Clinical Interventionist - Provincial Preschool Autism Services - Northern Zone (Truro)

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Company : IWK Health

Req ID: 162378

Department/Program: Provincial Preschool Autism Services , Children's Health Program

Location: Truro , Colchester East Hants Health Centre

Type of Employment: Permanent Hourly PT ( 50% FTE) x 1 position(s)

Start Date: ASAP

Union Status: NSGEU Hlthcare , Healthcare Bargaining Unit

Compensation: $37.1261 - $52.7283 per hour (based on designation)

Closing Date: 14 August, 2023 (Applications are accepted until 23:59 Atlantic Time)

IWK Health is a respected academic health sciences centre, providing tertiary and primary care for two million children, youth, adults and families each year across the Atlantic region. We have a team of approximately 4000 employees, physicians, volunteers and learners at sites across Nova Scotia. People build careers with IWK Health with our focus on training and mentorship opportunities. We recognize each other’s talent and celebrate our successes. We collaborate in modern facilities or virtually from home, align our work to our values, and enjoy access to enhanced benefits and wellness programs. We are proud to support our patients, families and communities and are grateful for the generous donor support we receive.

Promoting an anti-racist environment and calling out discrimination as we work and provide care, is important to us. We are located in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. Working in Mi’kma’ki and providing care to those across Atlantic Canada is a shared privilege with the original inhabitants who have lived here for many thousands of years prior to colonization. There are 13 First Nation communities across Nova Scotia, and more than 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities who also have a long, deep, and complex history dating back over 400 years. We have the highest percentage of people with disabilities in the country. Nova Scotia has a higher proportion of transgender and non-binary people than any other province or territory in the country. We are active in our work to eliminate discrimination but have more work to do to build that trust, acknowledge our biases and reduce the barriers our diverse communities face. We want IWK Health to be a safe and supportive space of equity and belonging in the care we provide and the employment we offer. We welcome all interested persons who self-identify as Indigenous, Black/African Nova Scotians, Persons of Colour, Immigrants/Newcomers, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply to support our goal for our workforce to be representative of the patients, families, and communities that we care for at all job levels.

The Opportunity

The Provincial Preschool Autism Service

The Provincial Preschool Autism Service (PPAS) is a partnership between IWK Health (IWK), Nova Scotia Health (NSH), Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia (HSNS) and Autism Nova Scotia (Autism NS). Based upon an extensive review and engagement, autism services in Nova Scotia are in the process of transitioning to a needs-based model responsive to the individual needs of children and their families. It will provide person and family-centred services to preschoolers across Nova Scotia who are suspected of or have a diagnosis of autism. The new and enhanced services will include a greater number and range of interventions and supports available for children and families. Examples include: autism clinical intake and care coordination, family and health professional education, diagnostic assessments, QuickStart NS parent coaching toddler program, a 12-month intensive intervention for children with the greatest social communication and behavior needs, autism interventions by interprofessional teams, and transition to school. The intent is to create an efficient, sustainable, and integrated continuum of health services for preschool-age children with autism where services and supports are matched to the needs of children and their families.

Nova Scotia Treatment Program

The Nova Scotia EIBI Program provides intervention for preschool age children with Autism and training for their families. The program is offered through IWK Health Centre in partnership with Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia. The main form of treatment, Pivotal Response Treatment, uses motivational strategies and the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to facilitate development of children’s communication, play and other functional skills. The EIBI Program has a strong commitment to ongoing learning for the EIBI teams, so that children and their families receive similar services across the province. There is a strong leadership framework for the provincial program. Treatment is provided by a coordinated team consisting of parents, one-to-one interventionists, Clinical Interventionists, and consultant Speech-Language Pathologists.

The Clinical Interventionist Responsibilities Include

The Clinical Interventionist will work within the EIBI Service Delivery Model and be accountable to the Manager and the EIBI Clinical Leadership.

• Provision of intensive behavioral intervention services with children and their families, as required.
• Ongoing monitoring of outcome measures.
• Adapting and revising intervention plans, as required; while maintaining appropriate documentation.
• Participating and leading program evaluation as appropriate
• Provision of leadership, supervision and support to EIBI Program Implementers. (Supervision includes feedback on performance).
• Training and monitoring the practice standards of the EIBI Program Implementers.
• Maintaining service quality control standards.
• The development and coordination of intervention programs, which are integrated between services and disciplines, take into consideration the families’ needs and goals.
• Completing, maintaining and advancing own skill sets.

Hours of Work

Monday – Friday, 37.5 hours/week.

Flexibility in hours available to work (including some evenings, weekends) required

Your Qualifications

• Demonstrates understanding and commitment to family-centered care.
• Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills; ability to develop and maintain internal/external partnerships.
• Certification in First Aid required.
• Demonstrates ability to design, implement and monitor psychological programming to promote skill development to enhance social-emotional functioning
• Demonstrates knowledge of best practices in the treatment of young children with ASD
• Education and/or experience in Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) (asset).
• Demonstrated excellent presentation, facilitation, and communication skills; both verbal and written.
• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team in a variety of settings; ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Demonstrates excellence in supervision of treatment by others.
• Demonstrates excellence in clinical care.
• Registered, or eligible for registration, with the appropriate professional body in Nova Scotia required.
• Minimum of 2 years of recent experience working with young children (0-5 years old) with ASD required.
• Current successful completion of a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Basic Life Support Level (BLS) Program within the last 12 months, or successful completion of a BLS Renewal Challenge Certificate, required.
• Masters level training with Board Certified Behavior Analysis Certification (BCBA) will be considered. If the successful candidate is qualified and does not have a registration body, ongoing supervision will be provided.
• Demonstrated excellent time management, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• Hold a valid minimum Class 5 Nova Scotia driver’s license and reliable transportation required.
• Masters degree in Clinical Psychology, School Psychology, Speech-Language Pathology, or graduate of a World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) Approved Occupational Therapy Program required.
• Competencies in other languages an asset.

T hank you for your interest in IWK Health.

Please note that we only contact applicants selected for interview/testing. If we invite you to participate in an assessment process (such as an interview or testing) you have the right to request accommodation. Please discuss your needs when invited to the assessment process.

This is a Healthcare bargaining unit position. Preference is given to bargaining unit employees for unionized positions. Successful applicants changing unions, bargaining units or employment status, are advised to seek clarification regarding their seniority, benefits, and vacation entitlement and/or usage, prior to accepting the position.

An offer of employment is conditional upon the completion and satisfactory results of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials. Additionally, as per Nova Scotia’s COVID-19 Vaccine mandate, any offer of employment will be conditional upon submitting proof of full vaccination status. Medical exceptions or any other kind of requested exception based upon the Health Centre’s obligations pursuant to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Code will be considered on a case-by-case basis

I f you are an employee of IWK Health , please apply through the internal careers page to ensure you are flagged as an internal applicant.