Peer Support Specialist

A Peer Support Specialist provides peer-to-peer support services to help consumers access and navigate behavioral health services. Services are recovery-oriented, resiliency-focused, culturally appropriate and promote engagement, socialization, self-sufficiency, self-advocacy, and help to develop natural supports, as well as being trauma informed.    Peer Support Specialist Services may include but are not limited to, promoting recovery, resiliency, and wellness; supporting identification of strengths; planning; finding and accessing community resources and services; and coaching, mentoring, facilitation, and/or education. Services may be provided individually or in a group.

Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

Under direct supervision, the Peer Support Specialist may -  

• Interpret and explain regulations and policies to clients
• Assist with a limited caseload
• Create a high level of trust with behavioral health clients
• Assist individuals and families in accessing and utilizing formal and informal community support
• Actively participate in the engagement process, providing reassurance that the circumstances and challenges that brought the individual and/or family into services will be handled confidentially
• Listen non-judgmentally to discover needs, strengths, and to identify people important to the client
• Identify barriers that exist and help to remove them
• Assist in addressing client needs through empathetic and supportive communication
• Provide assistance to clinicians, social workers, specialists and/or other professional staff with transportation of clients, collecting client documentation and coordinating communication with clients
• Provide clerical support

EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE:

• Must be at least 18 years of age and possess a high school diploma, equivalent degree, or higher
• Must self-identify as a peer - an individual with lived experience accessing behavioral health services- and be willing to share their history as a person with lived experience

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• The concepts of hope, recovery, and wellness 
• The role of advocacy
• The role of consumers and family members
• Psychiatric rehabilitation skills and service delivery, and addiction recovery principles, including defined practices
• Cultural and structural competence trainings
• Trauma-informed care
• Group facilitation skills
• Self-awareness and self-care
• Co-occurring disorders of mental health and substance use
• Conflict resolution
• Professional boundaries and ethics
• Preparation for employment opportunities, including study and test-taking skills, application and résumé preparation, interviewing, and other potential requirements for employment
• Safety and crisis planning
• Navigation of, and referral to, other services
• Documentation skills and standards
• Confidentiality
• Digital literacy

ABILITY TO:

• Complete the 80-hour online training to meet certification requirements and receive certification, prior to providing services as a certified Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist
• Complete application for renewal of certification every 2 years
• Complete 20 hours of continuing education requirements annually
• Uphold the Inyo County Code of Conduct
• Promote the family members’ voices and the articulation of their values in planning and evaluating behavioral health related challenges or concerns
• Support other family members as peers with a common background and history
• Disclose personal lived experiences of building resiliency in a way that focuses on and is beneficial to the individual, child, youth, family member, parent, or caregiver engaging in services
• Practice healthy disclosure about their own experience focused on providing hope and direction toward recovery and/or resiliency
• Practice honest and direct communication in a culturally relevant manner
• Demonstrate accountability in fulfilling commitments
• Understand, encourage, and empower self-advocacy
• Recognize the importance of supportive relationships and community in wellness, recovery and resiliency and encourage persons to identify and develop natural supports

PHYSICAL:

While performing the essential functions of this job class, the employee is regularly required to: 

• Use hands and fingers to operate a vehicle and a variety of office equipment
• Possess flexibility and endurance to sit, stand, walk, bend, squat, climb, kneel, twist, and reach
• Talk and hear clearly and concisely to communicate with general public, clients, supervisors, and fellow employees on a continuous basis
• Regularly lift and/or carry and/or move objects weighing up to 10 pounds, and is occasionally lift and/or carry and/or move objects up to 50 lbs

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Assigned work is performed in an office and occasionally in the outdoor environment
• Incumbent will have continuous contact with clients, County staff, management, general public and outside organizations/agencies 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must demonstrate completion of an 80-hour CalMHSA-approved training program for Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists 
• Must successfully pass the state-approved Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Certification exam within 180 days of beginning employment and prior to providing services as a certified MediCal Peer Support Specialist
• Must have a strong dedication to recovery
• Must agree, in writing, to adhere to the California Department of Health Care Services Code of Ethics for Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists in California
• Must be able to travel, either alone or with clients, within Inyo County routinely in the course of work, and occasionally travel outside Inyo County in the course of work
• May be required to work flexible hours including evenings and weekends on some occasions
• Must possess a valid California driver’s license
• Must successfully complete pre-employment background investigation
• Consistent attendance is an essential function of the position

APPLICATION: 

It is important that your application show all the relevant education and experience you possess. Applications may be rejected if incomplete. Beginning with your present or most recent job, show a complete record of your employment.  Describe in detail any aspects of your experience or activities that are particularly appropriate for the position for which you are applying. You may not submit resume in lieu of completing the Employment Record fields.  We will evaluate your qualifications based solely on the information entered into the Employment Record form.

It is not acceptable to complete the application with statements like “See/Refer to resume” or “See attached”. 
 
IMPORTANT:   If requesting Veteran's preference, you must attach a copy of your DD214 with your application
 
SELECTION:  
Selection procedures will be determined by the number and qualifications of applicants and may include a qualification screening, written examination, and oral interview. 
 
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH QUALIFYING DISABILITIES:
Inyo County will make reasonable efforts in the examination process on a case-by-case basis to accommodate persons with disabilities.   If you have special needs, please contact (760) 878-0377 prior to the examination process. 
 
CITIZENSHIP/IMMIGRATION STATUS:
Inyo County hires only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized non-citizens in accordance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.  
 
WORK LOCATION:
The County of Inyo has work sites located throughout the Owens Valley (Independence, Bishop, Lone Pine, Big Pine, and Olancha) and the Death Valley area (Death Valley, Tecopa, and Shoshone).  All Inyo County positions are considered Countywide.  Positions are assigned to a work site based upon the needs of the County. Positions may be temporarily or permanently reassigned to another work site as deemed necessary by the Department Head and/or County Administration.