Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

To plan, implement, supervise and evaluate all psychological services at the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre and provide responsive trauma informed psychological services for the male youth. To contribute to the overall effectiveness of the psychological services in the facility by providing professional consultation and expert advice to facility management and multi-discipline staff on a wide variety of psychological services. To plan/lead and implement the training and education of junior psychological professionals and operational and program staff.

Duties / Responsibilities :

As the only facility provided with the Female Division, and the largest and most visible facility in the ministry, RMYC is a 192-bed secure custody facility with on-site facilities to support education, health, employment, case management and rehabilitative programs and initiatives.

Working under the Manager of Psychology Services, and in co-operation with all levels of management, Youth Services Officers and program staff, the position:

1. Plans, conducts and supervises all aspects of therapies and rehabilitative assessments: applying the innovative Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) for treatment of complex trauma cases; conducting individual and/or group therapy for treatment of psychological problems; crisis intervention; evaluating and interpreting a range of psychological tests; monitoring treatment programs and revising programs when appropriate; maintaining accurate records of treatment intervention, documenting and reporting regularly the treatment progress of youth to Case Management meetings.

2. Plans, conducts and supervises all aspects of rehabilitative assessments and therapeutic interventions/plans: leading the continuing development and implementation of psychological assessment programmes and therapeutic interventions; conducting individual interviews for assessment programmes, including admission intake interviews and development of individualized behaviour management plans for youth with complex, co-occurring disorders; administering/ supervising the administration of aptitude, cognitive, personality, psycho-educational, risk screening, interest or other vocational and psychological tests; providing expertise/advices in various staff meetings, team conferences with professional and non-professional staff; working harmoniously with the Case Management team.

3. Facilitates psychological rehabilitation by providing consultation and education to those involved in rehabilitation programs and reintegration of youth into the community. Leads, plans, coordinates training programs and provides training and education to multi-discipline staff in assessment theories and practices, crisis intervention, counselling techniques, DBT, communication skills, assertion, anger control, mental health etc.

4. Provides senior level consultation and expert advice to senior administration, facility management team and front-line staff in case of difficult psychological assessment and therapies; mentors the counselling activities of Youth Services Officers; e.g. post-traumatic stress related problems, suicidal/para-suicidal behaviours and therapies, susceptibility for self-harm, potential danger to staff or other youth, recommending approaches to other treatment professionals; assesses suicidal youth regarding their needs and the duration of the suicide watch; downgrades or terminates suicide watch.

5. Continuously assesses developments in psychological practices in order to optimize the services provided to youth. Maintains knowledge in current development of psychological practice. Organizes and conducts research and program evaluation projects, which contribute to treatment methods or enhancements in psychological knowledge and programs, provides research advice and guidance to management and professional staff regarding the investigation of clinical problems.

6. Prepares and presents reports, briefing notes, presentations, data, documents to the Case Management Team and Senior Management.

7. Provides expertise, coaching and supervision to junior psychological professionals and/or interns. Promotes, arranges and supervises clinical internships and practicum placement of students in secure settings. Any other duties as assigned.

Staffing and Licencing :

Registration as a Psychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. Ph.D in Psychology from a university of recognized standing. Successful completion of CPIC checks.

Knowledge :

Job requires knowledge of science and practices of psychology, including a full range of psychotherapeutic and assessment techniques, to plan, conduct and co-ordinate psychological services, apply evidence-based treatment techniques including Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and provide consultation and advice on diagnosis and treatment of youth in custody. Job requires knowledge of theory and practices of psychology, current rehabilitative and treatment techniques, practices and theories applicable to male youth to provide assessment, treatment, consultation and research/evaluative services. Knowledge of psychological assessment tools/techniques and their application to a youth population; application and interpretation of assessment instruments to evaluate intellectual functioning/impairment, personality functioning, risk to re-offend, make diagnoses and to recommend appropriate treatment interventions. Job requires knowledge of facility policies and procedures, and provincial/federal statutes relating to the practice of psychology (e.g., consent to treatment, and retention of records. Health Care Act, YCJA, CFSA ) . Job requires knowledge of program evaluation, statistical analysis and research techniques in order to evaluate program effectiveness and conduct research projects, e.g. effectiveness of specific treatment programs, which impact the formulation of management treatment objectives of the facility. Job requires knowledge of community resources/services and related regulations to make appropriate referrals, and advocate offender assessment, treatment, rehabilitation and integration into the community. Job requires use of specialized technical terminology and skills in expressing complex findings and ideas in clear terms when communicating with Ministry staff at training sessions. Knowledge of computer programs in order to oversee the administration and scoring of psychological tests, write formal assessment reports and conduct research and analyze data.

Skills :

Job requires interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationship with management, peers, staff and youth, the ability to maintain strong working relationship with staff and community agencies and to assist in supervision of placement students. Job requires oral and written communication skills to communicate information regarding psychological assessment approaches/findings and treatment/rehabilitative activities to Senior Management, facility/Ministry staff, Courts, health care professionals in other disciplines, community agencies, youth, their families and advocates; to express complex findings and ideas in clear terms when communicating to staff, external resources and youth. Job requires analytical skills to determine most appropriate diagnostic approaches from a range of alternatives; to provide diagnostic assessments based on the interpretation of tests, interviews and other methods; to formulate treatment and rehabilitation plans/programs in a multidisciplinary setting; to evaluate treatment and rehabilitative activities or programs and identify revisions/effective solutions. Job requires coordination and research skills to plan/lead/develop training sessions; and to develop and participate in research projects. Job requires interview/ persuasion skills to have youth in custody accept treatment and encouraging their acceptance of psychological services in the community. Job requires presentation skills to present findings and deliver training sessions. Job requires computer skills to operate Windows applications/software including word processing, databases, email and the internet, to communicate, input/retrieve data, prepare reports, evaluate psychological tests and maintain case documentation and statistics.

Freedom of Action :

Job requires working in accordance with ministry/facility policies/guidelines/operational plans, legislation and the professional standards governing the practice of psychology. Job requires carrying out clinical responsibilities in collaboration with multi-disciplinary team. Job requires working independently in a responsive manner within a multidisciplinary team, planning, conducting and overseeing the psychological diagnosis/treatment and rehabilitative approaches which best serve the needs of youth. Job requires judgement to determine the best suited approach to enhance the well-being of the youth and make optimum use of other available resources/services, and in recommending approaches to youth care; to evaluate the efficiency of treatment and rehabilitative activities or programs, e.g., service delivery problems or lack of progress, and to identify effective solutions. Job works independently in determining the scope/content/presentation when leading/planning training sessions. Job requires referring unusual operational problems to the Deputy Youth Centre Administrator. Job works under the professional supervision of and refers unusual clinical problems to the Manager of Psychological Services. Job requires discretion and sensitivity regarding the discussion of diagnosis, treatment and progress with the youth in custody, and in dealing with the families to obtain information and in dealing with community agencies. Errors in judgement may result in the elevation of trauma symptoms and mental health problems, cause increased self-harm incidences and/or suicidal death of youth, legal suit, adverse media publicity and liability of Government.