Family Peer Support Worker

Family Peer Support Position Integrated Child & Youth Team - qathet

• 17.5 Hours Per Week
• $28.32/Hour
• Work from home position and in the community within the qathet school district catchment area, including Texada Island and Lund
  

For more than 25 years, FamilySmart has been working in B.C. to help children and young people by helping their family and other caring adults. We know children and young people do better when the adults who care about them are supported. 

Position Summary

Family Peer Support Workers are parents and caregivers of children or youth with mental health and/or substance use challenges. Your personal parenting experience is the primary requirement for this role. Your experiences will help other families find help, comfort, hope,  and feel less alone.

As a Family Peer Support Worker, you are a member of the Integrated Child & Youth Team (ICY) in Peace River South. In this role, you will provide peer support  to families and caregivers whose children and youth are experiencing difficulty with their mental health and/or with substance use who are receiving services from the ICY team.  The ICY teams are part of  A Pathway to Hope – the provincial strategy for improved mental health and substance use care in B.C.  The ICY teams bring services together in a multidisciplinary team setting.  The teams make it easier for children, youth and their families to connect to the care they need, where and when they need it – at school and in the community.  To learn more about these positions visit B.C.'s Integrated Child & Youth Teams

The Family Peer Support Worker provides peer support to families and caregivers by:

• Working as part of the ICY team in qathet
• Providing emotional support to families and caregivers
• Sharing information and resources with families and caregivers
• Offering knowledge/education to families and caregivers
• Helping families and caregivers navigate (find their way to) services
• Building on parents and caregivers strengths and offering hope
• Meeting with families and caregivers  in-person, by video chat, phone and email

You do not need to be an expert in mental health and/or substance use, your family's experience is enough.

You

• Are good at building relationships
• Make connections easily
• Demonstrate compassion and care to others
• Demonstrates understanding and in-depth knowledge of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples and history, cultural practices and traditions in the qathet region and Tla'amin Nation
• Have the ability to identify and recognize current system gaps and barriers for Indigenous families and communities seeking support
• Are committed to coming alongside other families in a culturally appropriate and safe way; 
• Are able to work well with Service Providers and Educators  and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Have strong verbal and written skills in English (support available for the successful candidate)  
• Will be collecting data and documenting your work
• Have a Driver's License and access to a vehicle, travel to meet with families in various communities is required.  This may also include ferry travel to Texada Island.
• Have the ability to work from a home office and in the qathet community, including Texada Island & Lund, as well as attend meetings on Tuesdays at the Oceanview Education Centre
• Good working knowledge of Google Workspace, including gmail, calendar and docs
• Can pass a criminal records check

FamilySmart provides excellent support, supervision and training and will help you learn and develop the skills that we have discovered to help families and service providers work well together. 

We invite you to apply, and to learn more about this unique role.  At FamilySmart, experience with the child and youth mental health and/or substance use system is very important to us.  Please consider including in your cover letter a little information about why this is important to you as well.  Resumes & cover letters can be submitted via  

Please note that the assessment of applicants will be made on an ongoing basis and continue until a hire is made.

We thank all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. FamilySmart is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Personnel are chosen on the basis of ability without regard to age, ancestry, colour, family status, marital status, physical or mental disability, place of origin, political belief, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and criminal conviction unrelated to employment.