CTI Harlem
New York, New York

I. SCOPE OF ROLE:
The Peer Specialist facilitates engagement with shelters to reduce adverse substance use incidents in shelters (accidents, altercations, emergency services and overdoses) in order to improve client health and housing outcomes by providing and connecting at risk individuals to clinical services and peer supports.

II. ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide peer services on site to people living in the shelter that are at risk of harm from drugs and alcohol.
• Provide recovery support services to individuals identified as at risk.
• Provide coordination of treatment and transitional planning as needed.
• Provide harm reduction education and awareness to shelter staff and clients on a regular basis: presentations, office hours, signage, etc.
• Work collaboratively to encourage and support individuals identified as at risk.
• Work collaboratively to meet project deliverables and achieve overall project goals.
• Assist with making referrals to harm reduction, substance use, primary care, mental health care, pain management or other as needed.
• Support linkage to care, return to care, retention in care.
• Accompaniment to appointments and supporting access to tele-health services.
• Treatment adherence support (reminders, check-ins etc).
• Support discharge and transition planning.
• Documentation and reporting of services delivered (in CARES).
• Participate in Community of Practice and Learning of others in this role citywide (facilitated by DHS and OASAS).

• Embracing Creative Narratives: Peer Specialists need to be able to understand, share and discuss multiple frameworks for understanding life experiences such as psychosis with participants and the rest of the S:US team. Peer Specialists intentionally use language in the service of listening to understand and making space for complex personal stories of recovery and resilience.

• Advocacy: Peer Specialists advocate with and for program participants both in the larger community and on the team.

• Co-Creating Support and Wellness Tools: Collaborate with participants to clarify their personal visions and develop their wellness toolkit. Along with other team members, Peer Specialists support participants in strengthening their self-awareness, building life skills, and connecting to resources and community outside of the S:US team.
• Team Communication: Peer Specialists maintain open and frequent communication with the team. This includes reporting safety and other concerns to the team. Peer Specialists will also keep notes on visits with program participants as required by the provider agency. In the spirit of peer support, co-collaborating on reporting with the program participant is encouraged.

III. REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) Provisional or Certified.
• The Peer Specialist should understand the community in which the team is based with an awareness of available community resources
• The Peer Specialist should also be someone who has made positive and productive progress toward his or her own recovery
• Demonstrate good interpersonal communications skills and the ability to empathize with, relate to and effectively work with participants of mental health services
• Must possess the ability/ willingness to disclose their recovery story (where appropriate) for the purposes of empowerment
• Excellent judgment/ ability to understand boundaries when working with participants of mental health services is required
• Adhere to on call cell phone system to facilitate crisis intervention, emergencies and other situations that require immediate action.
• Field work hour in the community required, i.e., visit clients in their home, meeting clients in the community; 50%. Driving is not required.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS
• Bilingual English/Spanish is a plus.

S:US is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. S:US is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities, including allowance of the use of services animals. To request reasonable accommodation or if you believe such a request was improperly handled or denied, contact the Director of Recruitment at 646-565-5894.