Peer Supporter – York Region Detox Withdrawal Management Program
- Job Type
- Full Time
- Job Level
- Other
- Location
- Vaughan, ON
- Impact Area
- Other
- Impact Category
- Other
- Company Type
- Other
About this position
POSITION TITLE/ DEPT: Peer Supporter, Withdrawal Management Program, York Region Detox
CONTRACT POSITION: 1 Full-time and 1 Part-time contract positions until March 31, 2024.
REPORTS TO: Harm Reduction and Outreach Programs Manager
LOCATION: York Region Detox located at Caritas School of Life – Vaughan, ON
Peer Support is a respectful relationship between the Peer Supporter and the individual that promotes empowerment, trust and mutuality and supports individuals to make changes and decisions to address their current level of distress and enhance their recovery and wellness. Peer Support uses recovery-oriented principles with individuals to help combat stigma, raise self-esteem, improve self-concept, and instill hope.
CONTRACT POSITION: 1 Full-time and 1 Part-time contract positions until March 31, 2024.
REPORTS TO: Harm Reduction and Outreach Programs Manager
LOCATION: York Region Detox located at Caritas School of Life – Vaughan, ON
Introduction:
Incorporated in 1998, Krasman Centre is a community based mental health and addiction Consumer/Survivor Initiative serving York Region, north Toronto, and South Simcoe County. All our staff and volunteers are individuals with direct lived experience, of mental health and/or addiction challenges and/or as family members/caregivers. We offer a wide range of peer-support based programs and services including:- Peer Support Drop-In Centres
- 24/7 Warm Line and Peer Crisis Support Service
- Mobile Peer Support Outreach
- Family Support Program
- Peer Support training programs
- Peer Navigators embedded in hospital Emergency Departments
Peer Support is a respectful relationship between the Peer Supporter and the individual that promotes empowerment, trust and mutuality and supports individuals to make changes and decisions to address their current level of distress and enhance their recovery and wellness. Peer Support uses recovery-oriented principles with individuals to help combat stigma, raise self-esteem, improve self-concept, and instill hope.
Peer Supporters have gone through a process of recovery and have obtained peer support related training to assist others with mental health challenges. The Peer Supporter defines, models, and mentors' recovery values, attitudes, beliefs, and personal actions to encourage wellness and resilience. Activities of peer support promote self-directed recovery by emphasizing the person, rather than the identified mental health, substance use/addiction challenge.
The York Region Detox Program located at Caritas is a non-medical facility that provides a safe and welcoming environment to assist anyone needing support regarding withdrawal from substance use. Participants are supported throughout their stay by a professional and specifically trained team within a comfortable residential setting.
The Peer Supporter is a non-clinical support to the person and as such is intended to be a comfort to the person and a resource to individualized community supports and practical recovery information.
Krasman Centre is seeking reliable, emotionally intelligent, professional, and compassionate individuals with lived experience with substance use/addiction and recovery, to support participants within the Withdrawal Management Program.
Position Description:
The Peer Supporter working in the Withdrawal Management Program (WMP) at the York Region Detox Program located at Caritas, will work as a member of a diverse inter-professional team to facilitate and support individuals in their recovery process. Drawing from lived experience of mental health/substance use/addiction challenges, the Peer Supporter will assist individuals who attend the WMP location as they consider and determine their own unique goals and objectives. The goal of the Peer Supporter role is to enhance recovery and improve the quality of the person’s experience while in the program, including provision of system navigation and follow-up support, post discharge.The York Region Detox Program located at Caritas is a non-medical facility that provides a safe and welcoming environment to assist anyone needing support regarding withdrawal from substance use. Participants are supported throughout their stay by a professional and specifically trained team within a comfortable residential setting.
The Peer Supporter is a non-clinical support to the person and as such is intended to be a comfort to the person and a resource to individualized community supports and practical recovery information.
Krasman Centre is seeking reliable, emotionally intelligent, professional, and compassionate individuals with lived experience with substance use/addiction and recovery, to support participants within the Withdrawal Management Program.
Duties:
- Support in welcoming participants attending the Withdrawal Management Program (WMP), build rapport, and create a comfortable and judgement-free atmosphere in a way that is sensitive and tailored to the individual’s current state of emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical wellbeing and capacity.
- Orient the person to the Peer Supporter role including an understanding of the non-clinical role and voluntary nature of peer support
- Provide Peer Support (in both 1:1 and group formats), that is harm-reduction based, trauma informed and culturally appropriate
- Support the traditional practices and initiatives that are based on Indigenous peoples’ customs, values, and beliefs.
