Peer Specialist

Services For The Underserved, Inc.•New York, NY

3d•$45,000 - $50,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Peer Specialist facilitates 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.

Requirements

NYCPS Peer Certification or Provisional Certification required: Recovery Coach, Peer Specialist or Family Peer Advocate.
Understanding of the community in which the team is based with an awareness of available community resources.
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.
Significant travel to visit clients in their home and other settings is required; 50%.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual English/Spanish is a plus.

Responsibilities

Developing authentic, meaningful relationships with individuals and families through empathy, sharing experiences, listening and collaborating with genuine curiosity and interest.
Understanding, sharing and discussing 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.
Advocating with and for program participants both in the larger community and on the team.
Collaborating 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.
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.
Maintaining 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.