Peer Support Worker, Indigenous, Integrated Homelessness Action Response Team - Surrey

We invite you to apply today and find out why more than 95% of new employees recommend Fraser Health to their friends as an exceptional place to work. A 2022 BC Top Employer, we value diversity in the work force and seek to maintain an environment of Respect, Caring & Trust.

Bring your personal experience in recovery to a role that joins the collective efforts of supporting our clients experiencing homelessness, mental illness or chronic medical concerns. If you have experience of Indigenous culture and practices, and are looking for a challenge that is equally as rewarding, then this might be the opportunity for you. We are currently looking for a Full Time Peer Support Worker, Indigenous to join our dynamic Integrated Homelessness Action Response Team (IHART) and provide services in the Fraser South region located in Surrey, B.C. This is a chance to make a difference every day in the world of health care!

The IHART (Integrated Homelessness Action Response Teams) provide integrated, coordinated health services to members of our population who have inadequate or unstable housing. Utilizing a hands-on and direct approach of meeting individuals where they are currently situated means that IHART connects with individuals who are unsheltered, in shelters, in homeless encampments, and/or supportive housing environments. IHART is comprised of multidisciplinary teams capable of responding to health, mental health, and substance use issues including health promotion and prevention. Teams will also support continuity of care by providing cohesive linkages to primary care, and Specialized Community Services Programs (SCSP) such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Teams and specialized care services focused on seniors. IHART addresses a broad spectrum of health care concerns, including new and chronic conditions, by enabling supportive wrap-around care for those greatest in need and who have, historically, had the least access to services due to inadequate or unstable housing.

Fraser Health is responsible for the delivery of hospital and community-based health services to over 1.9 million people in 20 diverse communities from Burnaby to Fraser Canyon on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Nlaka’pamux Nations, and is home to six Métis Chartered Communities. Our team of 43,000 staff, medical staff and volunteers is dedicated to serving our patients, families and communities to deliver on our vision: Better health, best in health care.

Effective October 26th 2021, all new hires to Fraser Health will need to have full COVID 19 vaccination (have received a full series of a World Health Organization “WHO” approved vaccine against infection by SARS-COV-2, or a combination of approved WHO vaccines).  Please note this applies to all postings, and individual medical exemptions must be approved by the Provincial Health Officer.

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The Toxic Drug Response and Priority Populations (TDRPP) portfolio within the Fraser Health Authority encourages people with lived experience of substance use to apply to vacant positions within their portfolio. If you identify as an individual who has experience using the unregulated drug supply and would like assistance in navigating employment within the TDRPP portfolio please contact Erin Gibson, Manager Toxic Drug Response and Harm Reduction Fraser West, at erin.gibson@fraserhealth.ca. Thank you in advance for your interest in joining the amazing team within the TDRPP portfolio

In accordance with the Mission, Vision and Values of Fraser Health, the Peer Support Worker (PSW) - Indigenous shares their own consumer knowledge and lived experience of homelessness with medical or substance use and mental health concerns, and also within the context of their shared peer experience of Indigenous culture, to assist clients of the assigned Integrated Homelessness Action Response Team (IHART) in their identified goals. The PSW identifies themselves as a peer and collaborates with the client and SUSAT to meet individual needs and situational requirements by providing information from a lived experience perspective in order to assist clients to obtain services from other Fraser Health staff, First Nations Health Authority, M�tis Nation BC, Indigenous Friendship Centres and other external service providers and community resources more effectively. Provides clients living with substance use/mental illness/chronic medical concerns with emotional and social support, life skills assistance, information, and resources. The PSW works collaboratively with the assigned team to ensure the client's self-identified goals for recovery and community connection are supported by appropriate services and practices, and are consistent with the values of self-determination /choice and harm reduction. Provides culturally-safe services in a variety of environments dependent on the needs of the client.

1. Facilitate connections that increase accessibility to Indigenous (First Nation, M�tis and Inuit) cultural services.
2. Establishes a dignifying and purposeful relationship with the client, contacting and getting to know the client as a unique individual, and clarifying the role of the Peer Support Worker in relation to the client.
3. In accordance with a client's co-created care plans, provides information to clients regarding empowerment, self-help education, practical information, resources, life skills, and demonstrations.
4. Assists clients with community integration activities, and accompanies clients to a range of community services, and appointments.
5. Supports an effective connection between community service providers and IRT clients, family members and significant or concerned others involved in the client's recovery plan. 
6. Shares information with IHART staff regarding the experience of individuals with mental health conditions and/or substance use experiences and/or medical concerns.
7. Supports the client to meet individual needs, goals and situational requirements by assisting in the client's navigation through systems such as health care, government and/or housing services, and supporting their continued progress.
8. Assists the client towards self-managing all aspects of their life, including their mental wellness, substance use and other health conditions by such methods as sharing information and lived experience perspective, practical problem-solving, and linkages with peer supports and consumer advocacy groups.
9. Provides supports related to housing including assisting in packing and transporting belongings and furniture and helping the client to set up their household, supporting the client in cleaning, and orienting to and connecting with the local community.
10. Participates in program planning, development, evaluation and quality improvement activities that facilitate team goal setting, by attending meetings and providing input.
11. Prepares and maintains written and computerized records and completes other program documentation, including writing progress notes, completing incident reports and ensuring referral forms are completed and sent to appropriate referral programs.
12. In accordance with a client's co-created care plan, assists clients with the development of life skills such as maintaining personal hygiene, housekeeping, meal planning and preparation, meeting financial obligations, making and keeping appointments, and interpersonal skills by methods such as demonstrating and modeling appropriate actions. 
13.  Distributes medication to clients as per established policy and procedure as assigned.
14. Maintains an awareness of current community resources including health care services, social, economic, recreational, employment, educational services and resources, First Nations Health Authority services, M�tis Nation BC, Indigenous Friendship Centres and other agencies. Utilizes the information to assist clients to access services and problem solve with the client as required.
15. Ensures a safe and healthy working environment by observing universal precautions and infection control procedures; removing obvious hazards; reporting faulty equipment, accidents, injures, and near misses; and adhering to and enforcing rules, and reporting requirement in accordance with Fraser Health safety policies and procedures.
16. Participates by providing input in staff meetings, quality improvement initiatives, committees and in-services.
17. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Education and Experience

Two years of lived experience in recovery from substance use or co-occurring substance use and mental health challenges. Lived experience of Indigenous culture and practices.

Training in Peer Support, completion of a Substance Use Counselling or Social Services certificate, and one year of recent related work/peer support experience in substance use, mental health, homelessness or health services navigation, cultural safety and practices in Indigenous community services, or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

Current valid Class Five BC Driver's License and access to personal vehicle for business related purposes, as required.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability and willingness to share lived experience of substance use or co-occurring substance use and mental illness.
• Knowledge of diverse Indigenous communities' social, historical, jurisdictional, and cultural context, and Indigenous views on approaches to health and wellness.
• Ability to engage clients with a focus on client service and client comforts.
• Ability to establish and maintain rapport with clients and their families.
• Knowledge of harm reduction principles and activities.
• Ability to work with a culturally diverse population.
• Knowledge of available programs.
• Knowledge of substance use/mental illness recovery approaches.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to organize and prioritize.
• Ability to analyze and problem solve.
• Ability to model, instruct and teach life skills.
• Ability to observe and recognize changes in clients.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to use effective interpersonal skills to establish/maintain effective working relationships with coworkers, the public and other agencies.
• Ability to promote positive change and independence.
• Conflict resolution and crisis intervention skills.
• Physical and mental ability to carry out the duties of the position.
• Ability to operate related equipment.