Housing Overdose Prevention and Support Team Lead - Casual

AVI Health & Community Services (AVI) increases health equity by providing highly responsive, harm reduction -based HIV, hepatitis C, substance use, sexual health, mental health, and other community health services, and is informed by the voices of people with living experience.  We envision a community where people can experience optimal health and wellness, and be free from stigma, marginalization, and criminalization. For more information see www.avi.org

JOB SUMMARY :

With the support of the Manager of Harm Reduction Teams, the Housing Overdose Prevention and Support (HOPS) Team Lead will support and supervise the HOPS Team and will work alongside the team to provide harm reduction-based support to people living in supportive housing and shelter settings. Through a relational approach, the team lead will cultivate empathetic relationships with staff and service users that are based on trust. Using the same approach, the Team Lead will lead a peer resident responder program and will support ongoing peer- and community-based responses to health inequity. Responsibilities may include facilitating training and harm reduction programing, recruiting and orienting new responders, providing debriefing and support, and organizing honoraria payment. The Team Lead will also collaborate with other HOPS providers to provide education and training and to support consistency.

The HOPS Team provides service away from the main office, with the team lead being the first point-of-contact for staff. This position relies on the applicant's ability to provide support that is grounded in humility, collaboration and non-judgement. The team lead will support staff to develop a cohesive team that utilizes individual staff member's strengths. Support provided by this role will include facilitating regular staff meetings, engaging in 1-on-1 check-ins, and supporting interpersonal conflict resolution. The team lead will also support staff to collaborate with building residents to identify and respond to the needs of the community while balancing day-to-day operations of the program. The team lead is also able to effectively communicate with, and seek support from, the Manager of Harm Reduction Teams and other supports in the organization.

The Harm Reduction Teams work on the territories of the Ləkʷəŋən peoples (Xwsepsum and Songhees nations).

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES :

• Supports staff through systems of debriefing, including daily check-ins and 1 : 1 staff supervision and acts as a liaison between staff, managers, and community stakeholders.
• Provides supervision and leadership in the development of a supportive resident community by modeling a relational approach to support work.
• Develops and facilitates harm reduction-based educational programming that builds capacity of resident responders and a sense of community among building residents.
• Assists with administrative tasks including but not limited to statistics entry, weekly reporting, supply inventory.
• Oversees daily staffing by completing shift call-outs, creating monthly schedules, accurately recording staff hours via scheduling software, and supporting the hiring process.
• Oversees the provision of a peer responder program including recruitment, training, and payment of responders as well as ongoing support and debriefing.
• Provides a variety of harm reduction-based supports to individuals living in supportive housing and shelter settings, including distribution and recovery of harm reduction supplies.
• Monitors and assesses symptoms of overdose and responds appropriately using naloxone, rescue breathing, and oxygen.
• Provides education on overdose response and safer substance use residents and
• develops individual safety plans around substance use.
• Alongside the manager, collaborates with other HOPS providers to support cross-agency education and consistency of support.
• Facilitates access to services related to substance use, social issues, and health / wellness and completes relevant referrals.
• Uses brief assessment, active listening, and a non-violent approach to respond to and de-escalate crisis.
• Maintains both paper and electronic client files and logs. Fills out critical incident and overdose report forms as needed.
• Collaborates with housing operator to develop shared safety and care plans. Communicates resident concerns to the operator, and operator expectations to the residents.
• Where appropriate, attends meetings with the housing operator alongside the manager to facilitate communication and collaborative problem solving.
• Maintain safety of all program spaces by following protocols related to violence prevention and critical incidents
• Performs other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS :

POSITION DETAILS :

TO APPLY :

Please click on Apply To Position and attach your resume and cover letter by 5 pm on Monday, December 23, 2024.

AVI is committed to equity and diversity and we strongly encourage applications from, but not limited to, folks who identify as Indigenous Persons, persons of colour, racialized, persons living with a disability, persons who use / d drugs, persons with experience of sex work, persons who live with HIV and / or hepatitis C, and persons representing diverse genders and sexualities.

It is beneficial to identify in the cover letter if you are Indigenous and / or have lived / living expertise relevant to the position.

Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

As AVI is a union environment, internal staff will be prioritized in the hiring process.

We would like to thank all those that apply but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.