Crisis Intervention Program Coordinator

This competition is restricted to internal applicants of the University of Alberta. Please indicate your internal status using the "Advertisement" drop down menu when applying.

This position is a part of the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).

This position offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed at: Faculty & Staff Benefits .

Location - North Campus Edmonton. This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in person

Department Summary

The Dean of Students supports all students — undergraduate and graduate — in the pursuit of academic and personal success. The Dean of Students collaborates with faculties, offices, and services across all campuses to deliver effective programming and provides leadership on university policies and initiatives.

The Office of the Dean of Students coordinates many services that strive to create diverse and inclusive support in all stages of the student experience, including: academic resources, career and professional development, health & wellness services, and community resources.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director, Sexual Assault Centre (SAC), the Crisis Intervention (CI) Program Coordinator is accountable for the delivery of programming that promotes student engagement, student retention, and wellness in members of the University community who have experienced sexual assault or abuse, sexual harassment, stalking, relationship violence, and other experiences of sexual violence. The CI Program Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the operations of the drop-in Crisis Intervention Support Program at the SAC, particularly as it pertains to the support provided by the Crisis Intervention (CI) Volunteers. This includes directly carrying out the provision of crisis intervention support and resourcing with community members who disclose experiences of sexual violence, and overseeing a comprehensive training and management infrastructure for CI Volunteers

The provision of crisis intervention support involves responding to, assessing, and addressing disclosures of sexual violence experienced by members of the campus community. The incumbent will manage the response to community members in varying degrees of distress by providing direct, short-term crisis intervention support, performing assessments, acting as an advocate, and providing accompaniment to other services on- and off-campus. For community members dealing with complex mental health concerns related to their experience of sexual violence, the CI Program Coordinator will actively collaborate with the SAC Director and members of the SAC Psychological Support Program to provide members with comprehensive, wrap-around care internally. Where this is not possible, the CI Program Coordinator will help determine referrals to, and initiate contact with, further physical, psychological, and financial support services based on the presenting needs of the community member. More broadly, the CI Program Coordinator will develop new, and refine pre-existing, psychoeducational resources for clients that can be accessed digitally and in-person. These resources are aimed at providing support and information to clients outside of individual crisis intervention sessions.

Duties

• Provides sexual assault-specific crisis intervention support, information, resources, and referrals to individuals who have been affected by sexual violence, including follow-up sessions, through a variety of mediums (in-person, virtual, phone, email, text, and chat).
• Regularly reviews and signs off on CI Volunteer client files to ensure completion and accuracy, and prevent the over-disclosure of non-pertinent client information.
• Assesses clients for potential risk of harm to others, including minors, and reports information appropriately to relevant bodies (e.g. the Vice Provost and Dean of Students, Child and Family Services, the Edmonton Police Service, etc).
• Oversees, and is accountable for the provision of effective crisis intervention support provided by, 25-40 CI Volunteers, all of whom are current U of A students.
• Mentors and provides ongoing emotional support to CI Volunteers to ensure their wellbeing and minimize experiences of vicarious trauma.
• Performs personal safety threat assessments and engages in safety planning with SAC clients to help prevent additional experiences of harm.
• Accountable for all aspects of CI Volunteer recruitment, including application review, conducting individual and group interviews, and selection.
• Makes independent decisions and judgement about the provision of crisis intervention support, potential risk of harm to self or others, as well as appropriate and measured resourcing and referrals.
• Conducts suicide risk assessments, contracts with suicidal clients, and makes appropriate referrals to relevant on- and off-campus resources.
• Develops and maintains guiding documents and resources to aid in the recruitment and selection of CI Volunteers.
• Supervises the client work conducted by CI Volunteers through regular crisis intervention session debriefs, as well as formal and informal evaluation processes.

Qualifications

• Ability to deal with diverse issues, multi-task, and prioritize.
• Program planning, implementation, and evaluation skills.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, formal facilitation experience an asset.
• Ability to synthesize and conceptualize complex situations and use appropriate judgement.
• Experience working with diverse populations, including but not limited to individuals who are LGBTQ2SIA+, racialized, experiencing disabilities, and/or navigating other intersections of socially marginalized identities.
• Knowledge of a wide variety of resources on campus and in the community.
• Experience supervising and mentoring a team of volunteers.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with individuals of various backgrounds and experiences, including administrators, faculty, professionals, students, and community members.
• High level of critical thinking, analytical, statistical, and problem-solving skills.
• Extensive knowledge of anti-sexual violence advocacy, sexual and gender-based violence response and prevention, crisis intervention support, and suicide intervention.
• Ability to effectively communicate sensitive material.
• Undergraduate degree in a related field and completion of a comprehensive sexual violence crisis intervention support training program are required; consideration may also be given to other combinations of education and experience.
• Strong knowledge of University environment and student life, including relevant policies and procedures (the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Policy and Procedure; the Discrimination, Harassment, and Duty to Accommodation Policy and Procedures; the Helping Individuals at Risk Policy and Procedure; the Student Conduct Policy; staff and faculty collective agreements; FOIPP; etc).