Family Support Specialist

At Canadas hospital for kids with disabilities and developmental differences clients and families are at the heart of everything we doand the Family Support Specialist is often the first person they meet. This is a dynamic front-line role for someone who is passionate about supporting clients and families and making a tangible impact from the very first interaction.

As part of the Client and Family Integrated Care (CFIC) team this role is grounded in daily connection with clients and families providing reliable information and practical support to help families navigate the health system and other supports and resources while living with childhood disability. Partnering with clients and families the Family Support Specialist also co-creates accessible resources curates educational programming fosters peer connections and supports the Hospitals social needs screening initiative and Family Navigation Hub to help families access supports related to social determinants of health such as food and housing.

Working closely with hospital staff students and Youth and Family Leaders (lived experience experts and volunteers) the role brings Holland Bloorviews mission vision and values to life by empowering families through timely evidence-informed education and opportunities to learn connect and advocate for what matters most to them.

Role Accountabilities:

Develop and coordinate educational programming for families (i.e. virtual and in-person workshops and events)

• Partner with Family Leaders and/or external community service providers in the curation execution and evaluation of ongoing educational event programming for families.
• Undertake all logistics planning for educational event programs including: coordinating event scheduling room and audio/visual bookings setting up and facilitating events through virtual learning platforms managing registration and evaluation tracking and analyzing participation metrics.
• Prepare communication plans to effectively promote family workshops and events within and beyond Holland Bloorview.
• Liaise with event and hospital partners and promptly respond to client and family questions and concerns regarding family workshops and events.
• Source new and existing learning materials and partnerships to support planning and execution of family workshops and events.
• Partner with members of the CFIC team and other hospital programs to continuously improve the impact of family educational events (e.g. audience diversity promotion accessibility alignment with hospital strategies).
• Collect and integrate the feedback of clients and families staff students and trainees and Family Leaders to continuously evolve and improve family educational events.
• Provide qualitative and quantitative data on education evaluations.
• Support timely and relevant programming updates to the intranet and external website.

Client and Family Information Consults

• Ensure the Family Resource Centre offers a warm and welcoming space to the 8000 inpatient and outpatient clients and families that visit Holland Bloorview annually.
• Provide personalized support and information consults in person over the phone and over Zoom; and by using a range of methods and internal and community materials.
• Conduct social needs screening inviting families to self-identify as having unmet social needs and facilitate referral process to the Family Navigation Hub when appropriate.
• Facilitate the expansion of resource material including multi-lingual alternative formats and multiple modalities to ensure greatest ease of use and accessibility.
• Refer clients and families to partner agencies and organizations as appropriate.
• Collaborate with Holland Bloorview employees Youth and Family Leaders students and trainees to develop and maintain an up-to-date collection of relevant diverse and credible information for clients and families (e.g. educational tip-sheets videos online resources and pamphlets).
• Network with community agencies to support information sharing with families.

Qualifications:

Education

• Post-secondary degree or diploma in a related field such as social work education disability studies community and social services or health services. Masters degree is an asset.
• Training and/or relevant experience in client and family-centred care client and family experience and/or community engagement and education.

Experience

• At least two years of experience providing support and education to clients and families in a health care or community/social services environment
• Experience engaging communities in outreach activities and developing community partnerships.
• Demonstrated project or event management experience.
• Advanced multimedia presentation and/or virtual education skills are an asset (e.g. virtual learning platforms such as Zoom; Microsoft Office; Eventbrite; Mailchimp etc.).
• Professional or lived experience with childhood disability is an asset.

Relevant Skills

• Demonstrated group facilitation and event coordination skills to deliver accessible workshops and family learning opportunities (virtual and in-person).
• Demonstrated front-line family support skills (i.e. rapport-building active listening strengths-based client- and family-centred practice).
• Working knowledge of trauma- and disability informed approaches to working with clients and families in emotionally charged interactions.
• Working knowledge of social determinants of health and equity-oriented care practices in connecting families to practical supports (e.g. food housing financial resources).
• Ability to translate complex information into clear health-literate education and resources based on family feedback and service needs.
• Proficient interpersonal skills; experience collaborating with colleagues clients and families.
• Adept at demonstrating program evaluation and continuous improvement skills (feedback collection outcome tracking service refinement).
• Proficient organization and follow-through to manage competing priorities document next steps and close the loop with families and partners.

Required Experience:

IC