- Support individuals as needed/appropriate as they are oriented to the facility and the withdrawal management program and processes
- Support individuals as needed in ensuring understanding of their rights and responsibilities in the WMP
- As needed – assist the team to connect individuals (including those on wait lists for WMP) to appropriate community supports and treatment resources or an alternative withdrawal management facility that can assist them with meeting immediate needs, preparing for addiction treatment and/or withdrawal and establishing linkages that will be helpful after withdrawal.
- Encourage and support participants to identify their own strengths
- As appropriate, support the development and revision of individual’s recovery / wellness plans
- Facilitates access to other peer support programs such as peer-run self-help groups, peer mentoring peer navigation and education.
- Work with the individual to enhance their social connectedness and personal support network. This includes, with the consent of the individual, involving supportive family members and friends in the individual’s recovery journey and providing them with information about how to support the individual effectively.
- Support with robust process of transition planning
- In collaboration with the team, provide the individual with relapse prevention strategies and harm reduction education to lower the potential risks should relapse occur.
- Work with/ have access to confidential material and maintain compliance with Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)
- Participation and involvement in other programs, and broader agency activities
- Work collaboratively with internal and external partners
- Provide support in a manner consistent with recovery philosophy, which emphasizes peer and natural support, and the de-escalation of distress
- Provide information on individual advocacy, self-help, recovery/wellness, “crisis” planning and prevention, empowerment tools as requested by person
- Collaborate with individuals, promote self-advocacy, and support individual to advocate for themselves
- Documentation, statistical data collection as needed, using strengths-based, recovery supporting language
- Interact with, establish and maintain cooperative relationship with Caritas personnel
- Provide education about recovery and peer support to staff and participants
- Provide peer support services reflective of the diverse needs of individuals
- Community based face to face visits and virtual supports may also be needed
- Other duties as assigned
Qualifications:
- Personal lived experience with substance use/addiction challenges and recovery
- Graduate or current participant in peer support training
- Strong knowledge and grounding in Harm Reduction principles and practices
- Strong knowledge and practice of anti-racism and anti-oppression principles and commitment to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Awareness of issues faced by equity-deserving communities
- Demonstrated Peer Support practice that is culturally appropriate and seen through a lens that is conscious of sexual diversity.
- Ability to apply Recovery principles, strengths-based approach and empowerment-oriented philosophies and practices in work with participants
- Strong knowledge, understanding and practice of trauma informed approaches to mental health, substance use and addictions issues
- Possess excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills enabling you to work within a collaborative and diverse inter-professional team
- Ability to communicate and work comfortably with diverse communities
- Knowledge of systemic issues such as poverty, unemployment, stigma, medications, and the isolation felt by individuals with substance use/mental health issues and their families
- Knowledge of local supports and services in GTA, including formal and informal resources
- Effective leadership, decision-making, organizational and problem-solving skills are required
- The ability to be flexible, self-directed, self-reflective, and supportive
- An ability to relate to participants from a peer perspective, as well as communicate to a health care team with an understanding of the recovery model
- Ability to work effectively as a team member in a dynamic and fast-paced multi- disciplinary environment is essential
- Provide supports reflective of the needs of the individual and when appropriate their families
- Demonstrate self-awareness and purposeful self-disclosure
- Demonstrate awareness of diversity issues and the personal impact of barriers, stigma and discrimination faced by people with addiction/mental health challenges
- Ability to use computers and software such as Microsoft Windows, Office, and Teams
- Ability to speak a second language is a strong asset
- Knowledge of the Ontario Mental Health Act, mental health reform principles, the Substitute Decisions Act, and the Health Care Consent Act and PHIPPA requirements
- Current certificate in or ability to complete First Aid and CPR training
- Recent crisis intervention training an asset
- Valid driver’s license and access to personal vehicle for purposes of work-related travel is an asset
Schedule/Working Conditions:
- 1 Full-time contract and 1 Part-time contract position starting as soon as possible, ending March 31, 2024. Potential for renewal pending funding.
- EVENING SHIFTS may be required
- Dynamic, self-directed environment. You may be required to support individuals in community-based settings
Krasman Centre is a progressive work environment committed to employment equity, and promotion of diversity in the workplace. Those who would contribute to the further diversification of the organization are encouraged to apply and include, but are not limited to, members of Black, Indigenous, racialized, immigrant, 2-SLGBTQ+ communities, and people with disabilities.
If you require assistance with the application process or wish to receive this posting in an alternate format, please contact us:
General email address: info@krasmancentre.com, Toll free phone #: 1-888-780-0724
Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process as per the Ontario Human Rights Code.