Certified Peer Specialist

Job Description

Job Title: Certified Peer Specialist

Location: Independence, Missouri

Department: Adult Housing

Employment Type: Full Time

Must be a Certified Missouri Peer Specialist with at least a high school diploma or GED.

Job Summary

Are you a passionate and dedicated mental health professional looking to make a positive impact in the lives of children and adolescents? Do you want to work in a supportive and dynamic environment where you can grow your skills and advance your career? Join our team at Burrell Behavioral Health as a Certified Peer Specialist in the Kansas City, Missouri area!

Our Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) provides recovery-focused support to individuals experiencing mental health challenges. Drawing upon their personal experience with mental illness, CPSs offer hope, inspiration, and guidance to those seeking to manage symptoms, navigate complex systems, and reclaim their lives. By combining their own experiences with formal training, CPSs play a critical role in fostering growth, independence, and recovery among people navigating mental health challenges.

This position offers…

• Employee Assistance Program – 24/7 counseling services, legal assistance, & financial consultation for you and your household at no cost
• Mileage Reimbursement – Company paid for work functions requiring travel
• Employee Discounts – Hotels, Theme Parks & Attractions, College Tuition
• Workplace Culture - An environment cultivating employee wellbeing, valuing each individual's humanity, and actively promoting a healthy, joyful workforce
• Additional Perks & Benefits - Scroll down to bottom of this post to learn more

Key Responsibilities

• Empower individuals with mental illness to recognize their strengths, set goals, and make informed decisions about their lives.
• Support individuals in advocating for themselves and accessing needed resources and services, while also advocating on behalf of consumers to improve systems and policies.
• Provide emotional support through active listening, validation, encouragement, and sharing personal experiences in ways that inspire hope and resilience.
• Assist individuals during crises, helping de-escalate situations, connecting them to appropriate services, and supporting coping skills development.
• Teach practical skills like problem solving, communication, stress management, symptom management, and relapse prevention.
• Connect individuals to relevant community resources, such as housing, employment, education, vocational training, transportation, financial assistance, and peer support groups.
• Guide individuals through complex service systems, explaining options and benefits, facilitating appointments, and accompanying individuals to meetings with service providers.
• Encourage a recovery-oriented philosophy focused on wellness, self-determination, and person-centered planning.
• Adhere to ethical guidelines and codes of conduct, safeguarding privacy, obtaining consent, avoiding dual relationships, and practicing self-care.

Education, Experience, and/or Credential Qualifications

• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Ability to communicate effectively before groups of clients, employees of the organization, family members, and other contacts in the community.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to apply common-sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
• Shall successfully complete all mandatory continuing education to maintain certificate and successfully complete CPR, First Aid, and CPI Training.
• Shall be able to establish effective relationships via telephone and personal contacts.
• Shall be able to follow direction and accept supervision.
• Shall have the ability to work with a variety of human problems and the competence to handle crisis intervention.
• Shall be able to enter clinical documentation into a computerized record system.

Additional Qualifications

• A valid driver's license and a reliable vehicle.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Flexibility and adaptability in a fast-paced environment.
• Compassion, empathy, and a genuine desire to help others.

Physical Requirements

• Light work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally (exists up to 1/3 of the time) and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently (exists 1/3 to 2/3 of the time) and/or a negligible amount of force constantly (exists 2/3 or more of the time) to move objects.
• Requires walking or standing to a significant degree, or requires sitting most of the time but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls, or requires working at a production rate pace entailing the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of those materials is negligible

Position Perks & Benefits:

Paid time off: full-time employees receive an attractive time off package to balance your work and personal life

Employee benefits package: full-time employees receive health, dental, vision, retirement, life, & more

Top-notch training: initial, ongoing, comprehensive, and supportive

Career mobility: advancement opportunities/promoting from within

Welcoming, warm, supportive: a work culture & environment that promotes your well-being, values you as human being, and encourages your health and happiness.

Brightli is on a Mission

A mission to improve client care, reduce the financial burden of community mental health centers by sharing resources, a mission to have a larger voice in advocacy to increase access to mental health and substance user care in our communities, and a mission to evolve the behavioral health industry to better meet the needs of our clients.

As a behavioral and community mental health provider, we prioritize fostering a culture of belonging and connection within our workforce. We encourage applications from individuals with varied backgrounds and experiences, as we believe that a rich tapestry of perspectives strengthens our mission. If you are passionate about empowering local communities and creating an environment where everyone feels valued and supported, we invite you to join our mission-driven organization dedicated to cultivating an authentic workplace.

We are an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

Burrell Behavioral Health is a Smoke and Tobacco Free Workplace.