Trauma Informed Peer Specialist (20 hrs/ week)

PMHCC • Philadelphia, PA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Trauma Informed Peer Services (TIPS) program aims to provide comprehensive peer services across the City of Philadelphia, focusing on trauma-informed care and population health. This role is part of a specialized team including Certified Peer Specialists, Certified Recovery Specialists, Community Autism Peer Specialists, Community Health Workers, and Certified Family Peer Support Specialists. The program addresses the increasing needs of individuals impacted by complex trauma, offering a new model to connect underserved communities in Philadelphia with appropriate services. The goal is to provide on-the-ground wellness support, facilitate connections to treatment, and empower individuals with lived trauma experience to become peers themselves, fostering economic opportunities and community support. TIPS peers will be deployed to neighborhoods most affected by trauma, particularly those impacted by high rates of gun violence and immigrant/refugee communities. The program promotes and protects the health of populations facing healthcare disparities through trauma-informed, culturally humble, and population health frameworks. This position involves significant work outside the office (over 50%) in diverse communities. It is a grant-funded position through December 2027, with efforts to secure additional funding for extension.

Requirements

• Provide and advocate for effective recovery-based services.
• Teach techniques for identifying strengths-based supports.
• Attend networking meetings to provide support and information on peer services and wellness initiatives.
• Support staff in identifying environments conducive to wellness and recovery.
• Lend unique insight into wellness.
• Coordinate and communicate with team and department staff regarding access and treatment issues.
• Knowledgeable of behavioral health systems transformation, peer culture in Philadelphia, and the Peer Support Toolkit.
• Understanding of the Philadelphia Transformation Practice Guidelines for Recovery and Resilience Oriented Behavioral Health Services.
• Knowledge of community resources, peer culture principles and practices, the meaning and role of peer support at each stage in the recovery process, definition of dynamics of recovery, and the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP).
• Ability to interact with staff and people at all levels in a fast-paced environment, sometimes under pressure, remaining flexible, proactive, resourceful, and efficient, with a high level of professionalism.
• Good written communication skills.
• Able to work well independently and within a team.
• Good verbal skills for presentations, surveys, telephone contacts, and focus groups.
• Demonstrating sensitivity to mental health and substance use challenges.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Minimum of a high school diploma or GED.

Nice To Haves

• Current certification as a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS), Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS), Certified Community Health Worker (CHW) or other related peer certification by the Pennsylvania Certification Board (PCB) is preferred but not required (newly hired individuals in this position will be required to obtain certification within the first year).
• Completed Trauma Informed Peer Support certificate of competency.
• Any equivalent combination of education and community engagement experience determined to be acceptable.
• Individuals who have prior lived or professional experience working with multicultural/multilingual groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Individuals who are bi-literate or bilingual in Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Haitian Creole, Arabic, or Spanish are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Complete Trauma Informed Peer Support certificate of competency within one (1) year of hire.

Responsibilities

• Attend community meetings and develop targeted community partnerships.
• Assist individuals in the community with identifying recovery and wellness resources.
• Identify barriers and appropriate support systems and trainings.
• Provide information and aid in accessing supports from community agencies.
• Make recommendations to supervisor regarding community needs.
• Participate in training and in-service opportunities to enhance knowledge of DBHIDS and wellness and behavioral health resources.
• Organize and assist in preparing outreach materials and maintain documentation of encounters.
• Present at various workshops and events in the community partnered with DBHIDS.
• Attend and support peer professional development networking meetings.
• Assist in skill development of DBHIDS/IRLAS interns and peer volunteers.
• Organize and facilitate peer focus groups.
• Work a flexible schedule that allows for evening and weekend hours as needed.
• Provide monthly written reports.
• Perform duties not otherwise specified.

Benefits

• Equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual preferences, age, national origin, disability, behavioral health status, military status or any other characteristic protected by law.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED