SF Courts Peer Navigation Project - Peer Support Specialist - BILINGUAL (Spanish, Mandarin, Cantones

JOB TITLE: SF Courts Peer Navigation Project - Peer Support Specialist - BILINGUAL (Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and/or Vietnamese)

DEPARTMENT: Peer Services

JOB STATUS: Full-time (40 hours); Non-exempt

HOURS:10 am - 6 pm, Monday - Friday (or as otherwise needed)

PAY RANGE: $31.73 hourly (includes bilingual pay differential)

BENEFITS:

• 100% Employer Paid Medical: Kaiser HMO or Blue Shield PPO
• 100% Dental, vision, life & long-term disability coverage; EAP
• Over 30 days of PTO, including 10 vacation days (baseline), sick days, personal days, and major holidays
• Health and Dependent Care FSA, Commuter Check, and 403(b) options available
• Ongoing access to MHASF continuing education and skill-building workshops- all training time paid
• Excellent opportunity for advancement-over 70% of our staff have been promoted internally at least once!

REPORTS TO: PIPS Project Manager

ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO (MHASF)

MHASF is a mental health peer-run nonprofit located in downtown San Francisco serving people and agencies across the Bay Area since 1947. As mental health consumers ourselves, we center the lived expertise of people with mental health challenges in our advocacy, education, and support programs, and believe that dignity and recovery in mental health are something everyone can experience. Our staff is dedicated to creating spaces for learning and healing around stigmatized and under-resourced areas in mental health-hoarding and cluttering behavior, peer employment support, wellness & nutrition, community-based crisis response, service navigation, and more. MHASF strongly-encourages people with lived experience of mental health challenges to apply and grow with us!

OVERVIEW OF PROGRAM & POSITION:

The SF Courts Peer Navigation Project provides access to resources for mental health, housing, substance abuse, and other key community support services in San Francisco with an overall goal of reducing and mitigating mental health crises, hospitalizations, and incarceration. This project connects individuals who have a DSM-5 diagnosis and who may also experience co-occurring substance use challenges and are involved in the San Francisco court system to peer support and counseling from trained individuals with lived experience of mental health conditions and recovery.

The Peer Support Specialist (PSS) position provides live support and resources to participants for up to 120 days. This position is field based in the San Francisco communities. This is a bilingual position. Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese speakers are encouraged to apply.

The PSS will meet new participants who are referred by our partners affiliated with the SF Courts for project enrollment and support participants with ongoing service navigation, goal-focused peer counseling emotional support for immediate needs, leading to a warm handoff to ongoing services by community partners.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Top Three Responsibilities:

1. Provide wellness-focused 1:1 peer-to-peer support, leading to stability in the communities of the participants' choice
2. Provide goal-focused peer counseling and case management to individuals living with mental health challenges and co-occurring substance use challenges
3. Serve as an advocate for program participants and a model for mental health recovery, including advocating for cultural sensitivity for our participants.

Peer Support & Case Management:

• Use personal lived experience as a mental health consumer to engage with participants
• Serve as a role model and self-disclose lived experience background to participants as appropriate, to establish trust and demonstrate the possibility of recovery
• Provide information and assist participants with access to community services and resources
• Communicate with lawyers, judges, case managers, psychiatrists, and therapists as well as other service providers as needed
• Assist with crisis intervention, targeted case management, advocacy, service navigation, and other supports
• Provide on-going follow-up contact to ensure participants are connected to appropriate supports and provide additional assistance when needed
• Help ensure that services are sensitive to the cultural context and personal history of each participant and their support system; provide services in community-based settings
• Promote collaboration among support systems, mental health providers, healthcare providers, justice system personnel, school personnel, and other agencies
• Help navigate post-incarceration systems such as parole, probation, and other bureaucratic agencies.
• Accompany and advocate for participants at their appointments providing emotional support

Record-Keeping, Training, & Participation:

• Attend supervision, staff meetings, and trainings
• Maintain detailed records of services provided and ensure participant record confidentiality
• Ensure records contain all data necessary in reporting to the State Department of Mental Health
• Ensure records conform to Medi-Cal and HIPAA requirements and standards

The Peer Counselor also supports broader MHASF initiatives and be responsible for other duties as assigned. The above job responsibilities are meant to be representative, not a comprehensive job description, and are subject to change depending on the needs of the program and MHASF.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Personal lived experience with mental health challenges and a willingness to disclose to participants and during counselor trainings is a requirement for this peer position; we are specifically interested in applicants with lived experience of incarceration.
• Bilingual - Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and/or Vietnamese. Proficient in verbal communication, reading, and writing.
• Proof of COVID-19 vaccine. (The position is field-based work in San Francisco)
• Minimum 2 years of experience as a peer counselor, peer specialist, or similar (either paid or volunteer), ideally within a nonprofit setting
• Ability to respond effectively to conflicts and strong emotions; crisis support or call center background is very helpful for this role
• Familiarity with community resources in San Francisco
• Experience maintaining confidentiality of sensitive information & understanding of confidentiality practices
• Familiarity with the mental health recovery movement, peer support model, & local resources
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, use of tele-health platforms such as Zoom, and data entry
• Behavioral health knowledge, including familiarity with mental health challenges, substance use issues, and Medical/Recovery models
• High level of organization and time management with an ability to focus and prioritize in stressful situations; Highly organized and resourceful, attention to detail, ability to manage time well to accomplish all key tasks and support the coordination of multiple projects
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to write effective case notes
• Highly collaborative work style and ability to work effectively within a team to identify and accomplish goals, responsive to feedback
• Ability to problem-solve with little to no guidance and to exercise independent judgment under stress
• Willingness to learn from others, take feedback, and adjust communication and behavior
• Experience taking initiative to self-educate about unfamiliar subjects or concepts
• Affirmative and accepting approach toward people whose needs and experiences differ from your own
• Commitment to upholding the mission and values of MHASF

HOW TO APPLY

• Applications require all the items to be considered complete; applications that do not include all these documents will not be considered: (MS Word or PDF format)
  • An up-to-date résumé
  • A thoughtful cover letter describing your unique qualifications for and interest in this role

We endeavor to maintain an accessible and transparent application process. We will confirm receipt of all complete applications and will strive to notify applicants of the status of their application as soon as possible.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

The position requires long periods of work at a desk, which may involve sitting or standing and the use of a computer, keyboard, mouse, and desk phone. The office building and between floors of the building, and to travel short distances (under 1 mile) is required. Other physical tasks may involve reaching, pulling, pushing, bending, climbing a stepladder, use of a dolly to move items weighing up to 50 lbs., and lifting and carrying up to 20 lbs.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT STATEMENT

Mental health challenges can affect anyone at any time, regardless of identity or background, and consequently the communities we serve are highly diverse. As a peer-run organization, we also recognize the importance of lived experience as an irreplaceable form of expertise and as a basis for building trust and providing effective services. We welcome and strongly encourage people from historically marginalized and economically disadvantaged groups, including people who identify as disabled or neuro-divergent, to apply to work with us.

MHASF is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants for employment and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender or gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other factor not related to ability to successfully fulfill the requirements of the position.