Peer Specialist

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Position Overview

The Peer Specialist will support tenant engagement and outreach by promoting awareness of S services, encouraging help-seeking, and advocating for participants’ needs and goals. Using lived experience and recovery-oriented approaches, the Peer Specialist will collaborate with participants to develop wellness tools, strengthen life skills, build self-awareness, and connect with community resources. The Peer Specialist will promote a supportive, inclusive team culture, communicate participant needs and safety concerns to the team, and complete required documentation in accordance with agency standards.

• It is preferable that the individual’s lived experience of mental health challenges includes experience with psychosis during youth
• Ideally the Peer Specialist candidate relates well to all ages, cultures, and all backgrounds
• The Peer Specialist should understand the community in which the team is based with an awareness of available community resources
• The Peer Specialist should also be someone who has made positive and productive progress toward his or her own recovery
• Demonstrate good interpersonal communications skills and the ability to empathize with, relate to and effectively work with participants of mental health services
• One-Two years of active participation in mental health self-help activities, peer support or peer advocacy programs, or participant run organizations or similar experiences or programs required
• Must possess the ability/ willingness to disclose their recovery story (where appropriate) for the purposes of empowerment
• Excellent judgment/ ability to understand boundaries when working with participants of mental health services is required
• Adhere to on call cell phone system to facilitate crisis intervention, emergencies and other situations that require immediate action.
• Willing and able to complete any additional assigned duties given by Program Director, Assistant Program Director, Regional Director and or Vice Presidents.

• Outreach/Engagement: Helping to facilitate engagement with tenants, undertake outreach activities designed to promote community awareness of S:US services, encouraging help-seeking, and at times advocate for population served to maximum their full potential.
• Embracing Creative Narratives: Peer Specialists need to be able to understand, share and discuss multiple frameworks for understanding life experiences such as psychosis with participants and the rest of the S:US team. Peer Specialists intentionally use language in the service of listening to understand and making space for complex personal stories of recovery and resilience.
• Advocacy: Peer Specialists advocate with and for program participants both in the larger community and on the team.
• Co-Creating Support and Wellness Tools: Collaborate with participants to clarify their personal visions and develop their wellness toolkit. Along with other team members, Peer Specialists support participants in strengthening their self-awareness, building life skills, and connecting to resources and community outside of the S:US team.
• Influencing Team Culture: Whenever possible, positively influencing the team culture by advocating for clients, promoting a friendly approach and encouraging the use of recovery-oriented language. S:US Peer Specialists also work actively within the team itself to help build an environment that operates from a belief in the human potential to grow and an understanding of human diversity.
• Team Communication: Peer Specialists maintain open and frequent communication with the team. This includes reporting safety and other concerns to the team. Peer Specialists will also keep notes on visits with program participants as required by the provider agency. In the spirit of peer support, co-collaborating on reporting with the program participant is encouraged.

Qualifications

• High school diploma
• It is preferable that the individual’s lived experience of mental health challenges includes experience with psychosis during youth.
• Ideally the Peer Specialist can relate to all ages and cultures.
• The Peer Specialist should understand the community in which the team is based with an awareness of available community resources.
• The Peer Specialist should also be someone who has made positive and productive progress toward his or her own recovery.
• Demonstrate good interpersonal communications skills and the ability to empathize with, relate to and effectively work with participants of mental health services.
• Two years of active participation in mental health self-help activities, peer support or peer advocacy programs, or participant run organizations or similar experiences or programs required.
• Must possess the ability/ willingness to disclose their recovery story (where appropriate) for the purposes of empowerment.
• Excellent judgment/ ability to understand boundaries when working with participants of mental health services is required.
• Adhere to on call cell phone system to facilitate crisis intervention, emergencies and other situations that require immediate action.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

• Peer Certification preferred.
• Basic computer skills (e.g. MS Office suite and Windows)

Company Overview

S:US IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER 

Join a team of employees who care about the wellbeing of others. We believe in fostering a culture built on our core values: respect, integrity, support, maximizing individual potential and continuous quality improvement. From health and wellness resources to generous PTO, professional development, and more, explore all that we offer on our Benefits Page and see how S:US invests in you. 

We believe in fostering a culture built on our core values: respect, integrity, support, maximizing individual potential and continuous quality improvement.  

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information and including all other statuses protected by Federal, State and Local laws. S:US is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities, including allowance of the use of services animals. To request reasonable accommodation or if you believe such a request was improperly handled or denied, contact the Leave Team at MyMedicalLeave@sus.org. 

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