Youth Care Worker II, AIS

Company : IWK Health 

Req ID: 192924 
Department/Program: AIS Addictions Day and Out Client, Mental Health And Addictions 
Location: Halifax   

Type of Employment: Temporary Hourly FT long-assignment (100% FTE) for 1 year x 1 position(s)
 Start Date: December 2024
Union Status: NSGEU Hlthcare, Healthcare Bargaining Unit
Compensation: $31.9145 - $38.5478 /hour
Closing Date: December 06, 2024 (Applications are accepted until 23:59 Atlantic Time)

IWK Health is a respected academic health sciences centre located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing tertiary and primary care for two million children, youth, adults and families each year across the Atlantic region. We have a team of approximately 4000 employees, physicians, volunteers and learners at sites across Nova Scotia. People build careers with IWK Health with our focus on training and mentorship opportunities. We recognize each other’s talent and celebrate our successes. We collaborate in modern facilities or virtually from home, align our work to our values, and enjoy access to enhanced benefits and wellness programs. We are proud to support our patients, families and communities and are grateful for the generous donor support we receive.

Promoting an anti-racist environment, and calling out discrimination as we work and provide care, is important to us. We are located in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. Working in Mi’kma’ki and providing care to those across Atlantic Canada is a shared privilege with the original inhabitants who have lived here for many thousands of years prior to colonization. There are 13 First Nation communities across Nova Scotia, and more than 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities who also have a long, deep, and complex history dating back over 400 years. We have the highest percentage of people with disabilities in the country. Nova Scotia has the highest proportions of transgender and non-binary people than any other province or territory in the country. We are active in our work to eliminate discrimination, but have more work to do to build that trust, acknowledge our biases and reduce the barriers our diverse communities face. We want IWK Health to be a safe and supportive space of equity and belonging in the care we provide and the employment we offer. We welcome all interested persons who self-identify as Indigenous, Black/African Nova Scotians, Persons of Colour, Immigrants/Newcomers, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply to support our goal for our workforce to be representative of the patients, families, and communities that we care for at all job levels.

The Opportunity

Adolescent Intensive Services provides a rehabilitative mental health and addictions treatment setting that provides Day 24/5 and 24/7 treatment services to adolescents between the ages of 13 up to 19 years of age. The Youth Care Worker participates as a member of an interdisciplinary team to assist in providing holistic and comprehensive treatment to meet the needs of adolescents who present with significant mental health challenges causing them to experience functional impairment at school, home and/or in the community. Utilizing an attachment-based model (CONNECT), AIS works with clients and families to enhance adaptive living skills, address underpinning biopsychosocial issues and to assist in improving their function at home, in the community and at school. 

Reporting to the Manager of Adolescent Intensive Services, and under the leadership and supervision of regulated health care providers, the Youth Care Worker collaborates with the inter-professional team members and partners to provide quality physical and psychosocial care.  The Youth Care Worker works to provide supervision and guidance regarding mental and physical health, daily living skills, community integration and advocacy for children and their families.  The Youth Care Worker builds constructive supportive relationships; ensuring client confidentiality and professional boundaries.

The Youth Care Worker, under the direction of an interdisciplinary mental health and addictions team, provides quality emotional and physical care to clients in a 24-hour inpatient and day program setting; assists with developing individualized treatment plans and is responsible to implement that plan; provides information, training, education and support to parents and caregivers; develops and implements program related activities; maintains documentation of client care; manages disruptive and aggressive behaviours using non-violent crisis intervention and de-escalation skills. The Youth Care Worker could be reassigned to other Mental Health and Addictions units as operationally required.

Hours of Work

Monday – Friday, 8am-4pm (7.5hr shifts)

Your Qualifications

• Successful completion of an undergraduate degree in Child and Youth Care Studies or an undergraduate degree and a graduate from a 2-year accredited Child and Youth Care diploma program or internal applicants (who do not meet the minimum education requirements) currently working as a Youth Care Worker I in the IWK Mental Health and Addictions Program with five (5) years’ experience in child and adolescent mental health and addictions.
• CYC Practitioner certification preferred.
• Minimum of two (2) years’ experience in mental health or related experience with children and adolescents as applicable to the care area. Or internal applicants (who do not meet the minimum education requirements) currently working as a Youth Care Worker I in the IWK Mental Health and Addictions Program with (5) years’ experience in child and adolescent mental health and addictions.
• Three to five years’ experience preferred.
• Successful completion of a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Basic Life Support (BLS) Program within the last 12 months or successful completion of a BLS Renewal Challenge Certificate required.
• NCI certification required.
• Has obtained additional training and is approved to work within their expanded scope of employment for activities such as facilitation of education sessions and intensive repetitive interventions with clients.
• Strong knowledge of child and adolescent development.
• Knowledge and experience of mental health and/or concurrent disorders and evidence-based treatment modalities.
• Working knowledge of concurrent disorders and harm reduction approaches.
• Understanding and experience in the CONNECT attachment-based model and Trauma Informed Care.
• Demonstrated appropriate judgement in establishing a therapeutic interaction with client/family population.
• Demonstrated problem solving, facilitation, and observational skills.
• Demonstrated excellence in communication and interpersonal skills required.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively as a member of an interprofessional care team and/or independently, with minimum supervision required.  
• Demonstrated excellent time management, workload prioritization, and organizational skills required.
• Demonstrated conflict resolution skills and ability to handle stressful situations successfully required.
• Demonstrated knowledge and competency in meeting IWK clinical documentation standards preferred.
• Holds a valid minimal Class 5 Nova Scotia driver’s license and reliable transportation required.

Thank you for your interest in IWK Health.

Please note that we only contact applicants selected for interview/testing. If we invite you to participate in an assessment process (such as an interview or testing) you have the right to request accommodation. Please discuss your needs when invited to the assessment process.

This is a Healthcare  bargaining  unit position. Preference is given to bargaining unit employees for unionized positions. Successful applicants changing unions, bargaining units or employment status, are advised to seek clarification regarding their seniority, benefits, and vacation entitlement and/or usage, prior to accepting the position.

An  offer of employment is conditional upon the completion and satisfactory results of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials.

If you are an employee of IWK Health, please apply through the internal careers page to ensure you are flagged as an internal applicant.