Peer Support Specialist - New Beginnings

Job Description

Job Description

Alleghany Highlands Community Services provides services and support to individuals in our community with behavioral health challenges and intellectual and developmental disabilities. A Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) is a self-identified person with lived experience with a mental health and/or addiction condition who is in successful and ongoing recovery from mental health and/or addiction challenges. Peer Recovery Specialists use their lived experience to support another person's recovery journey. This role will serve individuals in AHCS' transitional housing program.

Assists individuals in mental health crises by providing supportive counseling, helping them articulate their support needs and developing strategies for recovery, helping them monitor their progress, and modeling effective coping techniques and self-help strategies based on the specialist's recovery experience and training.

Why Become a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) with AHCS?

• Automatic pay raise after obtaining CPRS certification
• Quality behavior health training with Southwest Virginia agency in operation for 40 years
• Generous benefits

Minimum Requirements

• High School graduate or GED required.
• A valid driver's license and safe driving record are required.
• Must be, or have previously been a recipient of mental health services or substance use disorder services for a mental illness or substance use disorder and should be well along in the recovery process.
• Certified Peer Recovery Specialist
• Unless you are already CPRS, this is an entry-level position, and this position will prepare you for certification and you will be required to complete all the necessary training and supervision hours to apply for certification within nine months of the hire date. Services include one-on-one peer mentoring, peer-led support groups, telephone outreach, assisting clients in accessing community resources, services, and affiliation with recovery-supported social activities.

Related Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Knowledge of services and systems available in the community including primary health care, support services, and generic community resources; Knowledge of the nature of the recovery process including the use of established standardized mental health, substance use, and co-occurring processes; Knowledge and understanding of multiple pathways to recovery; signs and symptoms of mental health and/or substance use challenges and strategies to address these symptoms; Knowledge and understanding of applicable federal, state, and local laws as well as governing codes of conduct surrounding the profession; understanding of the code of ethics, core competencies, and scope of practice guiding the work of the profession; Knowledge of trauma and impact on recovery; Ability to identify and document an individual's need for resources, services, and other supports; Ability to develop recovery, resiliency, and wellness plans by integrating information obtained from informal assessments, evaluations, observations, and interviews; Ability to promote services, supports, and strategies for the recovery process; Ability to deliver peer services within agencies and organizations.

BENEFITS

Part-Time Benefits: Employer match on retirement contributions