Peer Support Specialist/Trainee - Forensic PATH & HARPS - Mon-Fri 10:30AM-7PM

About the job

Frontier Behavioral Health in Spokane is hiring a full-time peer support specialist or trainee to work Monday through Friday, 10:30AM to 7PM, on both its Forensic PATH (FPATH) and Forensic HARPS (FHARPS) teams. FPATH serves people with past involvement in the forensic mental health system, helping them find and use community resources, while FHARPS follows the Permanent Supportive Housing and Housing First approach to help Trueblood Class Members get and keep housing.

Frontier Behavioral Health is a Spokane non-profit offering evidence-based behavioral health treatment to adults, youth and seniors. The Forensic PATH team covers Region 1 of Washington State: Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane and Stevens counties.

What you'll do

• Work with people the Health Care Authority has found eligible for FPATH, assessing their needs and providing case management and links to resources and to employment and education services
• Help clients apply for Social Security benefits (staff are SOAR-trained) and use Client Support Funds to cover basic needs or help them engage with resources
• For FHARPS, contact each person within one calendar day, with mobile crisis teams covering when FHARPS isn't available, and create a care plan focused on getting and keeping housing
• Build an individualized, strengths-based housing plan with action steps alongside each participant, help with tenancy paperwork and share your lived experience during the housing process
• Provide peer counseling and support to clients, parents, caregivers and natural and community supports, drawing on shared experience to help them regain hope and control
• Mentor clients in self-advocacy, navigating health systems, building natural supports and community living skills and finding meaningful activities, and support their education, work or volunteer goals
• Facilitate recovery groups, provide individual and group services within your scope and partner with team members on case reviews and co-facilitated groups
• Engage clients before discharge from inpatient psychiatric care, join discharge planning as assigned and accompany them into the community as appropriate
• Follow up with clinician-referred clients who miss scheduled appointments to work through barriers to attendance, and help clients in crisis find stabilization resources
• Keep client records timely and confidential, and complete the Enhanced Certified Peer Counselor training from the Health Care Authority

What you need

• At least one year of self-identified recovery from a substance use disorder, a mental health condition or both
• Unless you already hold an active CPSS (Certified Peer Support Specialist) or CPSST (trainee) credential, apply to the WA State Dept. of Health for Agency Affiliated Counselor Registration (RAAC) within 30 days of hire
• If you have neither the CPSS nor the CPSST credential, active or pending, you must also apply for the CPSST credential within 90 days of hire
• High school diploma or equivalent
• An unrestricted, valid driver's license and active car insurance, the ability to pass a driving test and motor vehicle screening, and willingness to use your own vehicle for work
• Hiring level and pay depend on your credential at offer: Certified Peer Support Specialist, Certified Peer Support Specialist Trainee, or Peer Support Specialist Trainee if yours is pending or not yet applied for
• Daily client work in community settings such as homes, group living settings, hospitals, shelters and the street, some of which may not be clean or habitable
• Able to drive, walk up to several city blocks over varied terrain, climb stairs and get in and out of vehicles often
• Daily computer use, and you may need to lift 10 to 20 pounds

Preferred

• Two years of experience in a community behavioral health setting

Schedule

• Full-time, Monday to Friday, 10:30AM to 7PM
• After-hours coverage on a rotating schedule, if applicable
• Daily travel between work sites and out to clients in the community, in FBH-owned vehicles or your own

Benefits

• A shift differential for the Monday to Friday 10:30AM to 7PM shift
• A sign-on bonus
• Paid time off accruing up to 26 days in the first year, plus 9 paid federal holidays
• Paid sick and safe time, plus extended sick leave
• A compressed workweek option for some positions, adding up to 26 more days off a year
• Medical, dental and vision coverage and flexible spending accounts
• A 403b retirement plan with a standard 3% employer contribution and an additional 3% employer match
• Company-paid life insurance starting the first of the month after 6 months of employment
• No-cost supervision for staff pursuing clinical licensure
• Federal and state loan forgiveness for qualifying programs
• Reimbursement of the license or certification application fee the position requires
• A free employee assistance program and staff discounts with FBH partners around Spokane