Harm Reduction Worker

Internal/External Employment Opportunity

Position Title: Harm Reduction Worker

Component/Team: CTS

Status: Permanent, 1.0 FTE Full-Time (35 hours per week)

Salary Scale: $47,211 – $56,857 annualized salary plus benefits +10% Premium to the hourly rate for hours worked on Saturday and Sunday

Start Date: Immediately

APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 3, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.

Position Description:

The role of the Harm Reduction Worker is to ensure that participants, clients and guests of the Centre have access to services and support to minimize harms associated with substance use and to restore their agency and to achieve their self-defined recovery goals. 

The Harm Reduction Worker is a resource for participants, clients, and guests providing general information about resources available at the Centre to facilitate access to services.  The Harm Reduction Worker plays a vital role in establishing positive relationships and will monitor client behaviour to detect situations that if not addressed, may become problematic. 

As part of a team of Harm Reduction Workers the Harm Reduction Worker plays key roles in the Consumption and Treatment Service:  Safer injection and smoking supply distribution, Injection Room support and post injection Drop in Support.

Reporting Relationship:

The Harm Reduction Worker is directly accountable to the CTS Team Leader and through them to the Director of CTS and Executive Director.

Requirements

Skills, Education and Experience:

Requirements for this position include:

Education and Language

• College diploma in related field
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered
• Under the Centre’s designation to provide French Language Services, this position is designated bilingual preferred:
• French (oral expression): Advanced
• French (oral comprehension): Advanced
• French (reading comprehension): Advanced
• Fluency in English, both oral and written

Professional Experience

• One year experience working in a role that places an emphasis on harm reduction, engaging clients and de-escalating problematic behaviour in a therapeutic manner
• Experience working with a broad range of populations, including: youth, street involved, people living with mental health issues, people living with substance use disorder, multi-cultural communities and disenfranchised groups

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• A non-judgmental and positive attitude towards street-involved people, people who are HIV+ or who are at risk of becoming HIV+ and people with substance use disorder, mental illness and concurrent disorders
• Excellent active listening skills
• Knowledge of community resources in Ottawa
• Ability to work within a harm reduction framework
• Ability to de-escalate an acting out client in a therapeutic manner
• Ability to work under stress with multiple demands
• Ability to identify client service needs 

Hours of Work

• Must be available for shift work, including evenings and some weekends. Shifts will be based on a rotating six week schedule and will be 9.5 hours in length (excluding breaks)

Benefits

Sandy Hill Community Health Centre offers employees an excellent benefits package which includes four weeks holidays (pro-rated to status) in addition to a Pension Plan (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan - HOOPP) and excellent Group Insurance Plan.

Conditions of Employment:

An offer of employment will be conditional upon the candidate completing a criminal reference check, verification of educational requirement for this position and linguistic profile to the satisfaction of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre.

Accommodation:

SHCHC will provide accommodation for applicants with disabilities in its recruitment process.

If at any stage in the selection process you require accommodation due to disability, please let us know the nature of the required accommodation.

Clients of the Centre are welcome to apply. Should a client become the successful candidate, they will no longer be able to continue receiving services at Sandy Hill Community Health Centre. Assistance will be made available to find an alternative provider.

Only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.

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