Peer Support Specialist

The Position

Job Appointment: Regular, full time.

Work Schedule: Employees in this position will work four (4) 10-hour days with three (3) days off a week. Shifts include days, afternoons, and nights, including weekends and holidays. Ability to work any shift and on any day of the week is essential. During training, your shift may change depending on the availability of the trainers. After completing probation, you will be able to bid on an open shift based on your seniority.

Work Location: 330 SW Curry St., Portland OR 97239

Benefits: Please check our benefits tab for an overview of benefits for this position

Language Pay Premium Eligible: This position is or may be eligible for Language Pay Differential for qualifying employees.

Union Representation: This classification is represented by the Professional Technical Employees, Local 17 (PROTEC17) collective bargaining agreement. You can view the labor agreement here: Current City Labor Agreements.

Application Material: Please click APPLY to submit your application via the City of Portland's online portal. You will need to respond to the supplemental questions and attach a resume.

About Portland Street Response (PSR): Portland Street Response is a compassionate, trauma-informed first response agency. PSR is dispatched by the Bureau of Emergency Communications (BOEC) to address mental and behavioral health crises, as well as non-emergency situations involving vulnerable populations.

Program Values:

• Equity & Social Justice: Strive to uplift the dignity and worth of all Portlanders, particularly those who have been historically marginalized and criminalized, by ensuring timely and professional person-centered first response.
• Collaboration: Ensure the best possible outcomes for our clients by working collaboratively with community partners, and traditional first responders.
• Empathy & Compassion: Operate from a framework of Trauma-Informed Care with the recognition that adverse life experiences (including health systems and carceral trauma) create barriers for clients to connect with the care and supportive services they need to thrive in the community.
• Resource Efficiency & Prioritization: Respond to the complex care needs of individuals experiencing low acuity crises in the community to enable Police and Fire resources to attend to life saving and crime-related calls for service.

Position Summary: Under general direction of their supervisor, the Peer Support Specialists (PSS) serves on the multi-disciplinary PSR Aftercare team along with Community Health Workers (CHW). The role of the PSS is to connect with clients after 911 calls have been resolved. Our Crisis Response teams connect at the time of the 911 call and will refer clients needing more assistance to the Aftercare team. The PSSs and CHWs work closely to complete all tasks associated with follow-up crisis stabilization services, as well as various other administrative tasks.

Responsibilities include establishing positive, trusting relationships and providing support to individuals experiencing crisis; conducting follow up and assisting individuals being served in identifying, and navigating various community resources and external agency services; documenting support services in a program database in a manner that assures compliance with policies, program procedures and local, state, and federal regulations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will my schedule be?

Portland Street Response (PSR) currently operates 0600-0000, 365 days a year, and is working toward 24/7 operations. Employees in this classification work varying shifts that cover all hours of operation. During training your schedule will change based on the availability of trainers. Schedules may change with as little as 7 days' notice. Once training is complete you will be able bid on an available schedule based on seniority.

Who is the primary population served by Portland Street Response?

With our current call criteria, we respond out of doors and in publicly accessible spaces. Many of the people we contact are experiencing houselessness.

For more details on PSR's call criteria and response, please see:

Questions? Contact: Jaclyn Snyder, Senior Recruiter Bureau of Human Resources View email address on click.appcast.io

To Qualify

The following minimum qualifications are required for this position:

1. Ability to establish collaborative relationships with clients, and skills in engaging clients and others in problem-solving.
2. Ability to maintain appropriate boundaries and ethics while operating effectively within the peer scope i.e., sharing lived experience with addictions and/or mental health disorders and personal recovery story.
3. Ability to work effectively and collaboratively with colleagues of differing disciplines and in a variety of settings. May include, but are not limited to first responders, health agencies, and community services and organizations.
4. Ability to observe and recognize escalation by clients and to effectively respond and mitigate these issues when they emerge.
5. Ability to simultaneously talk, type data into an electronic record, and look at various screens to locate client information.

Applicants must also:

• Possess or be in the process of obtaining the following certification, required within six months of hire: Certified Peer Support Specialist by Oregon Health Authority or comparable jurisdiction
• Possess a valid state driver's license and acceptable driving record ;

Although not required, you may have one or more of the following:

• Certified Peer Wellness Specialist by Oregon Health Authority or comparable jurisdiction -Or- MHACBO Certified Recovery Mentor certification
• One year of community-based experience providing advocacy and support which has included significant public contact;
• Personal lived experience with mental health, substance use, and/or houselessness/housing insecurity (must have two or more years of continuous sobriety and/or active recovery)
• Bi-lingual fluency;
• Experience in on-call, crisis, or emergency response.

The Recruitment Process

STEP 1: Apply online between Monday, June 22, 2026 - Monday, July 6, 2026

Required Application Materials:

• Resume
• Answer to the Supplemental Questions (click on the Questions tab to preview the questions)

Optional Application Materials:

• If you would like to request Veteran's Preference, please submit your Veteran documents (ex, DD214-Member 4, VA Benefit Letter, etc) by the closing date of the recruitment.

We have recently updated our veteran preference process. Starting March 3rd, 2025 If you made the eligible list and met the eligibility to receive veteran preference, you will no longer need to submit veteran documents for future recruitments.

If you need to update or remove your veteran preference for a specific recruitment or from your master profile, please contact the recruiter listed in the job announcement.

Application Tips:

• Your responses to the supplemental questions should include details describing your education, training and/or experience, and where obtained which clearly reflects your qualifications for each of the numbered items in the "To Qualify" section of this announcement.
• Your résumé should support the details described in your responses to the supplemental questions.
• How We Determine Pay: The City of Portland is covered by the Oregon Equal Pay Act. Your salary is determined based on the experience listed in your resume that is directly related and equivalent to the position for which you are applying. It is strongly encouraged to include any transferable experience (paid or unpaid regardless of how recent) to ensure your offer is reflective of all your relevant experience.
• Do not attach materials not requested.
• All completed applications for this position must be submitted no later than on the closing date and time of this recruitment.
• All applications must be submitted via the City's online application process. E-mailed and/or faxed applications will not be accepted.
• You can use AI tools to assist with your job application, but please make sure to personalize your responses to supplemental questions. Avoid copying and pasting; instead, use AI to generate ideas and then tailor them to reflect your own experiences and skills.

STEP 2: Minimum Qualification Evaluation: Week of July 6, 2026

• An evaluation of each applicant's training and paid and unpaid experience, as demonstrated in their resume and supplemental questions, weighted 100%.
• Your résumé and responses to the supplemental questions will be the basis for our evaluation of your qualifications for this position. Incomplete or inappropriate information may result in disqualification.