Peer Specialist Job Ref TE0058
Category: Behavioral Health Department: BEHAVIORAL HEALTH Location: 50 Water Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10004 Job Type: Regular Employment Type: Full-Time Work Arrangement: Field Salary Range: $56,412.00 - $56,412.00
MetroPlus Health provides the highest quality healthcare services to residents of Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island through a comprehensive list of products, including but not limited to:
• New York State Medicaid Managed Care • Medicare • Child Health Plus • Exchange Partnership in Care • MetroPlus Gold • Essential Plan
As a wholly owned subsidiary of NYC Health & Hospitals, the largest public health system in the United States, MetroPlus Healths network includes over 27,000 primary care providers, specialists, and participating clinics. For more than 40 years, MetroPlus Health has been committed to building strong relationships with its members and providers.
Position Overview
The Peer Specialist will provide supportive services to members with Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Disorder History. The Peer Specialist will function as a role model to peers exhibiting competency in personal recovery and use of coping skills, serving as a consumer advocate and providing consumer information and peer support for clients in outpatient and inpatient settings.
The Peer Specialist will perform a wide range of tasks to assist peers of all ages from young adult to old age in regaining independence within the community and mastery over their own recovery process. This position will function as part of the interdisciplinary team designed to meet the needs of both CORE and HARP members.
Responsibilities
The Peer Specialist will:
• Assist clients in articulating personal goals for recovery by conducting one-to-one sessions. • Support clients in identifying and creating goals and developing recovery plans with the skills, strengths, supports, and resources to aid them in achieving those goals. • Assist clients in working with their primary MetroPlusHealth Behavioral Health Care Manager and overall community treatment team in determining the steps they need to take to achieve their goals and self-directed recovery. • Complete HRA Housing applications and assist with Supportive Housing placements. • Escort members when appropriate to scheduled housing interviews. • Assist with arranging transportation to and from scheduled PCP Medical Appointments. • Lead and teach members how to facilitate Recovery Dialogues and overcome relapse fears. • Support members working with assigned Parole Officers when they may be on Probation. • Participate in BH HARP Team meetings, supervision, discharge planning, and clinical rounds discussions. • Accompany HARP members to initial HCBS appointments if their assigned CMA worker is unavailable. • Utilize the personal lived experience with mental and emotional and/or substance abuse challenges to empower individuals served by the program to define and pursue their own strength-based recovery and wellness goals. • Assist clients in building social skills in the community that will enhance their quality of life. • Utilizing their recovery experience, the Peer Specialist will support and promote the value of every individuals recovery experience. • Provide peer support during crisis of individuals who are frequently high utilizers of emergency department services who fail to engage in community treatment. • Assist clients in developing empowerment skills and combating stigma through self-advocacy.
Requirements
To be considered for this position, applicants must:
• Have a High School graduation or evidence of having satisfactory passed a High School Equivalency Program. • Have 5 years of professional Behavioral Health experience or an equivalent combination of training, education, and experience. • Have knowledge of the concerns and challenges of persons living with SMI and/or SUD AND/or knowledge of the Recovery process and the ability to facilitate recovery using established standardized mental health processes. • Have knowledge and skill to teach and engage in basic problem-solving strategies to support individual clients in self-directed recovery. • Have knowledge of community resources necessary for independent living and the ability to teach those skills to other individuals with severe mental illness. • Be computer literate with Microsoft Office, Word, Outlook, and Teams, and have working knowledge of how to document member notes within an electronic medical record system. • Be bilingual in English and Spanish, with fluency in other languages welcomed.
Licensure and/or Certification
Required:
• New York Certification as a Peer Specialist (CASAC-T) preferred.
Professional Competencies
• Integrity and Trust • Teamwork • Customer Focus • Written and Oral Communication • Compassionate and Positive Attitude to instill hope within members lives • Computer knowledge of MS Word, Teams, and Outlook for email communication.