What are the responsibilities and job description for the Peer Support Specialist - Imperial County position at NAMI San Diego?
Job Description
Job Description
Position Title : Peer Support Specialist - Imperial County
Company Description : NAMI San Diego & Imperial Counties (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is a nonprofit organization that provides free education, support services, and advocacy to improve the quality of life of everyone affected by mental health conditions.
Primary Responsibilities / Function :
The goal of the Hey! Café Clubhouse is to provide a safe and inclusive space, where members develop and enhance life skills, give and receive support, including peer support, educational, and job-related support, get connected to any needed mental health services, enjoy social and recreational activities, and much more! The Peer Support Specialist supports all aspects of this vision with a special focus on peer coaching and life skills building.
The Peer Support Specialist is an active member of the Hey! Café Clubhouse Team. They assist members in identifying their strengths and goals, leading life skills-related groups and trainings, and developing unit responsibilities. They will use their life and recovery experiences to mentor and / or supervise Clubhouse members, potential members, volunteers, and interns from a supportive recovery lens.
The Peer Support Specialist builds and maintains relationships with various community resources and service providers in the community, this includes conducting extensive outreach, and coordinating visits to / from organizations, and supporting members with connection and navigation of services. Our Peer Support Specialist plans and coordinates social and recreational activities. Given our "all-hands-on-deck" approach, our Peer Support Specialist is cross-trained and may support all other activities in the clubhouse, as needed. Typical work hours : Monday-Friday : 10 : 30 AM-7 : 00 PM, occasional weekends.
Duties and Responsibilities :
- Supports overall operations of the Clubhouse.
- Adheres to recovery principles, clubhouse international model, peer support model, trauma informed services, and use of gender affirming language.
- Mentors clubhouse members using a strength-based, member-centered approach.
- Engages and involves members in all aspects of the program, including activity / work planning.
- Identifies and builds upon the member's specific strengths and seeks to use those strengths to integrate them by proving opportunities for meaningful activities in the clubhouse. Trains, coaches and supervises members in new roles to ensure their success.
- Encourages members to assume leadership roles within the program.
- Provides messages of hope and models recovery.
- Coordinates all Clubhouse social media, social recreational activities, special events, and solicitations with input from members.
- Builds and maintains relationships with various community resources and service providers in the community, this includes conducting extensive outreach, and coordinating visits to / from organizations, such as City of El Centro Parks and Recreation, Donnelly Community Services Center in Imperial Valley, various mental health and substance use treatment providers, probation, collaborative justice courts, law enforcement, receiving homes and more.
- Maintains member profile / goal sheets with members within the first 30 days of enrollment and updates at member's request and updates emergency fact sheets annually or as needed.
- Maintains a daily log of clubhouse member contacts.
- Leads and coordinates life skill development as well as wellness groups / classes..
- Collaborates and coordinates support with other Clubhouse Team Members.
- Fills in as needed for transitional employment sites.
- Attends necessary meetings, workshops, events, and training seminars.
- Other duties as assigned.
Accountability : Reports to the Program Manager.
Physical Demands : The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with qualified disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Minimum Requirements :
Due to our work with vulnerable populations and county contractor requirements, applicants will be required to undergo a background check following a contingent offer of employment and must receive satisfactory results prior to a final offer of employment. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please feel free to reach out to HR@namisd.org.
