“What we do together…our H.E.A.R.T is our difference.”
Do you have a genuine passion in promoting the values of Indigenous culture working with and for Indigenous children, youth, and families (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) while respecting their cultural diversity?
If so, consider joining our Xyólheméylh work family. We are a fully delegated Indigenous Child & Family Service Agency providing programs and services to Indigenous children, youth, and families on and off reserve within Stó:lō Territory in the Fraser Valley between Yale First Nation and Surrey BC.
Our programs and services are created and delivered with the support of our Elders Advisory Council with special attention on strengthening culture and identity, while honoring the strength of families.
We strive to work in a holistic way to keep families together and reintegrate children back with their families and extended families.
Our service delivery is done with an open heart and an open mind focusing on the best interest of the family while keeping children at the center.
We work to ensure children are connected to their family and community while striving to ensure their inherent rights to heritage and identity are upheld in all we do.
Guardianship Social Worker- 1857
Full-Time Position-Chilliwack
Salary- $69,762.65 to $89,270.82 per annum (35 hrs per week)
FS 0-12 Yrs Old Team 3
EDO Available: Monday, Week 2
Please note that anyone applying for this position may be subject to the wage growth series within the Indigenous Delegated Social Worker Progression (IDSWP) outlined in the Collective Agreement APPENDIX A1.
Anyone placed on the IDSWP growth series will not be eligible for the temporary market adjustment until they reach full working level Grid 24, Step 1.
Reporting to the Team Lead, the Guardianship Social Workers (GSWs) acts as a legal Guardian to all children and youth in care of the Director. GSWs provide culturally appropriate and holistic services to protect and support children in care within the parameters provided by the BC Child, Family and Community Services Act and the Aboriginal Operational and Practice Standards and Indicators (AOPSI). This is done by building trusting relationships and working in collaboration with the children in care, the family/caregivers, Aboriginal Communities, identified elders, and support workers. The views of children, families and communities are sought, valued, respected and considered in all aspects of service planning, service delivery and service evaluation.
Xyólheméylh is proud to have an Elders Advisory Council to ensure that culture is embedded throughout the agency ensuring the goals, missions and values are upheld in a good way. Lets'emót – to be of one heart and one mind.
Major Responsibilities & Duties:
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Acts as a legal guardian to children and youth in care of the Director, and ensures that they are aware of their rights while in care;
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Attends all meetings, appointments, and judicial proceedings when a guardian is required to speak, or make decisions on behalf of the child;
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Sign all documents that a legal guardian of the child needs to complete, such as school permission slips, medical forms, release of information forms, etc.;
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Develops stable, safe and long-term placements for children in care, this includes the child’s needs for stability, continuity of relationships and a sense of belonging with the child’s best interest as a priority;
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Identifies and nurtures supportive familial and community relationships which will reach into adulthood;
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In collaboration with the Designated Representative, community and family, connects the child to her/his aboriginal roots and community;
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Provides an opportunity for children in care to develop the skills and resources necessary to succeed as an adult;
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Works collaboratively with caregivers and with Resource Social Worker to ensure a Life Book that contains pictorial and written records of the life of children in care such that the child has an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging and continuity;
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Seeks professional guidance and approval of the Team Leader at key points in the provision of the guardianship files and within time frames specified within AOPSI standards (and more frequently if required by the Team Leader).
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Work within the four dimensions of permanency planning:
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Relational: establishes long-lasting connections with biological family members, the community, and others who the youth can turn to in their adult life.
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Cultural: ensures the child is connected to their culture, heritage, etc.
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Physical: creates a plan for a safe, stable, healthy, and long-lasting living arrangement.
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Legal: ensures all legal arrangements are made.
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Develops, monitors, evaluates and revises a written Plan of Care collaboratively with family, community, Band Representative with participation and views of child where appropriate.
