Certified Peer Support Specialist

Statement of Purpose

The Certified Peer Support Specialist utilizes their experiences as a recipient of mental health and/or SUD treatment services to enhance the recovery efforts of clients while serving as a member of a multidisciplinary team that shares practical and personal experience, knowledge and insight related to illness management, life skills, and the lifelong process of recovery.

Major Tasks, Duties, and Responsibilities

Following is a general listing of the job duties inherent in this position.  The employee will also perform other tasks and special projects as assigned or required.

• Aids clients in becoming accustomed to program routine.
• Assists clients with finding information and filling out forms as needed. 
• Conveys respect for cultural and lifestyle diversities of clients and staff.
• May accompany clients to activities inside the program or in the community.
• May serve as support when a client has an appointment off premises.
• Provides engagement and outreach to current or potential clients, and families in the community.
• Performs screening assessments of clients and presents at team meetings.
• Provides expertise from personal experience in the areas of substance abuse and co-occurring disorders recovery to interdisciplinary team.
• Completes all charting and documentation as contractually required and in timely manner as dictated by program requirements.
• Provides services in the field/office environment, while carrying a small caseload, and participates in regularly scheduled staff meetings.
• Serves as part of the on-call team, fulfilling all work requirements of this program component.
• Complies with all BHS and program rules, policies and procedures including HIPAA standards and 42 CFR.
• Serves as a mentor to clients, and families to promote empowerment and hope, and while drawing on own experiences as a consumer to build trust and commonality provides peer counseling and support.
• Promotes a team culture characterized by openness to clients’ experiences and encouragement of self- determination throughout treatment planning process.
• Provides education and support to clients about stigma and ways to combat it, and advocates for clients by educating about grievance or complaint procedures.
• Provides education and support to family members, including peer and family run support groups.
• Serves as liaison between the team and consumer-run programs, and encourages clients’ use of these.
• Serves as part of the on-call team, fulfilling all duties of this program component, and provides services after- hours as required by contract, and provide ongoing ‘side-by-side’ services related to skills development.
• Maintains knowledge of best practices by reading appropriate publications, attending seminars, conferences, and other training as necessary.

Certified Peer Support Specialist Competencies and Performance Expectations

All Certified Peer Support Specialists are expected to:

• Engage in behavior which supports a program setting.
• Develop an understanding of drug and alcohol dependency, mental health, 12 Step programs, confidentiality, professional boundaries, and co-dependency.
• Collect, analyze, report and document laboratory specimens in strict accordance with protocol.
• Communicate clearly and effectively with clients, staffs, and others as needed.
• Keep work, file, and storage areas well organized.
• Maintain records and files in such a way that authorized staff can retrieve needed items without difficulty.
• Communicate clearly with clients, staff, and others.
• Understand cultural and socio-economic factors that inform service provision to persons with mental health and/or substance use disorders.
• Know/learn behavioral management techniques and crisis intervention skills, and cultural competency relevant to community/communities served.
• Utilize logical problem-solving techniques both independently and in collaboration with workers in dealing with client needs.

Salary : $21 - $24