POSITION TITLE: Occupational Therapist
PROGRAM: ACT team
UNION: HSP
SALARY: $41.32-$51.40 (HSP, Grade 2)
TYPE: Permanent Part-time, 0.9 FTE
SCHEDULE: This position requires the person to work a combination of day and evening shifts and to work a share of weekends. Schedules are subject to change to meet operational requirements and client needs. Includes 30 minute unpaid meal break
START DATE: As soon as possible
Pursuant to the Provincial Health Officer’s Order, the incumbent of this position is required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. We will only consider applicants who are fully vaccinated, or who have received an exemption from the Provincial Health Office. Proof of either must be provided in advance of any offer of employment being made.
To apply please include your resume, with a cover letter describing your suitability for this position, in an email with the subject line of “job2022.121” to: Chelsea Bromley, Team Lead at the ACT Team, at cbromley@raincityhousing.org
ABOUT US
RainCity Housing is an organization that makes a difference in people’s lives. With a goal of providing a home for everyone, RainCity’s programs sustain relationships, strengthen communities and make change for people experiencing homelessness and mental health, trauma and substance use issues. We invite you to be a part of the change.
DIVERSITY
RainCity Housing serves a diverse group of people and we need a staff group that reflects the diversity. People of diverse backgrounds and cultures are encouraged to apply.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Occupational Therapist (OT) applies Occupational Therapy concepts and practices to assess the client’s current functional status and develop a rehabilitation treatment plan. The OT works with clients, members of the ACT team and external service providers to ensure a unified, multidisciplinary approach to treatment. In collaboration with the Peer Specialist, co-leads the ACT Team’s Wellness Management Recovery Program via developing and facilitating group sessions, providing 1:1 services and providing in-service and consultation support to ACT team Members.
The OT also performs Service Coordination duties for a group of approximately 10 ACT clients, maintaining oversight to ensure that client’s self-identified goals for recovery and community integration are supported by appropriate services and practices, consistent with the values of self-determination/choice and harm reduction. Working in collaboration with the other members of the ACT team, the OT coordinates the provision of ACT services for clients served by the team members in their area of specialization. OT and support services are often provided in non-traditional environments, such as the participant’s home, coffee shops, and community centres. As ACT follows the Housing First model, supporting participants through evictions and moves is also a core component of the work, ensuring that learnings and skills from each housing experience are not lost.
PROGRAM SUMMARY
ACT is an evidence-based transdisciplinary mental health team that has a client-staff ratio of 10:1, with 80% of the work occurring in the community. Crisis support is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Program staff is closely involved in hospital admissions and discharges. The RainCity ACT team also provides housing opportunities for clients using a ‘housing first’ scattered site approach. Clients are offered immediate access to rent supplements so they have the opportunity to live in the same kinds of permanent independent apartments that are typically available to people without mental illness, and the rent supplements are provided without requiring participation in psychiatric or substance use treatment. Self-determination, choice and harm reduction are at the centre of all considerations with respect to the provision of housing and support services.
QUALIFICATIONS
Many forms of education and experience are valued, including volunteering and lived experience of mental illness / addiction/ homelessness; Minimum education and experience includes:
- Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy
- Two years of recent, related work experience with people living with a mental illness and/or substance use
- Or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
- Current full registration with the College of Occupational Therapists of British Columbia (COTBC).
- Eligible for membership in the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) or the British Columbia Society of Occupational Therapists (BCSOT).
- Current first aid and CPR
- C. Driver’s License and acceptable drivers abstract. Use of a personal vehicle is required.
- Knowledge of the etiology, developmental course, clinical presentation, common rehabilitation methods and basic medical treatment of serious mental illness and problematic substance use.
- Demonstrated functional assessment and rehabilitation treatment planning skills, including ability to change and adapt to meet client needs
- Demonstrated therapeutic skills with individuals and groups.
- Demonstrated ability to incorporate theoretical frameworks into 1:1 and group interventions.
- Knowledge of principles of community integration for people living with a mental illness.
- Knowledge of the principles of recovery in mental illness and problematic substance use.
- Knowledge of harm reduction principles and activities