Peer Specialist / Case Manager - PACT

DESC•Seattle, WA

About The Position

Peer Specialist / Case Manager – PACT About DESC: DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) is a nonprofit organization working to help people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well-being through comprehensive services, treatment, and housing. Our vision is a community where no person is abandoned, ignored, or experiencing homelessness. As the region's leading provider of services to multiply disabled adults who have experienced chronic homelessness, DESC serves almost 3,000 people each day. Our integrated service model is designed to help people secure and maintain appropriate, safe and affordable housing. DESC is recognized nationally and regionally as an innovator in developing solutions to homelessness. Pact Peer Specialist/Case Manager: A member of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) team, the Peer Specialist has experience as a recipient of mental health services for severe and persistent mental illness and is willing to use and share their personal, lived, and practical experience, knowledge, and first-hand insight to benefit the team and its participants. The Peer Specialist provides expertise about the recovery process, advocacy, symptom management, and the persistence required by participants to have a satisfying life. The PACT Team provides services in participants' home/community at least 75% of the time. All members of the team are expected to work with participants in a variety of shared functions. This team is designed to work with individuals who have experienced chronic or multiple episodes of severe mental illness, co-occurring substance use disorders and possibly homelessness. These individuals have either been unable or unwilling to participate and succeed in traditional treatment settings. Therefore, it is critical that the members of this team work together in a collaborative manner that eliminates many traditional treatment borders and barriers. PACT team members interact with enrolled clients in a variety of settings: private homes, supportive housing, day centers, emergency shelters, jails, hospitals, and in the community. Due to the extended hours the PACT team operates, some staff, including the Peer Specialist, will work at least one weekend day in their weekly schedule and rotate holiday shifts. Team members also participate in on-call rotations to provide 24-hour crisis coverage one staff and one supervisor will be on-call at any given time to ensure back-up coverage and safety while doing crisis work. A condition of employment for each individual hired into a Peer position is to have an active Washington State Certified Peer Support Specialist license.

Requirements

Current Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS) or Certified Peer Support Specialist Trainee (CPSS-T) credential through the Washington State Department of Health or ability to gain certification within 60 days of hire.
Lived experience as a consumer of behavioral health services (mental health and/or substance use treatment) or be the parent or legal guardian of a child who has received behavioral health services.
Ability to drive an agency or personal vehicle to conduct agency related business. A current Washington State driver's license and insurable driving record are required.
Interest in working with clients who are difficult to engage and maintain in traditional mental health/substance use disorder programs.
Participation in regular on-call rotation (paid) to provide 24-hour crisis coverage (both on the phone & in person) for mental health issues for PACT clients.
Reliable internet access at home for after-hours crisis coverage shifts.
Good oral and written communication skills including the ability to communicate and work effectively with participants and staff from various backgrounds.
Ability to complete clinical documentation in a timely manner, in accordance with agency guidelines.
Ability to prioritize multiple responsibilities, work independently and exercise professional judgment.
Have skills and competence to establish supportive trusting relationships with persons with severe and persistent mental illnesses and respect for participants’ rights and personal preferences in treatment is essential.
Clear understanding and respect for the importance of maintaining participant confidentiality in compliance with HIPAA.
Ability to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of unpleasant and/or bizarre behavior.
Experience working with adults who are experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, have a mental illness and/or co-occurring substance abuse disorders.
Subscribe to the philosophy of cooperation and continuity across programs and of consideration and respect for clients.

Nice To Haves

Bi-lingual in Spanish/English.
Bi-lingual in Vietnamese/English.
Basic understanding of psychiatric medications.
Experience creatively engaging individuals in treatment.
Experience navigating Social Security and DSHS benefits applications.
Experience with the PACT modality.