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Ensures Plan of Care provides structure for the child and their caregivers to address the child’s health, educational, dental, spiritual, emotional, and cultural needs. Ensures it is sufficiently detailed and flexible to allow the child as many safe choices as their age and level of development will allow;
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Collaborates with family, community and support workers to ensure that Aboriginal identity and culture is preserved through a Culture Plan;
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Provides resources for children in care to develop the skills and resources necessary to succeed and live independently upon leaving care when reaching age of majority/becoming independent. Monitors the child’s transitions into adulthood and the acceptance of adult responsibilities;
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Works in collaboration with the children and youth in care, caregivers, community and support services, to assume primary responsibility for the development and maintenance of the child’s cultural and community connections in an effort to give the child a sense of pride and understanding of their Aboriginal heritage.
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Reviews appropriate discipline standards with caregiver and child in care when child is placed in care;
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Meets with the child every 30 days (without the caregiver) to monitor and evaluate the child’s sense of safety, has a meaningful conversation with the child to ensure child’s views are heard, and ensures AOPSI standards are upheld;
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Advocates and encourages the child to advocate on her/his behalf when appropriate;
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Encourages the child to accept age-appropriate responsibility for decision-making with respect to their life planning;
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Supports the caregiver to allow the child to take risks within limits to ensure the child’s ongoing safety and development.
Monitoring and Evaluation
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Ensures that service expectations and goals are appropriate to the child’s age and level of development and realistic within the time frames available;
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Regularly meets with Designated Representative, community, family and child to review and rupdate service expectations and goals;
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Coordinates with caregivers all transfers, visits, and out of home overnight activities;
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Provides ongoing feedback to the caregivers, and others providing support to the child, regarding the quality and expectations of service;
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Where feasible and within the limitations of budgets, meets any extraordinary expenses necessary to develop the talents and innate abilities of children in care.
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Supports the child through the protocol investigation process should an allegation of abuse is received.
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Actively engages and involves the Designated Representative on all guardianship matter with child and youth from their community;
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Builds familiarity with all agencies and resources in the region;
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Develops and maintains a positive, partnership approach to their community liaison role and appropriately addresses issues that may impact on agency and professional cooperation;
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Ensure appropriate services are present in the community for their children and youth;
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Undertakes liaison responsibilities as occasionally assigned by the Team Lead;
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Develops plans for youth consistent with community culture and tradition.
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Prepares children, family and adoptive family for adoption or transfer of custody by engaging them in open dialogue about how adoption will impact them and their adoptive family;
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Prepares documentation related to adoption/section 54.1 planning, including the proposal for permanency plan, placement and visitation schedules, exception and exemption reports, court documentation, birth, family and social history reports, life books, proposal packages, cultural safety agreements, family and cultural connections plans, and if required, the separation of siblings document;
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Attends to the emotional needs of the child related to separation and loss;
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Provides culturally safe services and supports to Aboriginal children and adoptive families in all areas of adoption duties;
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Collaboratively works with and assists MCFD to prepare children for adoption and permanency;
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Rescindments: Prepare all the court documentation related to rescindment plan, such as reports and court documentation;
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Ensures the child’s community is involved in the permanency planning process;
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Actively participates in the Connections meetings facilitated by the FCCW.
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Demonstrates security awareness consistent with agency policy when dealing with confidential documents, office safety and personal safety.
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Demonstrates proficiency in case management and organizational skills to ensure complete and accurate records are kept on all files according to policy, the timely return of telephone messages, and reliability and predictability in terms of relationship with clients and the community.
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Completes monthly reports in a timely manner to meet both statistical and case management responsibilities, including reviewing, transferring and closing activities.
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Develops and maintains a positive and participatory approach to teamwork;
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Promptly addresses issues that have an impact on cooperation, support, moral and service delivery;
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Establishes respectful and effective working relationships with other staff, work units and other agencies;
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Seeks knowledge and information when there may be uncertain of policy, practice, or procedures.
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Education, Experience & Knowledge Required
1. Preferred Credentials Education & Experience:
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Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Social Work
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Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Child and Youth Care
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Master’s Degree in Educational Counselling Psychology/Master of Arts in Counselling
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A candidate’s credentials may be considered equivalent to the above education requirements when they are registered and a member in good standing with the BC College of Social Workers or have a letter from the College confirming that their application for registration has been approved.
