Peer Specialist

Services for the Underserved • New York, NY

15d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Peer Specialist will facilitate engagement by forging strong connections with participants and families in Harlem/Bronx and surrounding communities. This role involves outreach activities to promote community awareness of S:US services, encouraging help-seeking, and bridging the gap between treatment team members and participants who may be ambivalent about substance use treatment, including Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and outpatient Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment. A key responsibility is combating overdose by being certified to train and distribute Naloxone kits. The Peer Specialist will build authentic relationships through empathy, sharing experiences, listening, and collaborating with genuine curiosity. They will understand and discuss various frameworks for life experiences like substance use and psychosis, using language that facilitates understanding and makes space for personal stories of recovery and resilience. This role involves advocating with and for program participants in the community and within the team. Collaboration with participants to clarify visions and develop wellness toolkits is essential, alongside strengthening self-awareness, building life skills, and connecting to external resources. The Peer Specialist will positively influence team culture by advocating for clients, promoting a youth-friendly approach, and encouraging recovery-oriented language, fostering an environment that believes in human potential and understands diversity. Maintaining open and frequent communication with the team, reporting concerns, and keeping notes on participant visits are also required, with co-collaboration on reporting encouraged.

Requirements

• NYCPS Provisional or Certified REQUIRED
• Understanding of the community in which the team is based with an awareness of available community resources.
• 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.
• 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.
• Field work hour in the community required, i.e., visit clients in their home, meeting clients in the community; 50%.

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual English/Spanish is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate engagement by forging strong connections with participants and families.
• Undertake outreach activities to promote community awareness of S:US services and encourage help-seeking.
• Serve as a bridge between treatment team members and participants experiencing ambivalence about substance use treatment.
• Train and distribute Naloxone kits to individuals and their family members to combat overdose.
• Develop authentic, meaningful relationships with individuals and families through empathy, sharing experiences, listening, and collaborating.
• Understand, share, and discuss multiple frameworks for understanding life experiences such as substance use and psychosis.
• Use language intentionally to listen, understand, and make space for complex personal stories of recovery and resilience.
• Advocate with and for program participants both in the larger community and on the team.
• Collaborate with participants to clarify their personal visions and develop their wellness toolkit.
• Support participants in strengthening their self-awareness, building life skills, and connecting to resources and community.
• Positively influence the team culture by advocating for clients, promoting a youth friendly approach, and encouraging the use of recovery oriented language.
• Help build an environment that operates from a belief in the human potential to grow and an understanding of human diversity.
• Maintain open and frequent communication with the team.
• Report safety and other concerns to the team.
• Keep notes on visits with program participants as required by the provider agency.
• Co-collaborate on reporting with the program participant.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing and development.
• Health and wellness resources.
• Generous PTO.
• Professional development.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed