PEER NAVIGATOR - MCR **20hrs/week**

Work Schedule

Work Schedule is Friday 5:00pm-9:00pm, Saturday & Sunday 11:00am-7:30pm. Candidates with ability to balance own journey to recovery to those of individuals we serve are preferred.

Pay and Benefits

Pay rates for Union positions are set in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with SEIU Local 521. Each position has a total of six steps, Step 1 (entry level) through Step 6 (15 years of employment with the organization).

• Step 1 (entry level) rate for this position is $29.14/hr, and the current Step 6 rate for this position is $32.17/hr.
• Shift Differential (only for positions that have non-business hour shifts): 6.25% additional pay for overnight (NOC) shift from 11 pm to 7 am, 4.75% additional pay for evening shift from 5:30 pm to 10:59 pm, 4.75% additional pay for weekend shifts from 12:01 am on Saturday thru 11:59pm on Sunday.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist clients in navigation of the mental health system, referral to various county agencies, community mental health organizations, accessing benefits, personal medical services, social and recreational opportunities, special events, conferences, workshops and training.
• Establish links and working relationships with appropriate service providers, community agencies, and educational institutions.
• Encourage families to make use of all of their identified resources.
• Aid in a variety of support activities including client support groups and client recovery.
• Provide client assistance and mentoring on a one-to-one basis.
• Establish a comfortable working relationship with all of the program participants (clients) and their families at the time of client enrollment.
• Act as a liaison/advocate to ensure that the collaborative networks in the community are providing services in a respectful, user friendly and welcoming way.
• Communicate, represent and promote the client perspective within the mental health system.
• Avoid that clients’ needs are met by appropriate caregivers.
• Attend case conferences.
• Promote wellness, recovery and support networks.
• Provide outreach to clients in the community.
• Confer with program staff and professional staff to assist in evaluating client needs or problems.
• Work a flexible schedule as required by responsibilities of the position.
• Attend and participate in staff, program, agency and community meetings, as required, requested or assigned.
• Provide backup support for crises.
• Complete documentation and maintain clients’ files in accordance with program policies and funding source requirements.
• Provide transportation in personal or agency vehicles including, but not limited to, the transportation of clients and/or program supplies for agency business.
• Perform related work as assigned.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities Required

• High School diploma, GED, or equivalent education.
• Personal experience in a mental health setting preferred.
• Human services experience such as facilitating groups; developing consumer-run, self-help activities; providing peer support.
• Personal experience receiving mental health services and willingness to share that perspective with others within the context of providing peer support.
• Proven problem-solving skills and abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and demands.
• Ability to engage and communicate effectively (verbal and written English).
• Maintain developmental growth and the recovery process.
• Employ tact and diplomacy, exercise good judgment, and act calmly in emergency situations.
• Work from a strengths-based, harm-reduction, social rehabilitation model.
• Work effectively with persons differing in value systems, ethnicity, cultural backgrounds, language capabilities and disabilities.
• Work collaboratively with individuals identified as those with serious mental illness who meet the following criteria: histories of hospitalization, institutionalization, substance abuse, low engagement in medication treatment, and difficulty in participating in structured activities and living independently.
• Work with populations identified as high risk and/or considered under-represented in the County Mental Health system, with multiple barriers.
• Knowledge of: Specific needs of the target population, as well as serious mental illness, substance abuse, other dual diagnoses, homelessness and the justice system; Mental Health Services Act (MHSA); Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), or willing to learn; Community resources, including those required to meet the non-mental health needs of the target population.
• Exhibit exemplary customer service, compassion, and care in the execution of all duties and interactions.

Special Requirements

• Hearing and talking on telephone and in person (over 2/3 of the workday).
• Standing, walking, sitting, pinching and finger flexion are required constantly (over 2/3 of the workday).
• Lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, bending, stooping, crouching, kneeling and twisting are required occasionally (under 1/3 of the workday).
• Balancing, climbing and crawling are generally not required.