Child and Youth Care Worker - Fort Smith, NWT

Are you passionate about working with kids and youth? This amazing opportunity as a Child and Youth Care Worker at Polar Crescent may be for you. Polar Crescent is a six-bed/24-hour group foster care facility for children and youth ranging from infancy to 18. Incorporating meaningful opportunities for growth through play and creativity, this therapeutic program offers holistic and trauma-informed care designed to reconnect youth with their family and community.

Responsible for planning, organizing, leading and evaluating appropriate programming based on the physical, mental, and emotional needs of children and youth. This role also ensures the safe, efficient operation of the home and assists clients to establish and maintain daily life skills. 

Specific Duties:

• Build healthy relationships with children and youth by demonstrating interest in the individual, positive reinforcement for behaviours, building self-esteem and negotiating focused goals.
• Work with each youth to assist in identifying/assessing their strengths and needs.
• Provide on-site supervised visits for children and youth.
• Maintain a safe environment via safety inspections, emergency procedures, crisis intervention techniques, and identifying signs and symptoms of abuse.
• Perform organizational duties by completing documentation, performing administrative duties, and managing workload.
• Provide shift coverage days, evenings, week-ends as scheduled.
• Promote a friendly, supportive environment for co-operative living and conflict resolution skills among children and youth.
• Assist children and youth in developing daily routines for healthy meal planning preparation, and housekeeping duties.
• Assist in the delivery of life skills, recreational and cultural programming
• Implement and put into effect house rules and policies and conduct searches as necessary.
• Provide crisis interventions with clients as appropriate.
• Perform security checks and respond to security emergencies.
• Answer phone line after office hours and provide crisis coverage as assigned.
• Accompany residents to health and/or legal services as assigned.
• Maintain logbook, client files, incident reports, and other reports as required.

Qualifications:

• Child and Youth Care experience.
• Comfort working with youth of all ages.
• Ability to initiate, develop and deliver programming.
• Ability to set and maintain firm, reasonable limits and boundaries.
• Ability to maintain calm demeanor when faced with challenging behaviors and de-escalate client crises.
• Experience in group facilitation and group dynamics.
• Demonstrates understanding of crisis intervention and prevention and suicide prevention and intervention.
• Must possess an unrestricted driver’s license.
• WHMIS, Food Handler's and First Aid/CPR training required. NVCI and ASIST certification considered strong assets.  
• Successful candidates are responsible for providing a clear criminal reference check, vulnerable sector screening, Hep A & B screening, a clear tuberculosis skin test, and a clear driver’s abstract.

Hours of Work

• Shift work (8 hour shifts)
• 2-3 shifts (16-24 hours) per week

About Shift

Formerly known as Atlantic Youth, Shift is a privately owned and operated human services and experiential learning company based in the Head of St. Margaret’s Bay, Nova Scotia. Founded in 2011, Shift is a progressive company that provides individual and family services in the Maritimes, youth programming nationally, and operates youth group care programs in Nunavut and NWT.

Get an inside look at working with Shift - Meet the Team