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.

Prerequisite Qualifications

Following are the qualifications required to perform the essential functions of this position. Qualifications may be subject to modification based on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Bilingual abilities may be required within certain BHS programs.

A combination of education, training and work experience equivalent to the following:

• Bilingual Spanish preferred.
• High School Diploma or G.E.D. and at least one year of experience working in a social service setting serving individuals in early recovery.
• For certification level position, certification must be in a substance abuse treatment field, with two years of experience providing substance abuse and integrated services to individuals with co-occurring disorders.
• Must have life experience of being in recovery or have had a family member in recovery and be willing to disclose.
• Training and/or personal experience in substance abuse programs and treatment, relapse prevention, harm reduction, motivational interviewing and 12-Step programs.
• Well-organized person with basic clerical and good alphanumeric filing skills. Prefer job background which includes people contact, both face-to-face and by telephone. Data entry and word processing experience or will train on the job with the requirement that employee demonstrates a learning curve resulting in computer skills adequate for this position within three months of hire.
• Must have a valid California driver license and liability insurance if driving personal vehicle on BHS business.
• Able to stand, bend, stoop, squat and reach for purpose of performing duties such as handling materials stocked on shelves, filing and handling and sorting mail. Routinely lift and move items weighing up to twenty-five pounds; is expected to ask for assistance and use dolly or cart and any heavy items. Vision, hearing, manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination adequate for recordkeeping, writing, and using telephones, computers, and office machinery. Able to move about the facility and other off-site locations.
• The above statements reflect the general duties considered necessary to describe the principal functions of the job as identified and shall not be considered as a detailed description of all the work requirements which may be inherent in the position.