PEER SPECIALIST
About The Position
The Peer Specialist provides mentorship, peer counseling, crisis response, and recovery navigation for project participants and their families through a Recovery Community Services Grant centered on Alaska Native and American Indian values. Grounded in the Athabascan Recovery Model, the role supports individuals from intake through sustained recovery by integrating traditional values, family relationships and support systems, self-sufficiency, Native traditions, respect for elders and lived wisdom, spirituality, and community sharing and caring. As part of a collaborative treatment team, the Peer Specialist acts as a liaison among participants, families, and clinical staff to support culturally resonant behavioral health care. The role uses lived experience to provide mentorship, help participants develop coping skills, strengthen family stability, and connect individuals and families with community-based services. The Peer Specialist promotes recovery and wellness through a culturally grounded, relational approach that honors Alaska Native and Native American traditions and healing practices.
Requirements
- High school diploma or equivalent.
- One year of experience working with the AN/AI population and providing culturally specific services.
- Lived experience as a caregiver of a family member who has experienced a mental health episode.
- One year of experience working in the mental health field.
- Ability to complete Traditional Peer Support Training within one year and then seek State of Alaska Peer Support Specialist Certification.
- A combination of experience, education, and training that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities may substitute for degree requirements.
Nice To Haves
- Peer Support certification.
- Associate degree in behavioral health, human services, or a related field.
- Experience working with adults aged 18 and older who experience SUD and/or MI.
Responsibilities
- Facilitates Traditional Talking Circles using evidence-based family training in traditional ways, aligned with the treatment schedule.
- Oversees community services activities.
- Shares lived experience with consumers and families.
- Shares experience navigating the mental health system.
- Provides consumers with recovery support in the Recovery Center.
- Links consumers with housing and/or recovery housing resources.
- Provides trauma-informed care and navigation to culturally specific services.
- Supports consumers during treatment by providing positive feedback and hope.
- Ensures adherence to data collection requirements and enters accurate, timely data into the Electronic Health Record (EHR).
- Develops billing records.
- Oversees consumer safety and security in the Recovery Center.
- Attends mandatory position training on risk factors as designated by the Project Manager and/or Clinical Supervisor.
- Maintains consumer confidentiality in accordance with 42 CFR Part 2 and HIPAA.
- Attends all required staff meetings.
- Performs other job-related duties as assigned.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Education Level
High school or GED
