Behavioural and technical competencies describe the necessary behaviours, skills and knowledge required for both regulated and unregulated professionals who work with people who use substances. The newly updated Competencies for Canada’s Substance Use Workforce, produced by the Canadian Centre on Substance use and Addiction (CCSA), have been revised in collaboration with subject-matter experts, advisory group members, consultants, and people with lived and living experience of substance use and their families and friends. The updated competencies toolkit with a new design and interactive web pages for ease of access is now available online. A new tutorial video series explains how a competency-based framework can be used for job descriptions, scope of practice, interviewing and performance management. As existing staff are re-deployed, new staff recruited and multidisciplinary teams mobilized to respond to growing challenges and evolving needs across mental health and substance use services, CCSA’s competencies, videos and tools guide organizations in using a competency-based framework for: * Interviewing * Hiring * Performance coaching and management * Training * Curriculum development * Professional development To improve the quality of services for people who use substances, the Behavioural Competencies should be used together with the Technical Competencies, as well as the accompanying guides and tools on our website. We also recommend that organizations adapt the competencies tools and resources to suit local contexts, mandates, population needs and settings. To stay informed on further updates related to the competencies or workforce development, please subscribe to the workforce development mailing list. |