WISe Parent Peer Partner

Overview

Opportunities abound at SOUND

SOUND Behavioral Health is growing and we are hiring a WISe parent peer partner in Seattle SOUND is one of King County's most comprehensive providers of quality mental health and addiction treatment services, supporting our area's most vulnerable populations. A central tenet of our work is Reaching Recovery, an evidence-based clinical care model.

SOUND team members are focused on demonstrating compassion, patience, and understanding when treating clients. We believe in and advocate for Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion for our team and clients.

The parent partner will provide direct advocacy, day-to-day support, and team involvement to parents/caregivers. Promote the development of self-determination, independence, skill building, self-empowerment, and self-advocacy in parents/caregivers. Educate and assist parents/caregivers in navigating systems such as IEPs, juvenile justice, DDD, DSHS, and other community resources. Provide resources, referrals, and linkages that will enable strength building. Attend meetings as requested by families. Attend national, state, and local forums, workgroups, and events to connect with other systems and enhance understanding of best practices. Actively participate in supervision, team member meetings, and training.

This team member will provide mobile services throughout King County and flexible work hours, including some nights and weekends. The parent partner will understand, support, and accommodate the diverse perspectives and needs of different cultures and communities in the county.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Actively engage parents/caregivers with support, education, and empowerment, including direct contact with them from intake through case closure. Function as liaison between the treatment teams and families.
• Encourage parents/caregivers of youth to engage with members of the team in ways that develop mutual understanding and positive exchange.
• Help identify natural and informal supports for clients and families.
• Assist in the development of individualized goals based on the strengths of the family.
• Empower and support self-advocacy, ensuring that parent voice and choice are paramount in all services provided and at all CFS and WISe meetings.
• Strategize with treatment teams on how to engage parents/caregivers in a solution-driven, non-adversarial way.
• Mentor parents/caregivers and act as a bridge between the family and the treatment teams in the best interests of the child/youth/consumers.
• Educate, empower, and connect parents/caregivers to formal and informal resources and supports at the organization, local, statewide, and national levels.
• Model family and professional partnership skills of effective communication and collaboration at team meetings in a strengths-based and family-centered way.
• Support consumer families to engage with the treatment teams by strengthening the families' voice at the team meetings when needed, or facilitating appropriate problem-solving resolutions when the team has difficulties navigating the gaps between the needs of the family and the therapeutic interest of the child/youth consumers.
• Actively participate in appropriately identified treatment teams, providing support to the parents/caregivers and families and consultation to all team members.
• Refer and link families to formal and informal resources and supports.
• Support selected parents/caregivers to further understand and negotiate systems and the system's resources.
• Support parent/caregiver requests for mentorship for their own growth as Parent Partners and Advocates.
• Advocate within multi-system settings, on behalf of Children/Youth and Families, from the parent perspective.
• Attend meetings as requested by parents/caregivers.
• Ensure that resources to address cultural and language barriers are provided.
• Help to organize a means by which parents/caregivers can exchange information, create resources, receive support, tell their own stories, collect ideas, and develop natural supports. This is to include the development of any action plans pursuant to the needs and wishes of any formal or informal parent group.
• Work jointly with the Family Resource and Support Team and representatives and other child/youth/family serving agencies to include, but not limited to, DSHS, DJR, MH, DASA, PH, and EDUC.
• Submit appropriate documentation in a timely manner.
• Maintain client confidentiality as set forth in the Confidentiality Agreement.
• Participate in supervision.
• Attend national, state, and local forums, workgroups, and events to connect with other systems and enhance understanding of best practices.
• Attend Family Resource and Support Team events, including retreats and picnics.
• Assist with continual process improvement.
• Practice and model non-adversarial advocacy skills, including how to advocate for policy changes at the county and state level.
• Provide direct advocacy, day-to-day support, and team involvement to parents/caregivers.
• Connect other families to opportunities for local, state, and national legislative action/advocacy efforts.
• Understand recovery concepts in behavioral health.
• Apply recovery concepts, as appropriate to my work at Sound.
• Synthesize and demonstrate recovery concepts in my work at Sound.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Desire to empower others to be self-sufficient.
• Create autonomy through collaboration and the building of natural supports.
• Ability to assist others in recognizing their own strengths and help them develop in their areas of expertise. The ability to deal effectively with team members and clients is essential.
• Must demonstrate a commitment to service and professionalism through appropriate conduct and demeanor. Willingness to diligently and accurately report time and expenses.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE:

• GED or high school equivalent required or actively pursuing.
• Experience with system advocacy for own family or others, and willingness to partner.
• Must be a parent or caregiver of a child/youth who is or has been involved in the systems of care.
• Must have experience with severely emotionally disturbed children/youth.
• Must have a parent's perspective and intimate knowledge of the expectations and range of experiences of parents and caregivers of children with serious emotional and behavioral disorders.

• Must be able to obtain a WA State Agency Affiliated Counselor credential within the first 60 days of hire.
• Washington State driver's license and insurable driving record preferred.
• Must successfully pass criminal background checks.
• Washington State Peer Counselor Certification or the ability/availability to begin the certification process within the first year of employment.

All Team Members at Sound working 40 hours per week will be eligible for the following benefits:

• 100% Paid Medical & Dental Insurance
  • Full time Team Member and child(ren) coverage until child's 26th birthday
  • Spouse/Domestic Partner coverage available (team member pays full cost)
• Paid Life Insurance
  • 2x annual salary + additional $25,000
• Long Term Disability Insurance (60% monthly salary)
  • 100% premiums paid by Sound
• 18 Days of Paid Rest and Relaxation (Vacation)- beginning first year
• 12 Days of Paid Sick Leave
• 9 Days of Paid Holidays
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
  • for health care (limited) and dependent day care costs (pre-tax)
• Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)
  • The Standard
• Sound retirement plan:
  • 401(k) plan (organization contribution) – Sound contributes 3% to team members' plan even if you don't.
  • Teammembers are 100% vested; team members may contribute to their own plan
• Paid Training
  • Free in-house professional training and $400 annually + 3 paid days off-site training
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
• Free Supervision Hours -Washington State Licensure
• Service Award- at 5,10,15,20 & 25 years of service

Compensation: $24.78 - $26.04 per hour