick and vacation time

Placement in the salary range is determined by an assessment of qualifications and ability to meet the key requirements of the job, and consideration of internal equity comparisons. Pay range is $97,335 to $121,669.

A clear Criminal Record is required for this position, with a review to be updated every five (5) years. Current and valid BC driver's license and safe driving record.

We thank you for your interest, however, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.