Responsibilities

Provide peer counseling and support, drawing on common experiences as a peer, to validate participants’ experiences and to provide guidance and encouragement to actively participate in their own recovery.
Serve as a mentor to participants to promote hope and empowerment.
Act as an interpreter to help non-mental health participant team members better understand and empathize with each participant’s unique and subjective experience and perceptions.
Provide expertise and consultation from a mental health participant perspective to the team concerning participants’ experiences on symptoms of mental illness, the effects and side-effects of medications, participants’ responses to and opinions of treatment, and participants’ experiences of recovery.
Help participants identify, understand, and combat stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and develop strategies to reduce self-stigma.
Help other team members identify and understand culture-wide stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness and develop strategies to eliminate stigma within the team.
Attend PACT Stakeholders meetings to represent DESC’s PACT team.
Organize and implement “PACT Outings” previously scheduled day trips to local attractions (Washington State Ferry, Woodland Park Zoo, Parks, etc.)
Increase awareness of and support participant participation in participant self-help programs and participant advocacy organizations that promote recovery & link participants to recovery-oriented services.
Support with case management activities including: benefits enrollments and re-certifications, appointments, payee services, psychiatric rehabilitation, and other case management tasks.
Other tasks as assigned.
Assist in the provision of ongoing assessment of participants’ mental illness symptoms and participants’ response to treatment. Suggest appropriate changes in treatment plans to ensure that immediate and appropriate interventions are provided in response to changes in participants’ mental status or behavior which put participants at risk (e.g., suicidality).
Assist in the provision of direct clinical services to participants on an individual, group, and family basis in the office and in community settings to teach symptom-management techniques and promote personal growth and development by assisting participants to cope with internal and external stresses.
Assist in the provision of individual and group treatment in a stage- based treatment model that is non-confrontational, considers interactions of mental illness and substance abuse, and has participant-determined goals. Be comfortable with Harm Reduction approaches.
Perform mentoring, problem solving, encouragement and support on and off the job site.
Provide work-related supportive services, such as assistance securing necessary clothing and grooming supplies, wake-up calls, transportation.
Provide ongoing assessment, problem solving, side-by-side services, skill teaching, support (prompts, assignments, encouragement), and environmental adaptations to assist participants with activities of daily living.
Assist participants to find and maintain a safe and affordable place to live, apartment hunting, finding a roommate, landlord/property manager negotiations to support housing tenure, cleaning, furnishing and decorating, and procuring necessities (telephone, furniture, utility hook-up).
Assist and support participants to organize and perform household activities, including house cleaning and laundry.
Assist and support participants with personal hygiene and grooming tasks.
Provide nutritional education and assistance with meal planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation.
Ensure that participants have adequate financial support (help to gain employment and apply for entitlements).
Teach money-management skills (budgeting and paying bills) and assist participants in accessing financial services (e.g., professional financial counseling, emergency loan services).
Help participants to access reliable transportation (obtain a driver’s license and car and car insurance, arrange for cabs, use public transportation, find rides).
Assist and support participants to have and effectively use a personal primary care physician, dentist, and other medical specialists as required.
Provide side-by-side support, coaching and encouragement to help participants socialize (going with a participant to community activities, including activities offered by participant-run peer support organizations).
Assist participants to plan and carry out leisure time activities on evenings, weekends, and holidays.
Organize and lead individual and group social and recreational activities to help participants structure their time, increase social experiences, and provide opportunities to practice social skills.
Provide practical help and supports, mentoring, advocacy, coordination, side-by-side individualized support, problem solving, direct assistance and supervision to help participants obtain the necessities of daily living including medical and dental health care; legal and advocacy services; financial support such as entitlements (SSI, SSDI, veterans’ benefits); housing subsidies (HUD Section 8); money- management services (e.g., payee services); and transportation.
Support your clients with achieving and maintaining healthy living conditions. This can include but is not limited to attending care conferences related to living conditions, outreaching and supporting clients in their residential units with tools and skills to maintain their units, coordinating with housing staff, participating in cleaning out clients’ units, and documenting barriers to maintaining healthy living conditions.
Participate in daily team meetings, psychiatric consultations, clinical supervision, program meetings and in-service trainings; participate in clinical reviews and case conferences.
Comply with the agency's clinical accountability policies and procedures; maintain current, timely and complete clinical records; participate in quality assurance reviews when assigned.
Comply with applicable program research and evaluation procedures.
Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

Dental
Life
Long-term Disability
Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
ORCA card subsidy
Paid Time Off (34 days per year)
Retirement Plan
Union Representation: This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.