Family Peer Support Position Integrated Child & Youth Team - Okanagan Similkameen

• 17.5 Hours Per Week
• Monday to Friday with some availability during school hours
• $25/Hour
• Work from home position within the communities of the Okanagan Similkameen area including: Osoyoos, Oliver, Keremeos, Cawston, Hedley, Olalla, and Okanagan Falls

For more than 20 years, FamilySmart has been working in B.C. to help children and young people by helping their family and other caring adults. We know children and young people do better when the adults who care about them are supported. 

Position Summary

Family Peer Support Workers are parents and caregivers of children or youth with mental health and/or substance use challenges. Your personal parenting experience is the primary requirement for this role. Your experiences will help other families find help, comfort, hope,  and feel less alone.

As a Family Peer Support Worker, you are a member of the Integrated Child & Youth Team (ICY) in the Okanagan Similkameen. In this role, you will provide peer support  to families and caregivers whose children and youth are experiencing difficulty with their mental health and/or with substance use who are receiving services from the ICY team.  The ICY teams are part of  A Pathway to Hope – the provincial strategy for improved mental health and substance use care in B.C.  The ICY teams bring services together in a multidisciplinary team setting.  The teams make it easier for children, youth and their families to connect to the care they need, where and when they need it – at school and in the community.  To learn more about these positions visit B.C.'s Integrated Child & Youth Teams

The Family Peer Support Worker provides peer support to families and caregivers by:

• Working as part of the ICY team in the Okanagan Similkameen area
• Providing emotional support to families and caregivers
• Sharing information and resources with families and caregivers
• Offering knowledge/education to families and caregivers
• Helping families and caregivers navigate (find their way to) services
• Building on parents and caregivers strengths and offering hope
• Meeting with families and caregivers in-person, by video chat, phone and email

You do not need to be an expert in mental health and/or substance use, your family's experience is enough.

You

• Are good at building relationships
• Make connections easily
• Demonstrate compassion and care to others
• Are able to work well with Service Providers and Educators and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Have some understanding of the Syilx Okanagan Nation culture and traditions
• Have strong verbal and written skills. Data collection and documentation is part of this role.
• Have good working knowledge of Google Workspace, including gmail, calendar and docs
• Have a valid BC Driver's License, insurance and access to a vehicle, as travel to meet with families and the ICY Team in various communities is required
• Can pass a criminal records check
• Have the ability to work from a home office and in the community

The FamilySmart Parent Peer Support Worker will support families in person, on the phone, by video chat, and email.

FamilySmart provides excellent support, supervision and training and will help you learn and develop the skills that we have discovered to help families and service providers work well together.

To apply:

We invite you to apply, and to learn more about this unique role.  At FamilySmart, experience with the child and youth mental health and/or substance use system is very important to us.  Please consider including in your cover letter a little information about why this is important to you as well.   Please send your resume and cover letter to Robin Brown, Director, HR at

Subject line: Family Peer Support Worker: ICY Okanagan Similkameen

Please note that the assessment of applicants will be made on an ongoing basis and continue until a hire is made.

We thank all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. FamilySmart is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Personnel are chosen on the basis of ability without regard to age, ancestry, colour, family status, marital status, physical or mental disability, place of origin, political belief, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and criminal conviction unrelated to employment.