Community Support Worker

**Community Support Worker-Harm Reduction**:
DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society Surrey, BC

The Community Support Worker-Harm Reduction provides International students attending post secondary institutes in Surrey with information, orientation, service linking and short-term crisis counselling to facilitate their successful Safe integration into the student community. As part of this process, the worker acts as a liaison between the International students, and the third party service providers to facilitate the communication and access to programs and services.

**Responsibilities include**:

- Conduct outreach to solicit referrals to the program
- Responds to client referrals by outlining the program eligibility and services
- Conducts in - home assessment of client needs, assets, and capacities through interviewing clients
- The ability to plan, coordinate and facilitate group services, including the workshops series and support groups after assessing the needs of the clients
- Gathers sufficient information to assess the needs and issues of International Students and develops and implements an action plan to meet these identified needs;
- Identifies potential and actual risks and barriers encountered by the client to accessing programs and services that are necessary for the successful settlement and integration into the community;
- Provide emotional and practical support to clients navigating challenges with substance use
- Support capacity building through focussing on client’s strengths, assets and resilience
- Assists clients in accessing appropriate programs and services for which they are eligible and ensures successful linking to these services. This includes liaising between the client and a third-party service provider to link clients to harm reduction services such as: naloxone training, substance use counselling and other critical wellness supports to address opioid use;
- Provides information concerning clients’ rights and obligations as a service recipient and resident of Canada;
- Assisted access to services and accompaniment to appointments for cultural brokerage and service bridging as needed;
- Provides interpretation services (both language and cultural) to facilitate interaction/interface between International Students and the community;
- Detects issues such as depression, suicide risk, warning signs for substance use disorder and any other issues that may put the client’s health/wellness at risk;
- Provides supportive counselling as needed to ensure international students have access to critical substance use and mental health supports;
- Plans, coordinates and/or provides educational workshops on a variety of topics related to the successful settlement and integration international students as it relates to healthy lifestyle chooses, harm reduction measures, substance use disorder counselling and other mental health supports
- Liaises with, and promotes the interests of clients, with service providers in the community for the purposes of program promotion, case consultation, referral and management;
- Establishes and maintains comprehensive inventories of community resources to make available to immigrant and/or refugee clients;
- Maintains related records and statistics. Produces reports, including intake, progress and discharge in accordance with established policies and guidelines
- Adheres to policies and procedures and standards of practice

**Mandatory Qualifications**:

- Degree with a minimum 1-year experience in Social Work or Community Social Services or related human services
- Diploma with a minimum of two-year recent community services related work experience, or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience;
- Must be able to respond to or assist in emergency situations, and have good interpersonal, mediation, negotiation and conflict resolution skills;
- Knowledgeable in the area of substance use disorder and harm reduction approaches to supporting clients who use opioids and other substances. Must be comfortable with Naloxone use and knowledgeable of where and how to support clients in accessing harm reduction supplies and supports

**Additional Asset Qualifications**
- Demonstrated knowledge of the needs and issues of international students in Canada and knowledge of available community resources, programs and services;
- Must be comfortable working with individuals who have experienced trauma;
- Knowledge and understanding of legislation and policies relevant to International Students in Canada;
- Knowledge in the areas of needs and risk assessment, family dynamics, the impact of trauma, and the settlement and integration process;
- Demonstrated ability to promote and implement education and support group services;
- Verbal and written proficiency at a professional level for both English and Punjabi;
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within a team setting - inter-departmental teams and community service providers;
- Valid