Certified Peer Specialist

This is a responsible, professional position as a certified peer who utilizes strategic sharing of their own personal experience of parenting a child with either a serious emotional disturbance or a serious mental illness involved in multiple child-serving systems (e.g. mental health, co-occurring substance use, special education, juvenile justice, or child welfare.). Peer Support services provide structured, scheduled activities that promote socialization, recovery, self-advocacy, development of natural supports, and maintenance of community living skills by Parent Certified Peer Specialists (CPS-P). Parent Peer Support services actively engage and empower an individual and his or her identified supports in leading and directing the design of the service plan and thereby ensures that the plan reflects the needs and preferences of the individual (and family when appropriate) with the goal of active participation in this process. Additionally, this service provides support and coaching interventions to individuals (and family when appropriate) to promote recovery, resiliency and healthy lifestyles and to reduce identifiable mental health and physical health risks and increase healthy behaviors intended to prevent the onset of disease or lessen the impact of existing chronic health conditions. Peer supports provide effective techniques that focus on the individual's self-management and decision making about healthy choices which ultimately extend the members' lifespan.

Parent peer support specialists assist parents and caregivers to participate in the wraparound planning process, access services, and navigate complicated child-serving agencies.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

• Assisting families in gaining skills to promote the families' recovery process (e.g., self-advocacy, developing natural supports, etc.)
• Support family voice and choice by assisting the family in assuming the lead roles in treatment team meetings;
• Listening to the family's needs and concerns from a peer perspective, and offering suggestions for engagement in planning process;
• Providing ongoing emotional support, modeling and mentoring during all phases of the planning services/support planning process;
• Promoting and planning for family and youth recovery, resilience and wellness;
• Working with the family to identify, articulate and build upon their strengths while addressing their concerns, needs and opportunities;
• Helping families better understand choices offered by service providers, and assisting with understanding policies, procedures, and regulations that impact the identified youth while living in the community;
• Ensuring the engagement and active participation of the family and youth in the planning process and guiding families toward taking a pro-active and self-managing role in their youth's treatment;
• Assisting the family with the acquisition of the skills and knowledge necessary to sustain an awareness of their youth's needs as well as his or her strengths and the development and enhancement of the family's unique problem-solving skills, coping mechanisms, and strategies for the youth's illness/symptom/behavior management;
• Assisting the parent in coordinating with other youth-serving systems, as needed, to achieve the family/youth goals;
• As needed, assisting with communicating family needs to treatment team members, while also building the family skills in self-articulating needs/desires/preferences for treatment and support with the goal of full family-guided, youth-driven self-management;
• Supporting, modeling, and coaching families to help with their engagement in all health-related processes;
• Coaching parents in developing systems advocacy skills in order to take a proactive role in their youth's treatment and to obtain information and advocate with all youth-serving systems;
• Cultivating the parent/guardian's ability to make informed, independent choices including a network for information and support which will include others who have been through similar experiences;
• Building the family skills, knowledge, and tools related to the identified condition/related symptoms so that the family/youth can assume the role of self-monitoring and self-management;
• Assisting the family in understanding what a mental health diagnosis means,what a journey to recovery may look like, and the role of services/prescribed medication in diminishing/managing the symptoms of that condition and increasing resilience and functioning in living with that condition;
• Empowering the family on behalf of the recipient; providing information regarding the nature, purpose and benefits of all services; providing interventions and support; and providing overall support and education to a caregiver to ensure that he or she is well equipped to support the youth in service transition/upon discharge and have natural supports and be able to navigate service delivery systems;
• Identifying the importance of Self Care, addressing the need to maintain family whole health and wellness in order to ultimately support the youth with a mental health condition;
• Assisting the family in self-advocacy promoting family-guided, youth-driven services and interventions;
• Drawing upon their own experience, helping the family/youth find and maintain hope as a tool for progress towards recovery;
• Assisting youth and families with identifying goals, representing those goals to the treatment team, and, together, taking specific steps to achieve those goals.
• Document all interventions provided in Electronic Health Record in accordance with agency, Medicaid, and Alabama Department of Mental Health standards
• Attend staff and agency meetings, trainings, and other events as scheduled and approve by supervisor.
• Complete reports and other paperwork as assigned by supervisor
• Perform other related duties as assigned by supervisor.

REQUIREMENTS:

Basic proficiency in the use of computer for the purposes of documenting interventions provided; willingness and ability to learn effective use of Electronic Health Record.

Ability to connect with youth receiving services in the children's mental health system

Ability to connect with parents and to establish and stay in a peer relationship with the parent/primary caregiver.

Ability to assist the parent in collaborating with other youth serving systems as needed to achieve youth and family needs.

Ability to assist families to identify their goals for treatment and support parents to take specific action to achieve these goals.

Basic understanding of mental health conditions and the treatment services and/or recovery support services that are available to youth and families.

Basic knowledge of empowerment and the goals and objectives of the Parent and Consumer Movements.

Ability to work with individuals or groups.

Basic knowledge of consumer rights and advocacy.

Ability to communicate effectively both in oral and written form.

Ability to work a set schedule.

Ability to understand the unique experience of mental illness.

Ability to serve as a role model, showing by example that recovery and resiliency is possible.

Ability to relay coping skills, positive attitude skills, and self-esteem.

Ability to assist in establishing support systems and interface with agencies, organizations, and groups.

Ability to facilitate peer support/self-help groups.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Must have High School Diploma or GED

Must hold a valid driver's license and maintain a driving record that is acceptable to the Carastar Health's insurance carrier.

Must maintain at least liability coverage on personal vehicles.

Must successfully complete Certified Peer Specialist Parent training that is sponsored and approved by the Alabama Department of Mental Health, prior to or within 90 days of hire.

ADMH Qualifications for this required certification arelisted below:

• Must be at least 18 years old.
• Must be an individual who has parented or is currently parenting a child experiencing either a serious emotional disturbance (SED) or a serious mental illness (SMI). This experience must have occurred prior to the youth's 21st birthday.
• The CPS-P may be a birth parent, adoptive parent, family member standing in for an absent parent, or person chosen by the family or youth to have the role of parent. Experience as a foster parent does not fulfill this requirement.
• Must have personal experience as a parent navigating the children's mental health systems.
• Must understand recovery.
• Must be willing to assist other parents in their recovery process.
• Must be open minded.
• Must be willing to share personal experiences of parenting a child/adolescent with mental illness publicly.