District requires a 1.0 PERMANENT Integrated Child & Youth Clinical Counsellor

Effective February 1, 2025 

Under A Pathway to Hope, the Province is implementing Integrated Child and Youth (ICY) teams in school district communities. ICY teams are providing support and services in 11 school district communities with eight new communities beginning implementation in 2024/25.

These multidisciplinary teams deliver wraparound mental health and substance use services and supports for children and youth (birth to age 19) and their families. The service delivery will be flexible and outbound, reflecting the preferences of children, youth, and families. Each ICY team will support a cluster of Public, Independent and First Nations-operated schools and will include all children and youth within the geographic region.

ICY teams will be created through existing positions in the region and new positions where they do not currently exist. Core team positions include Integrated Care Coordinators (ICC), Integrated Child and Youth (school-based) Clinical Counsellors (ICY-CC), Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH) Clinicians, Youth Substance Use workers, Indigenous Support workers, Administrative Assistants, and Youth and Family Peer Support workers.

• Master’s degree in counselling psychology, Educational Psychology, Psychology or a related field and must include a 300-hour supervised practicum or equivalent. Preference may be given to a candidate with school-based practicum experience.
• Must be a Registered Clinical Counsellor and meet educational and training criteria to be a member of the BC Association of Clinical counsellors (BCACC) or a Registered Clinical Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers (BCCSW).
• Preferred minimum of 3-5 years of experience working with families, children, and youth in a clinical counselling setting.
• Experience in clinical and/or educational interventions with children, adolescents, and families (including crisis intervention).
• Experience leading and managing employees including hiring, coaching and mentoring, performance and attendance management, and applying corrective discipline preferably in a unionized environment.
• Recent training and successful experience in mental health initiatives and suicide prevention.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience liaising between community partners.
• In-depth knowledge of the psychosocial development of children and youth.
• Ability to abide by ethical principles and act with integrity, accountability, and judgment in the best interests of the child/youth, families, and available services.
• Ability to maintain professional currency and have strong knowledge and experience in counselling including substance use/addictions, harm reduction philosophy, principles and practices, mental health/mental illness, and concurrent and co-occurring disorders.
• Knowledge of population-specific mental health and substance use care, including Ethno-culturally diverse and racialized communities, gender questioning/gender fluid youth, child/youth with disabilities or diverse abilities with behavioural diagnoses, neurodevelopmental disorders, or intellectual disabilities with co-occurring mental health needs.
• Demonstrated cultural agility to work respectfully, knowledgeably, and effectively with Indigenous peoples with an understanding of Indigenous worldviews and approaches to healing.
• Knowledge of social determinants of health, health inequalities and intersectional analyses.
• Demonstrated ability provide collaborative leadership with child/youth, teachers, families, administrators, and community agencies within a multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional team environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively with diverse populations.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and use discretion when sharing sensitive information to individuals on a need-to-know basis.
• Highly effective organizational skills and proven ability to prioritize work while simultaneously meeting the needs of a diverse caseload.

Starting Salary: $94, 408

District Overview

School District No. 59 (Peace River South) is located in north-eastern British Columbia in BC’s Peace River Country. We serve the communities and surrounding areas of Dawson Creek, Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd. The District’s student population is approximately 3,500 with thirty-three percent of this population self-identifying as having Aboriginal ancestry.

Our students are accommodated in 19 schools, with student populations ranging from 25 to 650 students. The District is involved in a number of innovative partnerships with other local agencies.  Programs or initiatives we undertake are rooted in our core business of a quality education for each student and the core belief of continuous learning for all.

 Learning is best when it is interactive, self-directed and allows for our passions and creativity to emerge. Solid foundational skills and high expectations in an environment of critical thinking, communicating, creating and collaborating provides our students with the skills necessary to navigate the world of the future.  All of our programs hold these attributes at the core.

• Hold, or be qualified for, a valid BC Ministry of Education Teaching Certificate.
• Experience with adapting, and modifying, curriculum to meet the needs of students. 
• Experience teaching primary and intermediate/middle school/secondary students. 
• Strong literacy and numeracy skills. Willingness to work and implement school initiatives and goals.  
• Capacity to work independently and in collaboration with a team. 
• Ability to use performance standards in the area of social responsibility. 
• Acquainted with the outcomes and evaluation processes outlined in the new curriculum. 
• Committed to individualized and group instruction utilizing a variety of effective strategies and techniques. 
• Experience teaching in a multiage group setting. 
• Strong classroom management skills.  
• Training in teaching ELL students.  
• Ability to work as part of a team to develop and implement individualized learning plans for students with academic, social and emotional learning difficulties. 
• Willingness to work in a collaborative model with staff on the school improvement plan. 
• Working knowledge of Criterion Based Referencing Assessment and Performance Based Assessment, and Balanced Literacy.  
• Experience working with students who display a variety of behaviours. 

Collaboration, support, contemporary learning spaces and resources are part of the fabric of School District No. 59.  Professional Learning Communities, Foundations for Learning and regular professional development are available and readily accessible for all teachers. 

The School District Resource Centre houses thousands of physical and electronic resources for teachers.  Additional human resources available to all teachers include support for literacy, numeracy, Aboriginal Education, resource acquisition (Resource Center staff), and student support services. 

Benefits in working for School District No. 59: 

• Relocation Allowance:  Up to $2,000 for out of district applicants (with submission of approved receipts).
• Northern Travel Allowance:  A Great Benefit at Tax Time!  An amount of up to $4,000 of the salary paid to the employee shall be designated as a Northern Allowance Travel benefit. This allowance shall be in effect within the guidelines of Revenue Canada as they exist and are changed by Revenue Canada from year to year and shall end when the Revenue Canada program ends.  Regular part time employees’ allowance will be prorated proportionate to the hours worked.
• Remote and Rural Allowance:  Teachers working in School District No. 59 are eligible to receive a remote and rural allowance, which is both an adjustment to the salary grid and an annual allowance of approximately $2,519* per FTE.  Teachers on call (TOCs) are not eligible to receive this allowance.
• *The annual allowance may increase as defined within the Collective Agreement with the British Columbia Teachers Federation.

Employees of School District No. 59 qualify for the Canadian Revenue Agency Residency Deduction. Learn more about the Canadian Revenue Agency Residency Deduction. If you lived in a prescribed intermediate zone (Zone B), you can claim:

• A basic residency amount of $5.50 for each day that you lived in this zone; plus
• An additional residency amount of $5.50 for each day you lived in this zone if you maintained a dwelling and you are the only person claiming the basic residency amount for that period and dwelling.