Peer Support Specialist

Job Details

Job Location:

125 Finney Malone - Malone, NY 12953

Position Type:
Full Time Salary Range: $16.50 - $20.50 Hourly Job Category:
Entry Level Our Mission and Vision are supported by a foundation of excellence

Peer Support services are peer-delivered services with a rehabilitation and recovery focus. They are designed to promote skills for coping with and managing behavioral health symptoms while facilitating the utilization of natural resources and the enhancement of recovery-oriented principles (e.g. hope and self-efficacy, and community living skills). Peer support uses trauma-informed, non-clinical assistance to achieve long-term recovery from a behavioral health disorder.

Activities included must be intended to achieve the identified goals or objectives as set forth in the individuals/families individualized service plan, which delineates specific goals that are flexibly tailored to the participant(s) and attempt to utilize community and natural supports. The intent of these activities is to assist individuals and/or their families in initiating recovery, maintaining recovery, and enhancing the quality of personal and family life in long‑term recovery.

There are 6 categories of peer-support components. Any of the below services can be provided either individually or combined as the care/service plan indicates their need. They include:

• Assistance seeking and obtaining benefits and entitlements, food, shelter, permanent housing.
• Assisting recipients in participating in shared decision making.
• Use Peer Bridgers to assist with linkages to and systems navigation within behavioral health and allied human services systems to access appropriate care.
• Benefits advisement and planning.
• Development of psychiatric advance directives (PAD).
• Assistance advocating for self‑directed services.

• Companionship and modeling of recovery lifestyle, including participation in recovery activities that might be beyond the scope of treatment providers (e.g., coffee/tea at a coffee shop, attending a court date, attending an appointment, attending or participating in a recovery celebration event or wellness activity).
• Raising the awareness of existing services, pathways to recovery and helping a person to remove barriers that exist for access to them.
• Interim visits with individuals and/or their families after discharge from Hospital Emergency Rooms, Detox Units or Inpatient Psychiatric Units to facilitate community tenure and increased readiness while waiting for the first post‑discharge visit with a community based mental health provider, treatment provider or appropriate system of care.
• “Outreach” is a face‑to‑face service with a patient and/or their family provided by clinical staff or a peer advocate for the purpose of increasing motivation to participate in clinically indicated treatment for chemical dependence.
• Individuals and/or families identified for this intervention must be current patients who have failed to appear for sessions at the program and are judged to be at risk for prematurely discontinuing treatment or persons transitioning from another Office-certified program.

• Assist selecting and utilizing self‑directed recovery tools such as Relapse Prevention Planning.
• Assist selecting and utilizing the things that bring a sense of passion, purpose and meaning into his/her life and coaching the person as they identify barriers to engaging in these activities.
• Assist individuals to help connect to natural supports that enhance the quality and security of life.
• Connecting individuals to “warm lines.”
• Connections to self‑help groups in the community.

• Recovery education and…