Peer Specialist

The Peer Specialist engages participants in peer-based services to identify and overcome barriers to community integration, utilizing a peer relationship to foster connection, trust, understanding and validation with community providers and supports.

• Outreach/Engagement/Bridge Building: Helping to facilitate engagement with teams by forging strong connections with participants and families, undertaking outreach activities designed to promote community awareness of S:
  
  US services, encouraging help-seeking, and at times serving as a bridge between team members and participants when they experience ambivalence about treatment.
• Relationship Building: Developing authentic, meaningful relationships with individuals and families through empathy, sharing experiences, listening and collaborating with genuine curiosity and interest.
• 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 youth 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.

• REQUIREMENTS:

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Minimum High School Diploma or equivalent

• New York State Certified Peer Specialist preferred.
• It is preferable that the individual’s lived experience of mental health challenges includes experience with psychosis during youth
• Ideally the Peer Specialist is a young adult or that the candidate relates well to young people
• 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.

• Graduated of Howie the Harp or other Peer Specialist training program preferred not required.
• High School degree preferred.
• CASAC credential a plus.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Knowledge of and commitment to Harm Reduction Model is…