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Policy Analyst – Our Children Our Way Society Secretariat

Position Title: Policy Analyst

Job Type: Full-Time/Part-Time

Reports to:  Manager of Policy and Research

Salary Range: $65,000 to $95,000

Location: This is a virtual position located within British Columbia

Travel Requirement: Travel to meetings 6-12 times per year in various locations in British Columbia

Department Summary

The Policy Analyst, employed by the Indigenous Child and Family Services Directors Our Children Our Way Society, will work as part of the Secretariat team supporting the vision, mission, goals, and objectives of the Society.

The Our Children Our Way Society represents the 24 Indigenous Child and Family Service Agencies in British Columbia. The Society advocates for systemic changes to policy, practice, legislation and funding to uphold the best interests of our children, families and communities. We address issues that have a province-wide impact, with a view to providing a collective Indigenous voice.

The Our Children Our Way Society is built on the vision and wisdom of the Indigenous leaders who have worked tirelessly to restore decision-making over the welfare of our children and families. We trace our roots back to the Indian Homemakers Association of BC, and the early Indigenous women’s political movement. We have never stopped fighting government efforts to destroy our cultures and break up our families.

The work of the Society guided by the Board of Directors and is shared across six portfolios: jurisdiction, substantive equality, practice & innovation, partnerships, communications, and operations & administration.

The Our Children Our Way Secretariat uplifts the work and voices of the Indigenous Child & Family Services Directors. The Secretariat team brings together: Indigenous knowledge and wisdom; experience in the governance, operations and delivery of Indigenous child and family services; and skills in research, evaluation, engagement and communications.

The Secretariat is a growing team of professionals, including Administrative, Communications, Policy, Research and Records Management staff. The work of the Secretariat is guided by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, the principles of OCAP©, and the Constitution of the Our Children Our Way Society.

Position Overview

The Policy Analyst will support and inform Indigenous Child and Family Services Agencies in their planning for and provision of Indigenous child and family services. The Policy Analyst will contribute to this crucial work through engagement with the Directors and their partners, and through research and analysis.

The Secretariat team works collaboratively and strives to maintain an exceptional level of mutual commitment to the team and to the work. Each Policy Analyst also functions with a high degree of independence and operates in an environment where there is significant interaction with ICFS Agencies and their staff.

The Our Children Our Way Society has two main strategic goals: to ensure excellence in the delivery of Indigenous child & family services in BC and to support Nations and communities in resuming their rightful places in the affairs of their children and families. While those goals remain constant, the pathways toward achieving them are constantly shifting. As a result, the Secretariat team must be responsive to new and emerging priorities.

Policy Analysts play an important role in catalyzing system-wide changes through relational and strategic work that reflects the rights and needs of children, youth, young adults, their families and communities in British Columbia as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights on the Child (UNCRC), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Secretariat’s Manager of Policy and Research, the Policy Analyst will participate in a wide variety of policy tables to support and monitor implementation of new policy, programs and initiatives. The Policy Analyst will examine legislation, regulations, policies, standards, frameworks and a variety of reports; and produce briefings, public reports and presentations and mobilize resources for collective systemic action.

Each Policy Analyst is attached to one of the Society’s six portfolios and supports the achievement of the strategic objectives within that portfolio. This includes: facilitating and documenting portfolio meetings; tracking and implementing action items; and working with the larger Secretariat team to complete the tasks linked to each strategic objective. The work often spans more than one portfolio, and requires ongoing collaboration.

The Secretariat team is located across BC. Team meetings and collaborative work are conducted primarily online.

Accountabilities

  • Reports to the Manager of Policy and Research of the ICFSOCOW Society’s Secretariat
  • Receives work assignments and day to day direction from the Manager of Policy and Research
  • Analyzes and identifies issues associated with program objectives, assesses competing and/or conflicting priorities, identifies risks and issues, and recommends strategic policy alternatives or significant changes to program operations
  • Supports the development of policy frameworks for the translation of priorities into viable policy options
  • Collaborates with all communities, particularly those impacted by systemic discrimination, using ethical engagement practice and meaningful participation of children and youth and rights holders
  • Evaluates and reviews the effectiveness and efficiency of practice, policies, guidelines, programs, service delivery, legislation and regulations.
  • Conducts systemic analysis and evaluates systemic change to explore the intersections between people, structure, process, and goals.
  • Embeds anti-racist approaches, two-eyed seeing, cultural safety and humility as well as inclusion frameworks into research design and analysis.
  • Applies an understanding of the impacts of colonization and the principles of reconciliation in relation to the provision of services for children, youth and young adults.
  • Assists in the development, implementation and maintenance of a process for prioritizing and strategizing responses to systemic advocacy issues.
  • Prepares written reports for government communication (i.e., briefing note, presentations) and public audiences (i.e. published reports, fact sheets, knowledge mobilization campaigns)
  • Leads working groups and steering committees
  • Leads systemic analysis of practice, policies, guidelines, programs, service delivery, legislation and regulations; conducts research and cross-jurisdictional reviews; recommends alternatives or new approaches.
  • Conducts issues management by identifying emerging issues of major significance and advising and preparing recommendations for response
  • Provides advice and recommendations in support of ongoing community development
  • Supports the review of existing agency, partnership, or government protocols as needed relating to Indigenous child and family services delivery Program

