Family Support Worker (polaris)

Family Support Worker

Are you passionate about contributing to the community? Are you interested in working for an organization that is committed to learning and growing, puts people at the center of our work, believes in a culture of belonging and building on the strength of our community?

Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health supports individuals, families, and communities as they work to strengthen their wellbeing and mental health. Our vision is to have a connected community where all people thrive.

What's The Opportunity?

We have an exciting opportunity for a Family Support Worker to join our Home and Community Outreach team! In this role you will provide direct support to the family members of children who have been identified as having significant mental health challenges. The Family Support Worker provides a variety of support services to children and family members in their home and in various community settings. This is a 1-year contract position working 37.5 hours per week.

Through the establishment of trusting, supportive and creative relationships with family members and especially primary caregivers, the Family Support Worker will model, teach, and encourage improved parenting coping skills and strategies. They will work "in-vivo" with the family, in their home and in other community settings. They will be a source of information, guidance and support, a problem-solving partner, an advocate and an encourager for these families.

Why Work For Us?

We are an organization that serves individuals, families, and communities within the Waterloo Region! We are excited about our work, the impact we have in the community and our people (our people are our superpower!). We are committed to doing what is best for our community and to developing our people.

Join us to:

• Do work that matters
• Be part of a caring, passionate, and collaborative workplace that lives its values
• Learn a ton and support us in creating a more seamless experience for individuals, families, and our community
• Be a part of our diversity, equity, and inclusion journey
• Put the people we serve at the center of everything we do
• Have a positive impact in our community
• Work with an organization that supports your growth and provides opportunities for you to use your transferrable skills among other teams and programs.

What You'll Be Doing:

Meet with families in their homes and in various community settings

Develop and implement individualized treatment plans in partnership with families, based on identified needs

Provide home-based counseling, including parent education and coaching, skill teaching, and promoting positive parent-child interactions

Assist families in finding appropriate resources and provide crisis support as required

Communicate regularly with other members of the team, updating them on the families' progress so that the multi-disciplinary treatment plan is well coordinated

Complete all documentation as per departmental standards

Respond to and support families who are in crisis

To always perform work safely and in compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)

Demonstrate commitment to continuously improving professional excellence

Participate in translating the Camino vision into successful outcomes through involvement in all the processes and activities

Ensure awareness and maintenance of best practices and standards for agency activities

Develop and maintain positive professional relationships with others

Incorporate and strengthen a team-based working environment that empowers staff to be collectively responsible for ensuring the agency achieves its mission

Contribute to overall agency operations by embracing change and innovation ensuring excellence in customer service

What We're Looking For:

• Diploma in Child and Youth Work or Social Services, or a related degree (e.g. BSW)
• Minimum 3-5 years successful field experience, or a minimum 5 years relevant education and special experience or skills
• First Aid/CPR Certificate
• Membership within a professional association is an asset
• Knowledge of, and a sensitivity to, the common challenges faced by families who are part of the children's mental health system
• Demonstrated commitment to working in partnership with families. Sensitivity to the fact that families can experience a power imbalance in their relationship with professionals and commitment to redressing this balance
• Communicates with families naturally, in a non-judgmental, honest way that enables family members to know they have an ally
• Detailed knowledge of local formal and informal support services
• Flexible work approach - willing and able to change as the needs and desires of families change, able to work at the families' pace, and resilient enough to hold on until families are ready to take action
• Reflective practitioner - open and responsive to feedback from peers and supervisor
• Tact and effective problem-solving skills to deal with emotionally charged situations on a frequent basis; actively practice de-escalation techniques
• Sound understanding of childhood and adolescent development and children's mental health
• Sound understanding of children's behaviors, including disruptive, defiant, and aggressive behavior
• The ability to use child development theory, attachment theory, trauma informed therapeutic practices, brain development theory and social learning theory to help parents and family members to understand their children's behaviors and build skills to support their children
• The ability to work in a respectful but confident manner with families to model strategies for supporting their children and to become a consistent, compassionate and effective coach to parents and family members
• Ability to effectively manage stress and personal attitude in a highly demanding (physically, mentally, and emotionally) environment

Anything Else I Should Know?

• This is a full time 1-year contract position working 37.5 hours per week
• Must be legally eligible to work in Canada
• Regular use of computers, client information database and cell phones
• Work will take place in client homes, community settings and in the office
• Comfortability with transporting clients in personal vehicle
• Frequent travel throughout the Waterloo Region
• Must have a valid driver’s license, access to a reliable vehicle and applicable auto insurance
• This position will require work beyond the normal daytime work hours with 1-2 evenings per week and weekends as required
• A police check for the vulnerable sector is required
• Must be able to provide either proof of vaccination or documentation providing a satisfactory reason under the Ontario Human Rights Code for not being vaccinated
• Wage: The hourly range for this position is $26.42 - $36.70
• This posting will close as of October 31, 2025

Our Commitment To Equity

Camino is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity. At Camino we believe that diversity enriches our performance, clients, services offered, the communities where we live and work, and the lives of our employees. Should you require accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact Human Resources (hr@caminowellbeing.ca). While we thank all applicants for their interest, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

As we continue to be responsive to the changing needs of our communities, we acknowledge the historical and present-day violence and systemic barriers that continue to harm members of our region and that we must ask ourselves not if we are complicit, but how.

Camino is committed to developing anti-oppressive practices and equitable outcomes for the families we serve while ensuring that our programs reflect and meet their needs. We recognize that we must work in collaboration with others to dismantle systems of oppression, discrimination, and violence that people face as a result of their diversity, beliefs, and identities. Building equity takes time, resources, intentional commitment, and behavioral change. It is an ongoing process, and we start by recognizing the racism and discrimination faced by Indigenous people, Black people, Asian communities, racialized people, ethnic or linguistic groups, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, unhoused people, people with mental illness and people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

To help us create change and ensure that we can continue helping families thrive, Camino has invested in antiracism and anti-oppression training for all our employees. In addition, we have engaged in an organizational assessment to identify and address gaps. We have also created an Equity Leader position to help ensure our policies, processes, and practices eliminate any existence or influence of systemic