Certified Peer Support Specialist

PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST

Job Description & Responsibilities:

Any job description distributed by Spring Life Behavioral Care, LLC is not inclusive of all duties that the employee will be required to perform. The employer expressly reserves the right to change the responsibilities and duties as so desired. The job description may be changed verbally or written as desired by SLBC management.

Direct Supervisor:

The Associate Professional Peer Support Specialist (AP PS) reports to the Quality Assurance Director

Purpose of the Position:

The Associate Professional Peer Specialist (AP PS) provides supervision to peer support paraprofessional and provides services to consumers with serious mental illnesses. The AP PS will function as a role model to peers; exhibiting competency in personal recovery and use of coping skills; serve as a consumer advocate, providing consumer information and peer support for consumers at the Spring Life Behavioral Care. The AP PS performs a wide range of tasks to assist peers in regaining independence within the community and mastery over their own recovery process. The AP PS will maintain a working knowledge of current trends and developments in the mental health field by reading relevant books, journals and other relevant materials as well as engaging in relevant trainings and workshops. The AP PS will continue to share recovery materials with others at continuing education seminars and other venues to support recovery-oriented services; and attend continuing education seminars and other in-service training when offered.

Qualifications/Competencies:
The AP PS staff must have the following Qualifications and Skills:

(1) A Bachelor’s Degree from an institution of higher learning accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in a field of health, behavioral health, rehabilitation, human services, human development, education, social sciences, criminal justice, administration, management, organizational development, information management, business, or a related field or discipline and three years of experience gathering and analyzing data for quality management, quality assurance and/or quality improvement for a human services provider agency or an equivalent combination of training and experience; or

(2) Associate Professional (AP) within the mental health, development disabilities, and substance abuse services (MH/DD/SAS) system of care means an individual who is a graduate of a college or university with a bachelor’s degree in a field other than human services with less than four years of full-time, post-bachelor’s degree accumulated MH/DD/SAS experience with the population served, or a substance abuse professional with less than four years of full-time, post-bachelor’s degree supervised experience in alcoholism and drug abuse counseling.

(3) Must be certified as a Peer Specialist by in the State of North Carolina.

(4) Knowledge of the Recovery process and the ability to facilitate recovery using established

standardized mental health processes.

(5) Knowledge and skill to teach and engage in basic problem solving strategies to

support individual clients in self-directed recovery.

(6)General understanding of behavioral patterns and attitudes common in varying degrees with the MH/SA populations and if applicable DD population.

(7) Knowledge of the signs and symptoms of mental illness (i.e. auditory and visual

hallucinations, aggressive talk and behavior, thoughts of self-harm or harm

towards others, isolation) and the ability to assist the client to address symptoms

using strategies such as positive self-talk.

(8) Knowledge and skill sufficient to use community resources necessary for

independent living and ability to teach those skills to other individuals with severe mental illness.

Community resources may include but are not limited to: social

security office, Department of Family and Children services, local YMCA, Library,

restaurants, clients’ service organizations, housing providers, etc. The PS may

accompany clients to community resources to assist them in accessing these

resources.

(9) Knowledge of how to establish and sustain self-help (mutual support) and

educational groups by soliciting input from the mental health consumers on their

strengths and interests.

(10) Ability to maintain effective and efficient working relationships and present an

atmosphere of teamwork.

(11) Regular and predictable job attendance.

(12) Consistently aware of health and safety needs for all staff and consumers.

(13) Demonstrate good oral, written, and documentation skills.

(14) A valid driver’s license is required as some driving and/or transportation may be

required to take clients to medical appointments, job sites, social activities and

other community resources.

Responsibilities:

• Ensure that consumers' needs are met through on-going revision of the person centered plan to meet emerging needs of consumers.
• Jointly facilitate adequate development of the consumer’s person centered plan {PCP}in collaboration with consumer and other treatment team members
• Case management to arrange, link or integrate multiple services as well as assessment and reassessment of the consumer’s need for services.
• Implements interventions outlined in the Person Centered Plan including but not limited to any of the following: skills development, educational, and pre-vocational activities
• Inform the consumers about benefits, community resources, and services; assists the consumer in accessing benefits and services; arranges for the consumer to receive benefits and services; and monitors the provision of services.
• Assist clients in setting up and sustaining self-help (mutual support) groups, as well as means of locating and joining existing groups.
• Utilize tools such as the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) to assist clients in creating their own individual wellness and recovery plans.
• Use ongoing individual and group sessions to teach clients how to identify and combat negative self-talk and how to identify and overcome fears by providing a forum, which allows group members and PS to share their experiences.
• Support clients’ vocational choices and assist them in choosing a job that matches their strengths, overcoming job-related anxiety by reviewing job applications, and providing interview tips.
• Assist clients in building social skills in the community that will enhance job acquisition and tenure.
• Teach and role model the value of every individual’s recovery experience.
• Assist the client in obtaining decent and affordable housing of his/her choice in the most integrated, independent , and least intrusive or restrictive environment by taking them out to view housing, either driving them or riding with them on public transportation.
• Models effective coping techniques and self-help strategies.
• Serve as a recovery agent by providing and advocating for any effective recovery based services that will aid the client in daily living.
• Assist clients in developing empowerment skills and combating stigma through self-advocacy.
• Provide a standard service progress note service note that describes the consumer’s intervention, the time spent performing the intervention, the effectiveness of interventions and the signature of the staff providing the service