Peer Support Specialist - Mobile Response Team

Individuals with lived experience of behavioral health crisis can strengthen the navigation of recovery by promoting resiliency for individuals, their families, and their support systems during and post crisis. The Mobile Peer Crisis Recovery Specialist will self-identify as a current or former consumer of behavioral health, substance use, or co-occurring disorder services and will share lived experiences to inspire and support service recipients by relating recovery stories. The communication of hope and the emphasis on individual strengths, abilities, choice, and empowerment will be prioritized. They will be able to provide support to service recipients through validation of experiences and feelings, conveying hope, and assisting in identifying one's strengths and personal resources to aid in one's recovery.

RESPONSIBILITIES include but not limited to:

• Complete certification as a Kansas Certified Peer Specialist in Training and begin process of meeting requirements to apply for Level Two certification as a Kansas Certified Peer Specialist (MH), within first 90 days of employment.
• Will complete Level Two certification as KCPS within first 6 months of employment.
• Understand the crisis cycle and how to identify and safely support managing through stages of crisis.
• Knowledge and understanding of the Five Stages of Recovery
• Model successful behaviors, strategies, and share lived experience to assist clients in crisis with goal setting as part of their safety, wellness, recovery, and action planning.
• Responding to the needs of families, care givers, or supports is a critical component of stabilizing the individual in crisis and can help reduce the possibility of subsequent crisis situations. Peers in crisis services can be educating an individual's family, care takers, or supports on self-care and how to best provide support to their loved ones.
• Maintains recognition that recovery from common conditions that affect behavioral health is a process of change, that the recovery process varies by person, and is based on social and contextual factors specific to the individual as well as where the individual is within their stages of change and recovery journey.
• Attends agency and team meetings as specified.

REQUIREMENTS FOR CANDIDATES include but not limited to:

• This role requires ability to work with persons with severe and persistent mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, and/or substance abuse issues, especially those actively experiencing a psychiatric crisis.
• This role requires the ability and willingness to call upon one's resilience and personal recovery story and similar lived experience.
• This role requires the willingness and ability to respond to acute psychiatric referrals which the MRT responds to, which may include and are not limited to Suicidal Threat, Aggression, Self-Care Failure, Lack of capacity, Nudity. This position requires a signed waiver.
• This role requires the ability to work independently and as a member of the Mobile Response Team; possess demonstrated interpersonal skills and ability to react effectively in a variety of human service situations.
• This role requires believing in recovery for a range of behavioral health conditions or circumstances and believes in one's ability to develop empowerment and self-advocacy skills.
• Candidates will be sustaining positive changes achieved in their recovery journey and seeking ongoing success and personal growth as part of the maintenance stage. They are willing to face challenges unique to providing acute crisis support wherever the need is in the community, including the complexity of navigating care and support without the unnecessary use of law enforcement or emergency departments.