Education, Training, and Experience

  • A Graduate degree in human services, social sciences or a related discipline with a social policy component (e.g., Social Work, Child and Youth Care, Psychology, Criminology, Indigenous Studies, Health Sciences, Law, Sociology, Education, or Gender Studies); or
  • A Bachelor’s degree in human services with additional training in policy analysis; or
  • The Society recognizes and values the cultural and community knowledge and experience that is gained over time, therefore relevant experience and other forms of post-secondary education/training will be considered, including:
    • Working within the child and family serving system, e.g. in child welfare, family services, guardianship, mental health, substance use, special needs, special education, adoption, youth justice, residential care, or early childhood development;
    • First Nations, Métis or Inuit political leadership, governance, or program/project research roles;
    • Professional development related to research and analysis;
    • Significant experience working within and for First Nations, Métis, Inuit and/or urban Indigenous communities;
    • Significant experience developing, implementing or evaluating anti-racist approaches, cultural safety, or inclusion frameworks;
  • Experience working in Indigenous child and family services organizations preferred.
  • Experience in conceptualizing, analyzing, investigating, and reporting on a wide variety of issues preferred.
  • Experience in the development of legislation, regulation, and policy preferred.
  • Experience conducting research preferred.
  • Familiarity with Indigenous Child & Family Services agencies preferred.
  • Successful completion of security screening requirements, which may include a criminal records check, and/or Criminal Records Review Act (CRRA) check, and/or enhanced security screening checks.

Knowledge

  • Knowledge of relevant legislation, law, policies, practices and issues related to child, youth and family services and oversight of child and youth serving systems.
  • Knowledge of child and youth services related to child welfare, mental health, substance use, youth justice, special needs, special education and early childhood development.
  • Knowledge of social policy issues and the challenges in delivering public services in B.C.
  • Knowledge of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and child welfare issues within a decolonizing framework.
  • Knowledge of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).

Skills and Abilities

  • Excellent analytical, problem solving, planning and organizational skills.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to apply Indigenous knowledge principles and two-eyed seeing.
  • Demonstrated aptitude for working with various stakeholders and, in particular, an aptitude for active and successful engagement with Indigenous people, communities, and agencies.
  • Demonstrated ability to prioritize and meet tight timelines.
  • Demonstrated ability to research, analyze, and understand complex legislation and policy issues and develop recommendations for systemic change.
  • Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain successful and effective relationships with stakeholders, colleagues, managers and staff.
  • Demonstrated ability to concisely and persuasively write a range of content such as briefing notes and engagement summary reports.
  • Demonstrated ability to apply decolonizing principles of Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, and Responsibility to systemic analysis and advocacy.
  • Demonstrated ability to work relationally, engage with and maintain genuine relationships and connection with others.
  • Openness to continuous learning, working in complexity and commitment to decolonizing and anti-racism work.
  • Skills in the Microsoft Office suite including Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel.

Behavioural Competencies

Cultural Agility is the ability to work respectfully, knowledgeably and effectively with Indigenous people. It is noticing and readily adapting to cultural uniqueness in order to create a sense of safety for all. It is openness to unfamiliar experiences, transforming feelings of nervousness or anxiety into curiosity and appreciation. It is examining one’s own culture and worldview and the culture of the ICFSDOCOW Society, and to notice their commonalities and distinctions with Indigenous cultures and worldviews. It is recognition of the ways that personal and professional values may conflict or align with those of Indigenous people. It is the capacity to relate to or allow for differing cultural perspectives and being willing to experience a personal shift in perspective.

Building a Trusting Relationship is working to build or maintain ethical relationships or networks or contacts with people who are, or may be, potentially helpful in achieving work-related goals and establishing advantages. These people may include agencies, colleagues, etc.

Indigenous-Centered Service Approach is a desire to serve Indigenous people focusing one’s efforts on understanding their interests and a willingness to support Indigenous people in determining their own future.

Analytical Thinking is the ability to comprehend a situation by breaking it down into its components and identifying key or underlying complex issues. It implies the ability to systematically organize and compare the various aspects of a problem or situation and determine cause-and-effect relationships to resolve problems in a sound, decisive manner. Checks to ensure the validity or accuracy of all information.

Expertise includes the motivation to expand and use technical knowledge or to distribute work- related information to others.

Information Seeking is driven by a desire to know more about things, people, or issues. It implies going beyond the questions that are routine or required in the job. It may include “digging” or pressing for exact information; resolution of discrepancies by asking a series of questions; or less-focused environmental “scanning” for potential opportunities or miscellaneous information that may be of future use.

Flexibility is the ability and willingness to adapt to and work effectively within a variety of diverse situations, and with diverse individuals or groups. Flexibility entails understanding and appreciating different and opposing perspectives on an issue, adapting one’s approach as situations change and accepting changes within one’s own job or organization.

Problem Solving/Judgment is the ability to analyze problems systematically, organize information, identify key factors, identify underlying causes and generate solutions.

Strategic Orientation is the ability to link long-range visions and concepts to daily work, ranging from a simple understanding to a sophisticated awareness of the impact of the world at large on strategies and on choices.

Listening, Understanding and Responding involves the desire and ability to understand and respond effectively to people from diverse backgrounds.

Teamwork and Cooperation is the ability to work co-operatively within diverse teams, work groups and across the organization to achieve group and organizational goals.

Conceptual Thinking is the ability to identify patterns or connections between situations that are not obviously related and to identify key or underlying issues in complex situations.

Analytical Thinking is the ability to comprehend a situation by breaking down its components and identifying key or underlying complex issues. It implies the ability to systematically organize and compare the various aspects of a problem or situation and determine cause and effect relationships (“if…then…”) to resolve problems in a sound, decisive manner. Checks to ensure the validity or accuracy of information.

Conditions

In accordance with section 42 of the BC Human Rights Code and Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, preference will be given to qualified candidates with Indigenous ancestry.

Any interested individuals will require strong analysis and writing skills. Please forward your resume and a short cover letter outline your areas of expertise to: [email protected]

 

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