PACT Dispatch Navigator

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and compassionate individual to join our PACT team as a Systems, Screening and Dispatch Navigator. This role is a critical part of our crisis response team, providing acute mobile crisis support and de-escalation services for individuals experiencing mental health and/or substance use related crises.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the central call line for the PACT team, including phone lines and text messages
• Assess and triage calls and text messages from the community, initiating Community Care Plans and resourcing community supports
• Develop support and safety plans for individuals in crisis, and/or for Third Party Callers
• Consult with community resources, family members, and peers, as directed by and appropriate to the caller's needs
• Redirect callers to access pertinent resources, including 911 and/or the crisis line
• Engage in assessments and obtain all necessary information to assist the PACT team in responding to crisis calls
• Provide non-judgmental emotional telephone and text support and crisis intervention, including assessment, problem-solving, and community resourcing
• Complete thorough assessments of suicidal ideation and/or homicidal ideation, including planning or attempt in progress
• Use assessment and screening tools to determine urgency and involve the PACT Team or other emergency services, depending on severity and needs of the individual and care provider(s) onsite
• Assess needs and risk of callers, referring to appropriate services and providing short-term follow-up during wait times, and until PACT support can be arranged
• Support behind-the-scenes systems, including communication with internal AVI programs, staff scheduling, payroll, and leave management
• Consult with community members and resources, as appropriate to client care
• Prioritize multiple competing tasks using a methodological approach to problem-solve, make decisions, and communicate clearly
• Assess, identify, plan, intervene, and evaluate bio-psycho-social-spiritual care needs in accordance with best practices and document
• Monitor team workload and location and input/evaluate and triage according to capacity
• Implement active 'rescue' when an intervention is required (i.e., call 911, advise use of lifesaving First-Aid, etc.)
• Maintain confidential client case files, including Community Care Plans, safety, and wellness assessments
• Maintain familiarity with Comox Valley resources, their interrelationships, and their function in delivering care in the community

Crisis Response

PACT is an emergency response team, supporting individuals and their community/family experiencing mental health and substance use related crises. As a Systems, Screening and Dispatch Navigator, you will be expected to:

• Model a high degree of cultural competency, including ensuring services are culturally sensitive and incorporate Indigenous knowledge, practices, and approaches to healing and wellness
• Be ready and able to respond to mental health and substance use related crises
• Triage and adjust responses depending on call acuity, severity, and other incoming calls
• Think critically and respond quickly, especially in critical situations and when deciding the next course of action
• Attend back-to-back calls
• Communicate effectively with and follow the direction of the PACT Team's Dispatch/Coordinator or any supervisor
• Remain responsive to incoming calls up until the end of shift, and/or when Mandatory Emergency Overtime is in effect
• Demonstrate emotional resilience, including and especially within complex situations
• Work effectively as a team, including respectful communication throughout and following an emergency crisis response
• Continuously center the needs of the person experiencing crisis
• Effectively and professionally engage other care providers, including when advocating for a person in crisis, and/or when critically assessing and determining the next course of action
• Develop comprehensive safety plans and establish post-crisis follow-up care, centering the needs of the person in crisis

Situational Awareness, Scene Safety, and Unpredictable Working Conditions

PACT works in environments and conditions that may change quickly, including with individuals who may be or become escalated. As a Systems, Screening and Dispatch Navigator, you will be expected to:

• Utilize a trauma-informed approach, including with individuals who are escalated and who use language or express beliefs that could be offensive or triggering for staff
• Decenter yourself to provide care to all individuals accessing our services
• Utilize situational awareness, assessment, de-escalation, and mental health training to work safely within changing and unpredictable environments
• Be prepared for and able to adapt to changing work environments, including all kinds of weather, for extended periods, within and around diverse types of substance use, within and around respiratory illnesses, within potentially hazardous dwellings, and within unknown and unpredictable environments
• Perform in-person assessment to critically assess and determine the next course of action, including in cases where Dispatch was unable to provide detailed information
• Remain on scene and able to critically assess, including when a situation escalates and/or requires a higher level of care
• Professionally engage service providers, including police, ambulance, fire, and healthcare providers, etc.
• Utilize ongoing assessment, rapport building, and universal precautions
• Utilize direct questions (open and closed-ended), direct feedback, and motivational interviewing skills

Program Development and Accountability

Community-led responses to mental health and substance use related crises are a new and evolving approach to care, grounded in living knowledge and accountability to communities and individuals who use the service. As a Systems, Screening and Dispatch Navigator, you will be expected to:

• Be open to feedback, engage in self-reflective practices, and humility
• Understand and practice both collective and personal accountability
• Be self-directed and able to perform all duties and professional obligations, without prompting or reminding
• Adhere to all PACT Program Policies and Practices
• Adhere to AVI's Policies and Procedures and Code of Ethics

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of colonialism and the ways in which historical and ongoing colonization impacts Indigenous People
• Minimum 3 years relevant experience, including mental health services, de-escalation, and crisis response, and case management
• Undergraduate Degree in the mental health field (counseling, social work, psychiatric nursing)
• Model a high degree of cultural competency, including ensuring services are culturally sensitive and incorporate Indigenous knowledge, practices, and approaches to healing and wellness
• Crisis Intervention Skills, including extensive experience with situational awareness, mental health assessments, and suicide intervention
• Able to respectfully engage and support Indigenous relationships, with a trauma-informed and decolonial lens
• Demonstrated skills, experience, and knowledge of harm reduction and health promotion practices
• Demonstrated practice of social justice, cultural humility, and trauma-informed approaches to care

Key Characteristics

• Ability to manage hostile interactions, utilizing non-violent communication, situational awareness, and diffusing techniques
• Emotional Resilience and ability to center the needs of the person in crisis, including persons who are angry, hostile, expressing values and beliefs that are opposed to yours/the team's
• Humility, flexibility, and self-directed
• Ability to critically assess and remain grounded in complex, changing situations
• Ability to work mandatory overtime, to continue to provide emergency responses, where and as needed

Position Details

• Pay: $33.99/hour to start with stepped increases based on your seniority with AVI
• Hours and Schedule: casual shifts falling between Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, subject to change based on operation needs of program
• Location: PACT office and throughout Comox Valley responding to crisis and in the community and where as needed, including in people's homes, community centers, and outside/with folks surviving outside
• Union: AVI is a union environment under the Collective Agreement: HEABC & Health Services & Support Community Subsector Association 2022-2025 and this role is a BCGEU union position
• Pension: If you are already a member of the Municipal Pension Plan (MPP), you can continue with them at AVI immediately. At this time, AVI contributes an additional 9.31% towards your pension account. If you are not already a member of the Municipal Pension Plan, part-time staff may become eligible after 2 years with AVI
• Other Perks: This position gets paid an extra 5% in lieu of vacation 5% in lieu of stats, meaning your hourly rate is actually 10% higher than listed
• Hours of Work, Days Off, and Work Area may be subject to change

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