Child Care Worker

Position Title: Child Care Worker
Department: Child Welfare
Location(s): Moosonee, Moose Factory, Cochrane, Kapuskasing, Timmins, or other designated service sites
Reports To: Supervisor – Customary Care / Kinship / Adoption
Job Class: Team Member
Salary Structure: CBG01- Collectively Bargained Grid 01

Unionized: Yes
TEER Level: 3
NOC Code: 41300

Purpose of the Role
In alignment with the Omushkego understanding of payukotayno—living and working as one family—this role exists to uphold healing, relational accountability, and culturally grounded care for children, youth, families, and Nations. As a Child Care Worker, you support culturally rooted placements, customary care arrangements, and family-based healing processes in collaboration with First Nations communities. Your work is central to enacting the spirit and practice of Bill C-92, the CYFSA, and our Treaty obligations.

Core Responsibilities

1. Relational and Community Engagement

• Build meaningful relationships with children, caregivers, and community members based on respect, consent, and trust
• Engage with First Nations Elders, Customary Care providers, and extended families to ensure child placements reflect community and cultural safety
• Represent the agency at case conferences, visits, and collaborative planning with cultural humility and relational accountability

2. Program-Specific Responsibilities

• Provide consistent emotional, social, and logistical support to children in care and their caregivers, with attention to traditional healing and community connections
• Monitor placements, document wellbeing indicators, and conduct in-home or community-based visits
• Use CPIN and internal systems to complete plans of care, safety checks, contact logs, and culturally relevant assessments

3. Legal and Ethical Practice

• Maintain confidentiality, uphold legal standards under CYFSA, PHIPA, and Bill C-92, and seek guidance for complex cultural situations
• Fulfill mandatory reporting duties in a timely and culturally respectful manner
• Collaborate with First Nations’ representatives, service teams, and families to align with jurisdictional standards and protocols

4. Team and Agency Participation

• Participate in reflective supervision, seasonal team debriefs, community-based events, and culturally guided staff development
• Assist colleagues in child transitions, placements, or reunification, and contribute to integrated planning across programs
• Attend Agency gatherings, land-based retreats, and knowledge-sharing circles as needed

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Diploma or degree in Child and Youth Work, Social Services, Indigenous Studies, or a related field — or equivalent lived/professional experience
• Familiarity with the realities, histories, and strengths of First Nations families in Northern Ontario
• Experience working with children and families in crisis, foster care, or customary care settings is an asset
• Strong documentation, organizational, and communication skills
• Proficiency in using case management systems and digital tools
  Equivalency will be considered. Lived experience and fluency in Omushkego Cree or a First Nations language is an asset.

Conditions of Employment

• Satisfactory Criminal Record Check including Vulnerable Sector Screening
• Valid Ontario Class G Driver’s License
• Access to a reliable vehicle and ability to travel regularly within the region
• Compliance with all Agency policies, collective agreement, and applicable legislation

Our Hiring Commitments
Payukotayno is committed to Indigenous-led services, Nation-based healing, and culturally safe workplaces. We encourage applications from First Nations individuals, especially those from Treaty 9 communities and affiliated Nations. We honour both formal qualifications and cultural/lived knowledge as valid experience.

We are committed to employment equity and welcome applications from all qualified persons, including those identifying as Two-Spirit, non-binary, LGBTQ+, francophone, persons with disabilities, and other equity-seeking groups.

Accommodations are available throughout the application process.

AODA Statement (for postings only)
In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Payukotayno will provide accommodations throughout the recruitment process upon request.