Social Services & Community Support Worker Diploma

1. High School Graduate or equivalent OR mature student status (19 years or older prior to starting the program).

2. Meet one of the following English Language Proficiency requirements:

• Minimum Grade 10 English (Domestic Students)
• For English as second language students; Overall IELTS 5.0 or equivalent.
• Pass the College’s English admission test.

3. Criminal record check.

4. Immunization report.

5. Complete ‘Student Declaration –Social Service Worker Program’ form.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

1) Complete each course with a final grade of at least 70%.

2) Successfully complete the program practicum.

SSW100 Social Service Work Fundamentals

This course will familiarize students with the various roles, functions, tasks, and responsibilities social service workers assume in a variety of settings, and introduce them to the key skills and practices of the profession.

SSW101 Psychology Fundamentals

The course introduces the basic concepts and core topics in the study of the origins and variations of human behaviour.

SSW102 Mental Health Fundamentals

Mental health concerns have a complex interplay. Students must develop awareness of various mental health problems. Furthermore, students should have an overall understanding of contemporary interventions and treatments if they are to intervene as mental health para-professionals.

SSW103 Addiction Fundamentals

This course will challenge popular perceptions of and urban mythology associated with drugs as well as problem behaviours such as gambling, hoarding, eating disorders and chemical addiction.

SSW104 Ethics Fundamentals

The goal of this course is to prepare students to become competent, grounded, and humane ethical care providers.

SSW105 Self-Care Planning

Students will learn to implement strategies that promote the art of self-care, reduce compassion fatigue and burnout through the establishment of a personal wellness and self-care programme.

SSW 106 Resources, Referrals, and Networking

Support workers are required to assess client needs and make appropriate referrals. Consequently, they should be familiar with the resources available in their communities. This course acquaints students with those resources and introduces concepts of professional networking.

SSW 107 Interviewing and Counselling Skills

In this course students will learn interviewing and counselling processes and techniques. The course contains daily role-playing and skills practice sessions.

SSW 108 Writing for the Social Services

This course is designed to provide students with the skills necessary to prepare industry-specific and regulation–compliant documentation and reports that meet the standards of client care.

SSW 109 Family Studies

This course provides students with an instruction to the complexities of family dynamics, particularly as they are impacted health concerns within the family.

SSW 110 Populations at High Risk

This course focusses on providing students with the core knowledge and understanding of different behavioural, biological, environmental, historical, medical, and social-cultural aspects of high-risk populations.

SSW 111 Professional Certificates

Students earn entry level professional certificates First Aid/CPR, Food Safe, Mental Health First Aid.

SSW 112 Suicide Prevention Techniques

Students earn their ASIST and Naloxone Administration certificates.

SSW113 Career Essentials

This course teaches students to identify employment opportunities create personal branding materials and effectively conduct a professional job interview.

SSW114 Practicum

Students earn 100 hours on-the-job training and experience.

• Gain a solid understanding of the available community social services.
• Define what is meant by “counselling”
• Identify key values, knowledge, principles, and skills within an ethical framework appropriate for mental health workers.
• Describe the role of relationships in the lives of individuals, families, and communities
• Outline a timeline and stages of human development
• List theories of human motivation and emotion
• Discuss stress-reduction techniques and their importance not just to clients but to mental health workers as well
• Describe how and why some behaviours are thought of as “abnormal’
• Outline the benefits and risks associated with psychiatric diagnoses and assessment
• Identify the symptoms associated with certain commonplace mental health disorders and substance abuse
• Outline the relationship of mental health and addictions
• Articulate the impact on the client-counsellor relationship with respect to cultural and diversity issues.
• Analyze workplace ethical dilemmas with an eye to best practices.
• Outline the various conditions of risk for mental health and/or substance abuse and how those conditions impact certain populations.

• Introduction to Social Work in Canada: Histories, Contexts, and Practices.
• Essentials of Understanding Psychology, 4e, Canada.
• Values & Ethics in Counselling and Psychotherapy.
• Choices: Interviewing and Counselling Skills for Canadians, 5e.
• Working with Families: A Guide for Health and Human Services Professionals.
• Abnormal Psychology 5th Cdn. Ed.
• Uppers, Downers, All Arounders, 8th ed.
• A Guide to Writing for Human Service Professionals 2nd Ed.
• Fundamentals of Case Managmeent Practice 5th ed.

*Note: Not all courses may have textbooks. Textbooks may be available in electronic or hardcopy format.