Addiction and Mental Health Worker, Peer Support, HART Hub London

CMHA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services • London, ON

7d • $27 - $37 • Onsite

About The Position

The London HART Hub is a low barrier recovery-oriented space that aims to support individuals experiencing homelessness with mental health and addiction needs to improve their health and wellbeing. HART Hubs will support its clients through access to high quality evidence informed care that is respectful, trauma-informed, culturally appropriate and compassionate in nature. It connects individuals with a continuum of care tailored to their needs by providing access to transitional supportive housing spaces where individuals can access a safe place to rest, obtain basic needs, health care, peer support, employment and income support, mental health and addiction services, and other services under one location. Individual units allow opportunities for autonomy and independence while accompanying support services ensure basic and personal needs are met while the individual works towards treatment, recovery and wellness.
The Addiction and Mental Health Worker, Peer Support Worker performs duties and responsibilities consistent with the principles of psychosocial rehabilitation, a recovery-oriented practice, and an evidence-based peer support model. While working as part of a multidisciplinary team within the London HART Hub program, the Peer Support Worker lends their expertise including lived experience of a serious mental illness and/or homelessness and/or addictions to support individuals in their unique journeys toward recovery. This is done in the areas of community inclusion, service engagement, and wellness promotion through individualized one-to-one support and group facilitation.

Requirements

• Police Vulnerable Sector Check Requirements
• Successful candidates must have a Police Vulnerable Sector Check (PVSC) completed within the last six months.
• Secondary School diploma (primary proof of credentials will be required during the hiring process i.e. original degree/diploma or official transcript)
• Lived experience of mental illness, and/or addictions, and/or homelessness
• Valid G class driver’s licence and access to a vehicle required for personal transportation
• Current, satisfactory Police Vulnerable Sector Check (PVSC)
• Demonstrated ability to attend work regularly

Nice To Haves

• Valid Driver’s Licence and access to a vehicle for personal transportation
• Completed peer support training, education, or certification through Peer Support Canada, PeerWorks, Support House, etc., or equivalent
• Current First Aid and CPR certification and ASIST certificate
• Prior volunteer or work experience as a Peer Supporter an asset
• Knowledge of treatment and wellness, health systems and community resources
• Ability to attend work regularly
• Ability to recognize and diffuse potential conflict situations
• Excellent communication, group facilitation, and interpersonal skills
• Bilingual both official languages, preferred; une préférence sera accordée aux personnes possédant des compétences dans les deux langues officielles du Canada

Responsibilities

• Meet and engage peers “where they are at”
• Extend unconditional high regard to peers at every point in the journey
• Uphold the rights of peers to have their voices heard and valued
• Treat peers with respect, and expect respect in return; support mutually-beneficial relationships
• Support peers to continue in their wellness journey, regardless of their diagnostic criteria and status
• Realize that relating based on shared/similar experience is unparalleled in terms of therapeutic value
• Recognize that peer supports have a different level of empathy than those without lived experience
• Able to intentionally share aspects of one’s own story/experience, and able to show a level of vulnerability as a central component of practice
• Foster self-determination, independence and resist dependencies when working with peers
• Able to take chances by being honest and using direct communication with peers
• Utilize own lived experience (appropriately sharing own path to wellness and self-discovery as well as knowledge of services and potential resources) to support participants in their resilience-building process
• Model effective coping techniques and positive self-help strategies based on recovery and wellness principles
• Facilitate a strengths-based approach to care that emphasizes the importance of safety, respect, hope, self-determination, and empowerment
• Facilitate social/support/life skills groups based on identified needs of peers served
• Practice and model the OPDI Core Essentials Training cornerstones of peer support: support, self-awareness, self-responsibility, and self-care
• Help foster peer-to-peer relationships among peers in residence that include support and friendships
• Support peers with relapse prevention, overdose prevention, etc. as appropriate
• Facilitate peers’ access to services and supports critical to promoting a successful transition to community
• Accompany peers on community outings to build confidence, promote social inclusion, and assist with navigating local resources
• Develop and facilitate relevant group programming to meet the needs of peers
• Provide assistance with wellness planning to support peer’s achievement of goals for self-sufficiency and community inclusion (i.e. assist and coach individuals in the learning and management/achievement of activities of daily living, the access to activities to enhance quality of life, and during housing transitions)
• Provide active, empathetic listening to hear peer’s perspective and wishes, with selective sharing to encourage, motivate, and support, keeping the focus on the peer’s experience
• Explore with peers the potential benefits of connecting with other communities and clinical options
• Encourage peer’s ideas and projects with a sensitivity to their worldview including awareness of diversity
• Use critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in collaboration with the peer to co-create new ideas and possible actions, rather than providing advice or making decisions for the peer
• Complete required documentation of each peer support interaction in the peer’s health record with brevity and a non-clinical approach
• Report on the progress of peers through on-going, effective communication with other team members
• Maintain healthy boundaries within the supportive, collaborative peer working relationship
• Ensure compliance with CMHA Thames Valley Addiction & Mental Health Services policies and procedures including Code of Ethics Agreement, Conduct and Behaviour – Safe Space, Workplace Harassment, Workplace Violence, Health & Safety, and Privacy & Confidentiality
• Ensure compliance with CMHA Thames Valley Addiction & Mental Health Services Peer Support Program Values as well as Limits & Boundaries
• Keep up-to-date on peer support-related topics and evidence-based practices

Benefits

• Starting rate for this role is $27.14 per hour (Level 1 – Direct Service), with a wage differential, based on regulation ($30.01 per hour for Level 1 – Direct Service, Regulated)
• Successful candidates who are registered with one of the designated professional colleges (e.g. OCSWSSW, CNO, COTO, CRPO, CPSO, or CPO) will receive the wage differential for regulation
• Successful external applicants will start at Level 1, with grid progression based on seniority up to Level 8 ($34.41 per hour for non-regulated, and $37.26 per hour for regulated); for internal applicants, grid level placement will occur as per the Collective Agreement
• Premiums of $2.00 will be applied for eligible Evening/Night and Weekend Shifts
• 70 hours over two-week period, rotating days, afternoons, evenings and weekends
• Immediate eligible for optional enrollment in the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP)
• 9% in lieu of benefits

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED