Peer Specialist

About the role

The Peer Specialist functions as an interdisciplinary team member, assisting physicians and other professional/non-professional personnel in a rehabilitation treatment program. Peer specialists perform a variety of therapeutic and supportive tasks that include assisting Veterans in articulating their goals for recovery and personal wellness, learning, and practicing new skills, helping them monitor their progress, assisting them in their treatment, modeling effective coping techniques and self-help strategies based on the peer specialist's own recovery experience, and supporting them in advocating for themselves to obtain effective services.

Responsibilities

• Participates in the service, training, consultation, and other professional activities of VA health care services and functions as a fully vested member of the multidisciplinary team.
• Uses personal recovery experiences to model coping techniques and recovery tools to coach Veterans to relevant skills needed for self-management of their health condition(s) and pursuit of their personal wellness.
• Observes behaviors that might indicate difficulty adapting or responding to treatment (e.g., missed assessment appointments, failure to attend or maintain abstinence, risk to self or others, disruptive behavior), completes appropriate documentation, and reports concerns to the treatment team in a timely manner.
• Uses ongoing individual and group meetings to teach Veterans how to identify and combat negative self-talk and overcome fears by providing a forum that allows Veterans to share their experiences.
• Handles crisis interventions for Veterans and addresses other emergent situations without the benefit of specific instructions.
• Informs Veterans about VA and community supports and resources, including how to effectively utilize them in the recovery and wellness process.
• Maintains a working knowledge of current trends and developments in holistic approaches in wellness and recovery by reading books, journals, and other relevant materials.
• Operates a motor vehicle or access to public transportation to perform assigned duties.
• Accompanies Veterans to appointments as needed, whether medical, housing, or other treatment plan goal appointments, either through agency vehicle or public transportation.
• Affords assistance to Veterans to identify resources and problem-solve how to overcome barriers so that the Veterans can independently address transportation and other personal needs.

Requirements

Position requires operation of a motor vehicle or access to public transportation to perform assigned duties.

Qualifications

• To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/10/2026.
• BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PEER SPECIALISTS
• a. Statutory Requirements. Section 405 of Public Law 110-387, as codified in 38 U.S.C. 7402(b)(13), established that to be eligible to receive appointment to a Peer Specialist position, a person must:
• (1) be a veteran who has recovered or is recovering from a mental health condition;
• (2) be certified by -(a) a not-for-profit entity engaged in peer specialist training as having met such criteria as the Secretary shall establish for a peer specialist position; or(b) a State as having satisfied relevant State requirements for a peer specialist position.
• b. Length of Experience in Recovery: must have at least 1 year of recovery from a mental health condition (mental illness and/or substance use disorder).