Parent Peer Support Position - Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre

Position Summary:

28 hours/week

$23/hour plus benefits

Location: Onsite at BC Children’s Hospital’s Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre

Tuesday – Friday from 9:30am - 5:00pm 

For over 20 years, FamilySmart has been working to enhance the quality and experiences of services, support and information families receive when seeking help for their child, youth or young adult with mental health challenges.  We 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.

More About FamilySmart Parent Peer Support Workers:

Parent Peer Support Workers are parents and caregivers of children or youth with mental health and/or substance use challenges. Your personal experience of parenting a young person who has accessed services for your child/youth’s mental health is the primary requirement for this role. Your experiences will help other families find comfort and feel less alone.

As a Parent Peer Support Worker at the Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre, you will provide peer support to families whose children, youth and young adults are experiencing difficulty with their mental health and/or with substance use.  

Our Peer Support includes: 

• Providing emotional support to families
• Sharing information and resources with families
• Offering knowledge/education to families
• Helping families navigate (find their way to) services
• Building on parent’s strengths and offering hope

Parent Peer Support at the Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre also includes: 

• Working collaboratively with the other FamilySmart Parent Peer Support Workers who work at the Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre
• Answering emails and talking on the phone or via video chat with families from across British Columbia (BC) who are looking for someone to listen to them and to make suggestions about resources and services that might help
• Answering emails and talking on the phone with health care providers and school professionals across BC who are looking for information on mental health and what resources are available in their communities to support the youth and families they are connected with. 
• Answering emails and talking on the phone with young people and adults from across BC who are calling the Kelty Eating Disorders Resource Line for support.  Lived experience of parenting a youth with an eating disorder is an asset. 
• Supporting the promotion activities of the Kelty Centre
• Reviewing and providing feedback on Kelty Centre resources
• Completing daily reporting requirements for the Kelty Centre and FamilySmart

You do not need to be an expert in mental health, 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 collaboratively with BC Children’s Hospital’s Health Literacy Team as well as other BC Children’s Hospital staff
• Are comfortable promoting and presenting on FamilySmart’s Parent Peer Support Services 
• Have strong verbal and written skills 
• Have good working knowledge of Google Workspace, including gmail, calendar and docs
• Can pass a criminal records check

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. 

We invite you to apply, and to learn more about this unique role. Please send a cover letter and resume to Robin Brown, Director, HR at  

Subject line: FamilySmartParent Peer Support Worker: Kelty Centre

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.