Certified Peer Support Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

OUR MISSION  is to eliminate health disparities and foster community well-being by providing and promoting the highest quality care in South Los Angeles.

OUR VISION:  St. John’s Well Child and Family Center will be a leader, catalyst, and model for the best care, long-term community health improvements, and sustainable, health-enhancing system and structures in Los Angeles.

OUR CORE VALUES 

Dignity

We honor and respect every person we encounter as a valued member of the human family whose gifts and rights are to be protected.

Excellence

We support and champion individual and organizational growth, accountability, creativity, teamwork, and commitment to quality, and the best standard of care.

Well-Being

We promote and advocate for the full integration of our patient’s physical and mental health with their needs as an active member of a vibrant and just community.

Social Justice

We collaborate with others to develop systems, organizations, and programs that address the needs of and empower all members of our community with a preference for the most vulnerable and disadvantage

JOB SUMMARY

The Certified Peer Recovery Navigator – Street Medicine is a community-based peer recovery professional who provides outreach, harm reduction, substance use screening, brief motivational interventions, recovery support, care navigation, and linkage to healthcare, MAT services, behavioral health, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, and community resources for people experiencing homelessness (PEH), housing instability, SUD, co-occurring disorders (COD), and other barriers to care.

The Navigator is an integral member of the multidisciplinary Street Medicine team and uses relevant lived experience, professional peer-support training, and evidence-informed approaches to engage individuals who may be disconnected from traditional healthcare and treatment systems.

Working primarily in low-barrier, street-based, and community settings, the Navigator provides harm reduction education, SBIRT-related support, individualized case management, MET-informed interventions, recovery coaching, advocacy, system navigation, and linkage to appropriate levels of care. The Navigator supports participants in identifying their own goals, strengths, and readiness for change while assisting them in accessing medical, behavioral health, SUD treatment, recovery, housing, benefits, and other community resources.

This position is funded through a SAMHSA grant and is responsible for supporting program goals, required documentation, performance measures, and outcomes consistent with the approved scope of work.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Performs a combination, but not necessarily all, of the following duties:

1.Street-Based Outreach and Engagement  

• Conduct outreach in streets, encampments, shelters, motels, interim housing, and other community settings.
• Build trusting relationships using a person-centered, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, recovery-oriented, and low-barrier approach.
• Provide consistent follow-up and engagement with participants over time.
• Work collaboratively with medical providers, behavioral health clinicians, social workers, case managers, HIV testing staff, and other Street Medicine team members.

2. Peer Recovery Support  

• Provide peer recovery support consistent with California Medi-Cal Peer Support Services requirements, organizational policies, and participant-identified goals.
• Use relevant lived experience and peer-support skills to support individuals in their recovery journey.
• Assist participants in identifying strengths, goals, priorities, recovery supports, and self-management strategies.
• Conduct or support substance use screening using approved tools and protocols within the Navigator's scope of practice, including SBIRT-related activities.
• Use motivational interviewing and MET-informed strategies to explore substance use, ambivalence, readiness for change, and personally meaningful goals.
• Provide brief, person-centered interventions that do not require immediate abstinence or treatment engagement.
• Educate participants regarding treatment and recovery options and facilitate warm handoffs based on participant needs and preferences.
• Educate participants regarding available MAT options and assist with patient tracking, follow-up, appointment coordination, and engagement in services
• Follow up on referrals and assist with barriers to accessing care.

3. Harm Reduction

• Integrate harm reduction education into outreach, care navigation, and recovery support.
• Provide nonjudgmental education regarding overdose prevention, safer substance use, infectious disease prevention, and other health and safety concerns.
• Provide or distribute approved harm reduction supplies in accordance with organizational policies and protocols.
• Connect participants with appropriate harm reduction and health services. 

4. Advocacy and Participant Empowerment

• Advocate for participant-identified needs using tools such as the PREPARE form to help identify and address social determinants of health. 
• Support participants in communicating their needs, preferences, and goals and navigating barriers to care through internal and external referrals to support services. 
• Provide supportive intervention, referrals, resources, and follow-up for participants experiencing suicidal thoughts or emotional crisis, within the Navigator’s scope of practice. 

5. Multidisciplinary Street Medicine Collaboration

• Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings and care coordination.
• Collaborate with physicians, nurses, behavioral health clinicians, social workers, case managers, substance use treatment professionals, and community partners.
• Support participant engagement, follow-up, and linkage to HIV, Hep C and other STI care and prevention services. Services may include linkage to PREP and PEP available services. 
• Assist with patient registration, intake, required forms, and appropriate documentation in eCW and/or approved systems when needed.
• Assist with daily van preparation, organization of supplies, preparation of participant resource/goodie bags, and other field-operational activities.

8. Documentation, Data Collection, and Grant Compliance

• Maintain timely, accurate, and complete documentation of participant contacts, outreach, screening, interventions, referrals, care navigation, and outcomes.
• Document services in the electronic health record and/or approved case-management system.
• Complete required SAMHSA grant data collection and reporting activities.
• Track referrals, engagement, linkage to care, and participant outcomes.

Responsibility to Team – actively support assigned team/department by participating in and supporting all team/departmental initiatives, proactively communicating with supervision, meeting assigned goals and objectives, and committing to embracing process improvement initiatives.

Responsibility to Organization – actively support SJCH by consistently meeting St. John’s Mission, Vision, and Values; modeling positive interactions with patients, staff, and community; keeping informed of internal (e.g., policies and procedures) and external (e.g., legal or political matters) which may affect business.

Additional Duties – as assigned.

For Grant Funded Positions – All duties relative to grant number 3171 are contained within this job description. 

St. John’s Community Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education & Experience  

• Medi-Cal Peer Support Services Specialist certification is required OR completion of a state-approved peer support training program and successful certification required.
• Must maintain certification and meet applicable California requirements for delivery of Medi-Cal Peer Support Services.
• High School diploma or equivalent GED. Associate degree in a related field preferred. 
• Must self-identify as a current or past consumer of mental health services or substance use. Having a relative that identifies with the mentioned above also qualifies. 
• Experience working with people experiencing homelessness (PEH) is strongly preferred.
• Experience providing street outreach, harm reduction, peer recovery support, care navigation, or services in low-barrier settings is preferred but not required. 

I nterpersonal Skills

• