Program Engagement Co-Facilitator - Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario

Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO, www.youthhubs.ca) is an Integrated Youth Services (IYS) initiative designed to address the service gaps in the youth mental health and substance use sectors in Ontario. YWHO supports local service providers to work together in a new way, providing young people in Ontario aged 12 to 25 with access to a full range of integrated services that support their individual needs, including mental health and substance use supports, primary care, education, employment, housing and other social services in one youth-friendly space.

Outcomes are rigorously evaluated within and across hubs focusing on positive outcomes in areas of wellness important to youth and their families. This initiative engages youth, family/caregivers and other partners through a co-creation process, ensuring services are designed and delivered according to their needs. YWHO's IYS model is designed to improve experiences and outcomes for youth by:

• Increasing access to rapid, low-barrier services;

• Reducing transitions by providing care in one location; and,

• Providing tailored, high-quality programs co-developed with youth to meet their needs.

YWHO is currently comprised of 32 local hubs (or YWHO Networks) that provide services to youth and families in over 40 communities, as well as a Provincial Office (PO) situated within the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) that provides support to all of these YWHO Networks across the following key areas: implementation, operations, data and evaluation, youth and family engagement, equity, knowledge mobilization, communications, and more.

The YWHO Provincial Office is working with YWHO Hubs across the province to co-develop, implement, and evaluate coordinated gender-based violence (GBV) supports within our YWHO Hub services. GBV is a significant public health issue and consistently associated with youth mental health, substance use, and physical health challenges. The initiative will support a new GBV role within 10 hubs; train and build capacity across sectors to recognize, prevent, and treat GBV within YWHO Hubs; establish a GBV care pathway for routine GBV screening, prevention, and early intervention; ensure youth engagement and co-design; and assess the impact of our coordinated intervention supports.

Job Summary

YWHO is currently seeking a part-time, contract (6 month) Program Engagement Co-Facilitator (Youth Engagement Specialist) to work at the YWHO Provincial Office in Toronto. Reporting to the Manager, Equity and Engagement and working closely with the Program Manager Provincial Initiatives, the successful candidates will be integrated within the Equity and Engagement team to support provincial youth engagement initiatives at YWHO, including a project that will integrate gender-based violence (GBV) programming into select YWHO hubs across the province.

The Program Engagement Co‑Facilitator will have prior experience working with youth/young adults and uses their lived or living experience with mental health, substance use, or related challenges to support system and service planning, education, and research activities. They help ensure that the perspectives of individuals with lived experience are meaningfully incorporated into programming by co‑facilitating discussions, co‑developing educational resources, and supporting engagement activities. They will have familiarity with the GBV service sector, knowledge of Ontario’s mental health and substance use system/services.