5.5: Staffing Powerhouse®
Before recruiting, be clear about what needs to happen and who is responsible for it. Powerhouse® involves more than facilitation.
The Work Behind a Program Cycle
|
Function |
What it Involves |
|---|---|
|
Program coordination |
Registration, intake, scheduling, materials, partner communication, record keeping |
|
Facilitation |
Session delivery and preparation |
|
Outreach & referrals |
Maintaining relationships with schools, healthcare, and community partners |
|
Supervision & support |
Debriefing facilitators, responding to concerns, escalation |
|
Evaluation & reporting |
Collecting participation and outcome information, reporting to funders and leadership |
In smaller organizations one person may hold several roles . What matters is that each function has a named owner before programming begins, and that responsibility does not sit entirely with one individual – a point that connects to the internal capacity work in Lesson 4, Topic 4.8.
Understand the Scope of the Role
Determine which existing roles in your organization will carry Powerhouse® responsibilities, whether new capacity is needed, and who the facilitators report to. Facilitators need someone to go to when something happens in a session.
This has two consequences for how you staff the program:
- Hire for the role you are actually filling. Facilitators need group programming skills and comfort working with children and youth in complex family situations.
- Establish a referral pathway before you start. When a young caregiver’s needs go beyond what Powerhouse® offers, facilitators need somewhere to refer them. This may be a counsellor within your organization, a community mental health partner, or another service identified through your partnership work in Lesson 2.
How facilitators hold this boundary during a session is covered in the Powerhouse® Facilitation Training.
Build In Debriefing and Supervision
Facilitators need someone to go to — both during a session and after it. Before your first cycle, confirm who facilitators report to, who they contact if something happens mid-session, and when debriefing takes place. Debriefing after each session is where facilitators process what came up and where the program identifies what to improve.
Placement Students and Volunteers
If your organization uses placement students or volunteers in Powerhouse®, determine who supervises them, how their hours and performance are tracked, and what they are and are not permitted to do. Screening requirements apply to them as well — see Lesson 3, Topic 3.9.