Child Representative Staff

The Centre for Refugee Children—a partnership project of Christie Refugee Welcome Centre and FCJ Refugee Centre—provides direct settlement services to unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) in Ontario, with a specialized focus on ensuring access to justice for refugee and migrant children and youth who are navigating the refugee claim process or other immigration proceedings. In addition to serving UASC across the province, accompanied refugee and migrant children who have exceptional legal and settlement needs may also be eligible to access services and support from the Centre.

Through its establishment, the Centre for Refugee Children aims to strengthen connections with community organizations and government divisions to improve immigration, child welfare and settlement outcomes for children, youth and families supported by the project. The Centre also engages in public education and advocacy initiatives in response to issues impacting unaccompanied and separated children in Ontario and throughout Canada.

The Centre for Refugee Children has an opportunity for a full-time (37.5 hours per week) Child Representative Staff to join our team.

Reporting directly to the Centre’s Director and the Centre’s Policy & Advocacy Coordinator, this role will operate within the Centre’s Child Representative Program to provide direct support to children who are navigating immigration legal proceedings, including refugee claim hearings and admissibility hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) as well as front-end interviews and immigration applications.

Regular work hours will be Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm. Occasional evening work hours will be required to facilitate appointments with children and to support the staffing model of the Centre.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POSITION INCLUDE (BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO):

• Provide direct legal support in the capacity of a child representative/designated representative for children who are navigating the refugee claim process and other immigration proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
• Maintain a rolling caseload of approximately 15-20 children who are navigating the refugee claim process.
• Support an average of 6-8 admissibility hearings for children per month who are referred for this process to receive their Conditional Departure Order as part of their refugee claim process.
• Assist unaccompanied children and youth to understand the refugee claim process, assist with the completion front-end forms, accompany and support children at immigration appointments, retain counsel and/or legal support for the child’s legal proceedings, assist to prepare children for their refugee claim hearings before the IRB, and communicate on the child’s behalf to lawyers, immigration authorities and other service providers as it relates to the child’s immigration process in Canada.
• Work collaboratively with the Centre for Refugee Children staff to ensure that all children and youth being supported by the Child Representative Program also have access to supports in other areas of their settlement, and when needed facilitate referrals to the Centre’s settlement staff team.
• Assist the Centre’s Director and Policy & Advocacy Coordinator to convene, attend and facilitate meetings with NGOs, government officials and other stakeholders, including the Unaccompanied and Separated Children Network (chaired by the Centre for Refugee Children) and other meetings related to issues impacting refugee and migrant children in Ontario and across Canada. • Support the Centre’s Director and Policy & Advocacy Coordinator in direct advocacy to government officials for initiatives related to the legal needs of refugee and migrant children in Ontario.
• Keep up-to-date program statistics and case notes as required by the Centre for its Child Representative Program.
• Collaborate with the CRC team on miscellaneous tasks as required to meet program and organizational objectives and enhance the quality of services being provided to children and youth served by the Centre.

Qualifications

• Educational requirements will include a degree in social sciences/social work/related field or a 2-year social/community services diploma, or comparable frontline work experience.

It is critical that the successful candidate possesses a very strong knowledge of the refugee claim process and Canada’s immigration system, and that the candidate has previous experience (2+ years) supporting children and youth through the refugee claim process and other legal processes within Canada’s immigration system.

Person Specification.

• Highly developed relational skills.
• Ability to effectively problem-solve.
• Ability to work under tight timelines and support appointments with short notice.
• Excellent report writing and written communication skills .
• Strong communication skills and previous experience in relation to working with vulnerable children and youth.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Ability to plan and execute tasks and projects independently.
• Previous experience with providing case management services to refugee claimants and precarious migrants navigating immigration legal proceedings.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of refugee and newcomer issues, engage others in a culturally sensitive manner, and manage conflict situations with skill and diplomacy.
• Fluency in French is not a requirement, but it is considered an asset, as legal proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) may be conducted in French if it is the child’s preferred language.

Note:

The Child Representative Staff position will work out the Centre’s office space in its emergency housing site in Toronto (confidential address) with some weekly remote hours available. Occasional work out of the Centre’s other locations at Christie Refugee Welcome Centre (43 Christie Street) and FCJ Refugee Centre (208 Oakwood Avenue).. As this is a permanent position, employee benefits will be available

Occasional evening work hours will be required to facilitate appointments with children and to support the staffing model of the Centre.

Please note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and interviews may take place during the posting period.