Outreach Worker, Css

As we serve vulnerable youth, all employees working for Covenant House Vancouver must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Proof of vaccination status will be required prior to your start date.

**About Covenant House Vancouver**:
Since 1997, Covenant House Vancouver has provided relentless support for youth experiencing, or at-risk of experiencing, homelessness. We provide support to young people age 16 to 24 who have experienced a wide range of early life and ongoing, complex trauma; including physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. Our purpose is to serve all youth, with absolute respect and unconditional love, to help youth experiencing homelessness, and provide a safe and supportive environment for all youth in need.

Working at Covenant House will be one of the most meaningful things that you’ll do in your life. However, you will be confronted with significant issues in this work and frankly, this work is not for everyone. In the course of doing your work, particularly for those doing frontline work, you will be exposed to the trauma of others. The youth we serve may also experience overdose, physical harm perpetuated by self or others and even death. Because we provide a relational model of care, the harms our youth experience can impact us in varying degrees.

We will provide more information on vicarious trauma during recruiting and on-boarding, to help you decide if Covenant House is the place for you.

**The Impact The Outreach Worker With The Community Support Services Team Can Make**:
Your primary role as the Outreach Worker is to provide services to youth living on the street and/or in the community. You will build trusting, supportive professional relationships with youth who are street homeless, precariously housed, and/or disconnected from services. This role will be to provide street outreach services, primarily in the Downtown Eastside and Granville Street areas of Vancouver, to youth who are experiencing significant mental health and substance use challenges. It is expected that many clients encountered in this role may be in crisis.

You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team to determine the best plan of care to help youth reach their goals and transition to healthy, confident adults. Working in the Community Support Services (CSS) Program you will provide an array of ‘as-needed’ services to young people. You will support the youth with personal planning, referrals to other social services and connections to harm reduction resources.

The Outreach Worker must be able to work confidently in an unstructured environment and be comfortable engaging with young adults with significant mental health and substance use concerns. The Outreach Worker is also responsible for planning and implementing all activities related to Covenant House Vancouver’s street reach services.

**How You Will Contribute**:

- Responsible for the successful operations of the outreach team activities, which include street-reach, relationship-building, and service coordination with health and community service partners
- Act as a Covenant House Vancouver representative and attend standing community service provider meetings (e.g. Eastside Planning Table, Reconnect, ect).
- Take a lead role in networking with community agencies and sharing information about Covenant House programs and services
- Organize and leads street -reach activities with a shift partner
- Responsible for quality assurance and quality improvements related to outreach services
- Identify, relationship-build, and engage with unhoused or precariously housed youth on an outreach basis
- Meet with individuals experiencing homelessness, in the locations where they are spending time, to provide support
- Assess and respond to youth’s immediate needs, and provide them with practical resources including food, clothing and transportation
- Maintain library of community resources - including mental health, harm reduction, substance use, cultural supports as a resource for all CSS staff
- Liaise and communicate with various service providers regarding joint case management, client plans, risk assessment, and advocacy
- Liaise as needed with other CHV departments regarding Outreach related issues.
- Work collaboratively with other staff to assist youth in identifying attainable short and long-term goals, strategies for meeting these goals, and an action plan for implementation
- Respond confidently to emergencies and behavioral, mental health, emotional, or substance use concerns using trauma-informed practice
- Document client notes in ETO, write Incident Reports, and other routine documentation as required
- Manage youth case files, including all relevant reporting and documentation
- Attend all training as directed by your manager
- Other duties as required

**Who We Are Looking For?**:
**Education and Experience**:

- Diploma or bachelor’s degree related to social service and minimum 2 years of Outreach experience and 3 years of to