2. Expanded Credentials Education:
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Bachelor’s Degree in a Human Services field (Human Services fields include Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, Anthropology, Early Childhood Education, Indigenous Studies, Education, Theology and Nursing)
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Bachelor’s Degree with a Major/Honours in a Human Services field (Human Services fields include Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, Anthropology, Early Childhood Education, Indigenous Studies, Education, Theology and Nursing)
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Master’s Level Graduate Certificate/Diploma in a Human Services field obtained AFTER the completion of an unrelated bachelor’s degree
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Expanded Credentials Experience:
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Minimum 1 year of job-specific OR related work experience
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Job specific experience includes experience working with and planning for children and youth in a child and family service agency that provides legislated services (child protection, guardianship, resources, family support or adoption). This may include progressive responsibility in legislated child and family services in an agency and/or managing/supervising a team of employees who work in child and family services.
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Related work experience includes a minimum of 1-year working with children, youth, families, or adults in any one or a combination of the following settings:
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A child and family service agency that provides legislated services (child protection, guardianship, resources, family support or adoption);
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A social services agency on an Indigenous reserve, providing direct support services;
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A family services agency that provides assessment and counselling services;
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A contracted agency providing assessment, counselling and family support services;
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A specialized care setting for vulnerable adults, children, or youth that also involves
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direct work with families;
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A policing, probation or corrections setting;
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A mental health or healthcare setting providing assessment and counselling services;
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An education setting undertaking assessment and counselling services;
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A social services agency providing services to people with diverse abilities and vulnerable adults;
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A provincial agency dedicated to promoting safe and healthy workplaces providing
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services and support for injured workers.
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Additional Important Information:
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All education credentials will be subject to verification and validation process.
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In addition, if the education was obtained outside of Canada, it needs to be assessed for equivalency through the International Credential Evaluation Service. Preferred education requirements require a comprehensive report. Expanded (Base) education requirements require a basic report.
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If the education/experience require the completion of a practicum, it should be a practicum in family and child welfare occurs in an agency/organization where a student had the opportunity to practice assessing the needs of children and families to develop and provide intervention services to the children and/or families.
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Must be delegated or eligible for delegation in the province of B.C
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Ability to practice standards set out in the Child Protection Response Policy (Chapter 3), B.C. Child, Family and Community Services Act, and the Aboriginal Operational and Practice Standards and Indicators (AOPSI) Manual
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Knowledge and appreciation of Indigenous culture and how culture impacts in the development of individuals and communities; and Indigenous culture in general and history.
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Understanding of cross-cultural issues as they affect children in care, foster parents, biological parents, and communities of origins.
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Practical knowledge of federal, provincial, and aboriginal organizations mandated to provide health, counseling and child and family services
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Strong understanding of agency policies and procedure manuals.
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Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to write concise reports for various audiences and facilitate meetings.
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Ability to form trusting, respectful and effective relationships with children, Indigenous communities, caregivers, parents, and other FVACFSS employees.
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Demonstrated ability to balance competing priorities and work under pressure.
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Ability to travel for core training and delegation training including but not limited to other training and career development requirements.
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Maintain an attitude of caring, respect and optimism for their clients.
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Maintain a clear differentiation between the professional and personal self.
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Professional commitment, flexibility, good problem solving and dispute resolution skills.
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Computer literacy on databases, Microsoft Word, Excel, and other computer software
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Valid Class 5 BC Driver’s License (no restrictions); reliable transportation with adequate vehicle insurance
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Criminal Records Check is a requirement.
FVACFSS employees are expected to be familiar with and must comply with the expectations of confidentiality as
outlined in the Agency’s Human Resources Policy Manual and other policies and operational manuals, AOPSI and the
B.C. Child, Family and Community Services Act.
You can learn more about us at www.fvacfss.ca.
This Position Requires Union Membership.
We are pleased to offer employer paid Extended Health benefits and enjoy participating in our attractive pension program with the Public Service Pension Plan.
Preference may be given to Indigenous candidates as per Section 41 of the Human Rights Code.
Applications will be accepted until 4:30pm PST
Monday, June 22nd, 2026
NOTE: Current employees of Xyólheméylh must apply for this position using the Internal Job Posting portal in ADP, with Xyólheméylh login credentials.
