Program Consultant - Extensive Needs Service (ENS)

Position Summary:

Reporting to the Program Manager, CBHS and clinically supervised by the Program Coordinator, CBHS the Program Consultant, ENS and in partnership between CHEO, Holland Bloorview and McMaster Children’s Hospital, jointly funded by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Community and Children’s Social Services, the Extensive Needs Service (ENS) proof of concept program is a specialized support program to provide clinical services to children with extensive needs and their families.

The service provides multidisciplinary assessment and individualized treatment to enhance capacity, reduce challenging behaviors, and treating underlying health concerns of kids and youth. These are kids who - without this pathway – will experience frequent visits to emergency departments, avoidable acute care admissions, and repeat referrals to urgent or crisis services.

Clients of the Extensive Needs Service have exhausted other funded services but continue to have unmet needs. Children’s Treatment Network (CTN) Extensive Needs Service is provided by a range of CTN partners.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Adhere to all ethics, consent, privacy and abuse-reporting laws and practice in alignment with legislation, regulation, standards of professional conduct, and college-endorsed code of ethics.
• Develop safety/crisis plans in a timely manner when warranted, based on client need.
• Actively participate in committees at the discretion of the Program Coordinator, CBHS.
• Adhere to administrative expectations (e.g., mileage, billing, caseload and wait-list management, self-management of schedule, monitoring of service targets).
• Develop and provide training and education to internal staff and to external partner agencies.
• Collaborate effectively with community partners and other service providers.
• Participate in on-going supervision with Program Coordinator, CBHS.
• Other duties may be required, depending on clinic or program.

What must you have?

• Active registration with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
• Undergraduate Degree in Social Work and related experience.
• Valid Ontario driver’s license and a vehicle andctn be able to travel throughout York Region and/or Simcoe County.   

Experience/Skills/Abilities:

• 2-5 years experience working in the Applied Disabilities field. Areas of knowledge may include healthy sexuality, dual diagnosis, Autism, acquired brain injury (ABI), gerontology, neurodegenerative disorders, and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Well developed interpersonal skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Knowledge of regulation of Behaviour Analysts in Ontario.
• Demonstrate behaviours aligned with the values of the organization.
• Proven attendance record.
• Demonstrates understanding and complies with patient and staff safety policies and procedures that foster a safe and inclusive environment for all.
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the job.
• Effectively uses empathy in interactions with others.
• Demonstrates behaviours consistent with Mackenzie Health’s Commitment to Caring.
• Models behaviour that is aligned with the values of Mackenzie Health – Excellence, Leadership and Empathy.
• Commitment to providing an exceptional experience for staff and clients within a challenging and exciting health care environment.

SERVICE OBJECTIVES

Extensive Needs Service will meet the following objectives:

• Mental health assessment and treatment
• Medication management (psychopharmacology)
• Specialized and intensive behavioural intervention
• Social work, including counselling for parents
• Allied health treatment such as OT, SLP, RD, Pharmacy
• Collaboration with specialized health care clinics
• Transition support (return to school, return to community services, transition to adult services)

POPULATION TO BE SERVED

Extensive Needs Service eligibility criteria includes:

• Child/youth (aged 0 to 17-11*) with challenging or interfering behavior(s) and unmet needs
• Challenging or interfering behavior(s) that are longstanding (12 months or greater) and needs are unmet or have a documented history of challenging or interfering behaviors and are escalating over last 6 months
• Child/youth has already accessed 3 or more providers across sectors and needs remain unmet
• Children/youth with complex profile of needs
  • Neurodevelopmental conditions or acquired brain injury and
  • Mental health conditions and
  • Co-occurring chronic physical health conditions

• Safety concerns (self/others) and/or significantly impaired functioning that is a barrier to engagement in home, school, community
• Caregiver/family complexity (e.g., period of significant transition and change; finances and financial pressures; language or cultural barriers; family capacity or living arrangements)
• Unmet needs in the areas of:
  • Personalized care and integrated, timely wrap around assessment and/or treatment services
  • Multidisciplinary case conceptualization for diagnostic clarification or treatment planning, due to complexity of needs
  • Behavior supports: specialized supports are needed to provide ongoing stability beyond available behavior service streams
  • Mental health supports for children/youth: specialized supports to provide access to developmentally appropriate mental health supports
  • Supports for caregivers and/or families: supports to meet the needs of those who are at risk of burnout or trauma
  • Respite: access to respite providers who can meet the complex needs of children and families
  • School liaison: working with families towards meaningful reintegration into school

SERVICE EXPECTATIONS

Mental Health Social Workers will support kids and youth in ENS by:

• Assessing the nature and level of a kid/youth’s mental health needs as well as strengths of the kid/youth and family.
• Participating in the development of an inter-professional ENS plan that addresses the areas of need for the kid/youth and family.
• Working with the kid/youth and family to conduct risk assessments and to appropriately safety plan including providing consultation to support the plan to reduce and/or stabilize high-risk behaviour.
• Provision of intervention services as appropriate, to promote skill building and/or coping in alignment with service goal(s)
• Contributing to consensus building with other relevant disciplines, to refine and coordinate the delivery of the ENS service elements.
• Ensuring that planning for transition from ENS is included in the plan and actively discussed with the kid/youth and family.
• Provide mental health consultation that is effective, well-coordinated, family-centered and responsive to the kid/youth and family’s needs.
• Participating in a wrap-around team-based approach in the development and implementation of the service response.
• When applicable, working collaboratively with other mental health professionals involved with the kid/youth to ensure roles and responsibilities are clearly identified and implemented and transitions for families are as smooth as possible.
• Helping families navigate mental health systems and making appropriate referrals and connections.
• Administering formal evaluation procedures to gather data on the impact of the ENS intervention.

SERVICE STAFFING 

Under the regulatory college you will exhibit the following competentices:

• Strong assessment skills for identifying kid, youth and family’s mental health strengths and needs across domains
• Extensive knowledge and experience supporting kids/youth on the autism spectrum, including relevant intervention strategies and common co-existing conditions
• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship building skills
• Exceptional solution focused communication skills that promote positive, productive and proactive dialogue that contributes to the successful implementation of the ENS plan
• Exceptional conflict management and mediation skills to cultivate a team-based approach
• The ability to effectively support families experiencing significant emotional distress
• The ability to identify risk situations requiring prompt action
• Appropriate independence using strong judgement skills to access supervision as required
• Flexibility and adaptability to work within an evolving/changing system of service expectations
• Commitment to supporting diverse families in respectful and inclusive manner
• Problem solving skills
• In depth knowledge of the broader service system for kids and families, including crisis services and supports
• Computer literacy
• Supporting kids/youth with complex needs
• Collaborating with team members from multiple disciplines including but not limited to Applied Behaviour Analysis

SERVICE LOCATION

CTN is committed to serving kids, youth, and families using a combination of in-person and virtual appointments when clinically appropriate and based on family need.  Providers will offer a hybrid (in-person/virtual) approach guided by CTN’s Ethical Decision-Making Framework for Hybrid Services.   

• The ability to fluently speak French 

Mackenzie Health is an inclusive and equal opportunity employer committed to providing accommodations for applicants upon request at any stage of the recruitment process in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Our hiring process does not involve the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to screen, assess or select applicants.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those under consideration for an interview will be contacted.