Job Description

Job Title: Veteran Peer Support Specialist - VSSR

Status: Non-Exempt, Full time

Location: Santa Rosa, CA

Job Summary:

This is a non-exempt position reporting to the VSSR Pilot Supervisor. Veteran Peer Support Specialists are Veterans with lived experience in recovery from a mental health condition, substance abuse, and/or military trauma who provide support to other Veterans who are in recovery, currently homeless, in treatment, seeking treatment, seeking employment and/or dealing with barriers that keep the Veteran in crisis.

Job Duties:

1. Serves as a recovery agent by providing and advocating for effective wellness and holistic recovery-oriented services with the goal of helping Veterans achieve improved health, wellness, and quality of life through a change process.
2. Assists Veterans in discovering and identifying their personal strengths, abilities and needs and articulating personal recovery goals through the use of individual or group meetings and telecommunications. Manages a case load of 1 peer specialist to every 25 tenants.
3. Observes behaviors and reports any major changes to supervisor and coordinate with other program staff for needed care.
4. Serves as a liaison between the residents, program staff and property management.
5. Serves as a role model for Veterans in recovery by living in accordance with their values, demonstrating effective coping behaviors, life strategies, and use of resources available to Veterans to achieve wellbeing.
6. Coordinates transportation and accompany residents to appointments and activities if appropriate.
7. Assist with the organization and implementation of tenant activities, outings and events.
8. Encourage and assist with resident counsels and the community town halls.
9. Assist in mediation of disputes among residents if appropriate.
10. Adheres to all internal agency policies and procedures, including confidentiality, professional ethics, training requirements, and electronic health records documentation.
11. Perform the duties in their job description to the best of their abilities and participate in continuing education activities to maintain their competencies.
12. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Required Job Skills:

1. Ability to work with a diverse population of Veterans, including those with physical and mental disabilities and addictions and those who are in, or need to be in, recovery. Ability to work with Veterans/clients who have significant barriers.
2. Ability to conduct a general, non-clinical assessment of the physical, mental, and emotional health of individual clients, and concisely document that assessment.
3. Ability to maintain client confidentiality and personal boundaries within Nation’s Finest policy and procedures.
4. Excellent people skills, including the ability to motivate and lead while maintaining a positive cooperative rapport with staff. Ability to positively engage and motivate challenging clients. Excellent communication skills, including writing that is accurate in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
5. Ability to develop relationships and collaborative partnerships with representatives in other agencies.
6. Ability to make community referrals to services such as housing, VA services and benefits, educational and employment, financial assistance, and legal advocacy.
7. Ability to organize and interpret data and information relative to clients and program.
8. Ability to form and work within an effective work team.
9. Comfort in a stressful, multi-task environment requiring consistent interactions with clients in varying states of mental and physical health. Excellent organizational and time management skills.
10. Ability to maintain positive and supportive disposition in the performance of job duties with staff and other service providers.

Qualifications:

• United States Veteran with lived experience in recovering from a mental health condition, substance use disorder, and/or military trauma.
• High School diploma or GED, with an associate degree preferred.
• One year experience in a social services setting.
• Experience working with Veterans, and/or Mental Health clients preferred.
• Experience performing outreach and making referrals to local services and partner agencies.
• Peer Support Specialist credential is required within six months of hire. Current credential preferred.
• Intermediate working knowledge of software systems, with required working knowledge of the following systems: Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Teams (or other video-based meeting platform), Microsoft Word, and Microsoft SharePoint (or other cloud-based file sharing system.)
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills.
• Must have clean DMV record, vehicle insurance, and reliable transportation.

Offering:

$30.00 per hour - $32.24 per hour, DOE and regional placement. Comprehensive benefits for full-time employees, retirement benefits for all permanent Nation’s Finest employees.