Timmins job placement event looks to fill demand for social workers

Need for social workers in Timmins Northern College and Altima University held a job placement fair to showcase service agencies looking to recruit social work students.

Community organizations are looking for locally educated social workers who can help people with a variety of challenges.

Since Northern College and Algoma University offer programs under one roof, they wanted to do the same for potential job placements.

“Today, the demands of a social worker are quite vast,” said Tara Duclos, social service faculty at both the college and university’s Timmins campus.

“Of course, the pandemic has just ended, so a lot of agencies are looking for a lot of extra support right now.”

Duclos said there’s a need for workers in fields like mental health, addictions and home care. Agencies serving children, people needing housing and those with legal challenges are also looking for workers.

Agencies at the event said they need people who can support clients with sensitive issues.

“They’re meeting people with a wide variety of life experiences, built-in traumas from when they were children,” said Thomas Hutchinson with Living Space.

“(They should be) able to identify with people and connect with them on a very personal level, in order to build a rapport, build trust and find out exactly what services are needed to help connect that person with what’s going to help them move forward.”

Community Living Timmins is another organization looking for social workers who can help serve people with disabilities.

“You’re taking a person with a disability through a ‘day in the life of,’” said Jennifer Prudhomme, human resources assistant with the organization.

“We’re trying to get people integrated into the community, as everybody else would be.”

Duclos said revamped programming at the college and university has students trained to work in today’s society.

She said the college’s foundational program lets students to jump right into the field — or continue their education with a degree.

“Working with people from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive lense and then we really build upon that focus and lense from the university level, as well,” Duclos said.

“We feel that the students are really prepared and many of our students, actually, who graduate from Northern College and Algoma University, work within the field now and have come back to offer us really great feedback.”