Position Type: Minimum six (6) month term

Department: Culturally Sensitive Counselling
Reporting to: Manager, Counselling
Location: Scarborough, ON
Start Date: August 7, 2025
Hours of work: Minimum of 21 hours/per week

Salary: $34.95/hour

Affiliation: Unionized Position

How to Apply

All candidates should submit a completed rsum, and optional cover letter, to https://tropicana.bamboohr.com/careers/136

Only applications received prior to 5 pm on July 21, 2025 will be considered.

About the Organization

For over 45 years, Tropicana Community Services (TCS) has been a pillar of strength and support, proudly standing as one of Canada's largest Black-led, Caribbean and Black-serving (B3) organizations. Our mission is to empower youth, newcomers, and families through culturally responsive services rooted in education, employment, and community development and we deliver on it through a diverse array of programs tailored to meet the needs of our community.

About the Position

Provides culturally sensitive clinical counselling to children, youth, adults, and seniors, especially from the Black, African, and Caribbean communities, to address challenges that may be having significant impacts on various aspects of their lives. Services aim to engage often hard-to-reach clients and work collaboratively with families to develop treatment plans that manage risky behaviours, build on strengths, and facilitate pro-social opportunities for improved outcomes. Using a client-centered anti-Black racism lens, clients are supported to achieve their goals through individual and family counselling and/or group and workshop facilitation including Stop Now and Plan (SNAP). Success through Aggression Replacement Training (START)

Areas of Responsibilities

Clinical Counselling & Group Facilitation:

• Clinical application of social work theories, assessments, and outcomes to counsel children, youth, adults, and seniors to identify solutions for presenting challenges
• Culturally appropriate and trauma-informed supports, including brief counselling, trauma counselling, healing circles, and support groups for children, youth, and families in response to critical incidents such as shootings, stabbings, and gang-affiliated activities.
• Anti-oppressive, trauma-informed counselling and education to clients experiencing gender-based violence to help them develop actionable plans that facilitate their well-being and achievement of goals for themselves and their dependents including safety planning, information sharing, advocacy, system navigation, and accompaniment.
• Assess child and family strengths and needs, including risk identification, for their eligibility into the Stop Now and Plan (SNAP) program and, where necessary, develop and facilitate treatment plans to achieve goals, external case management, and service coordination.
• Assess children, youth, and adult strengths and needs for their eligibility into the Success through Aggression Replacement Training (START) program and, where necessary, facilitate individual and group programming of skills streaming, anger-control, and moral reasoning sessions.
• Supportive counselling to assist newcomers, with a focus on people of Black, African, and Caribbean heritage, to settle effectively into Canadian society.
• Advocate on behalf of clients within the various systems (e.g., child protection, housing, schools, courts, police, and social assistance) to help clients remove barriers to service.

Workshop Facilitation:

• Develop and facilitate educational workshops for clients experiencing gender-based violence using trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist foundational principles.
• Develop and facilitate life-skills workshops for youth.

Service Evaluation:

• Follow program guidelines including the reporting and record-keeping.
• Participate in quality assurance, evaluation, data collection, and research activities.
• Conduct performance management activities to evaluate service outcomes.

Committee Participation & Outreach:

• Develop positive links and partnerships with organizations through committee membership to enhance service delivery and ensure that members of the Black, African and Caribbean community are receiving fair and equitable treatment.
• Conduct community visits to promote services to agencies including, but not limited to, social services, education, immigration, medical and legal systems.

Skills and Qualifications

Education

• Bachelors degree in social work and related work experience in counselling individuals and families from the Black, African, and Caribbean community

Work Experience

• Related work experience counselling individuals and families from the Black, African, and Caribbean community
• Experience providing culturally informed advanced counselling, crisis intervention, and group facilitation to families from the Black, African, and Caribbean community
• Familiarity with the fundamentals of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Parent Management Training, and Behaviour Management Systems Training
• Knowledge of a variety of theoretical approaches including, but not limited to, Solution Focussed Brief Therapy, Systems, Attachment, Feminist, Aggression Replacement Training, and Transtheoretical Model
• Ability to attract the community to the agency using innovative and exciting strategies

Licenses & Certifications

• Current registration in good standing with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
• Valid police clearance with vulnerable sector check.

Language & Communication Skills

• Ability to communicate effectively in English, both oral and written

Transferable Skills

• Lived experience of the Black, African & Caribbean culture, in particular, understanding of anti-Black racism issues
• Understanding of trauma and attachment in relation to gender violence issues
• Proven time-management, organization, engagement, and sustainability skills
• Ability to work well in a team setting and with minimal supervision
• Ability to attract the community to the agency using innovative and exciting strategies
• Demonstrated initiative, enthusiasm, creativity, versatility, adaptability, and ability to engage persons of all ages
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills
• Excellent facilitation skills with children, youth, adults, and seniors
• Computer proficiency in Windows environment Microsoft Office and Internet

Although we appreciate each application, only those candidates being considered for the position will be contacted.

Tropicana Community Services commits to promoting inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA) through its information and support, advocacy, programming, internal policies, and governance structures. Tropicana Community Services will aim to ensure that our staff reflect the experience, skills and diversity of the communities we serve and create an inclusive, barrier-free work environment, beginning with the recruitment process. If you have restrictions that need to be accommodated to fully participate in any phase of the recruitment process, please contact Human Resources. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.