Family Support Worker
Hours of Work: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)
Closing Date: Until a suitable candidate is found

About Us
Connections supports people with cognitive challenges to make choices and decisions for their lives, including being successful parents. With the support of Connections, parents with cognitive challenges work to maintain a safe and nurturing home. As a leader in parents’ rights advocacy, Connections provides life-long, in-home support and parenting skills education, financial coaching, group programs, counselling, and community resourcing to families in and around Calgary.

About the Role
Provide families headed by a parent who has a cognitive challenge (developmental disability, brain
Injury, or FASD) with a strength-based support to establish and maintain safe and nurturing homes for
themselves and their families.
Report directly to the Program Director and/or Team Leader

In- Home Client/Family Support
• Building and managing trusting relationships with client families to provide parenting skills education and support in the client’s home
• Advocating for and with parents in terms of rights, access to available supports and funding
• Helping the client define his or her goals, developing a plan with the client to reach those goals while building on the client’s strengths and self-reliance to be a successful parent
• Assessing the safety of clients and their family
• Working with other agencies and government offices to help support what is in the best interest of family members
• Report writing, administrative forms and other duties as required
• Responsible for scheduling, in conjunction with your supervisor, and adhering to all practices and processes of Connections
• Maintaining a caseload of clients/families with varying complexity in needs

Agency and In-Home Team Support
• Represent agency professionally
• Actively participate in agency meetings and activities
• Willingness to participate in client events and programming, which sometime occur in the evening and on weekends
• Actively engage with team members in exchanging expertise, experiences, and best practices
• Responsible for expedient communication to clients, team members, agency, and other professionals

Qualifications and Experience
• Post-secondary degree or diploma in social work, disability studies or related field

• Experience working with individuals with cognitive challenges
• Experience with families living in poverty
• A strength-based practice is required and must support the philosophy that all individuals have the right to learn how to parent while understanding that not everyone can be successful
• Able to treat client families with respect while maintaining a welcoming and professional attitude
• Ability to research, learn and adapt to respond to client needs
• Able to work independently and possess flexibility

Additional Requirements:
• Successful applicants may be asked to provide proof of qualifications
• A current criminal record check and Child Welfare check is also required, the cost of which will be reimbursed by the agency upon offer of employment.
• Current First Aid and CPR
• Working with families may include walking within the community, taking public transit with clients, walking up and down stairs, the ability to lift up to 20 lbs. (i.e., a young child/bag of groceries), and the ability to interact/play with children on the floor (i.e., modelling for the parent).
• Valid Class 5 driver’s license, working vehicle and $2,000,000 liability insurance

Applications can be emailed to (resume and cover letter) indicating Family Support Worker in the subject line.

Equal Opportunity
Connections for Families Society is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognizes that a diverse team benefits and enriches our work and is essential to operational excellence. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals to apply.

We thank all applicants; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.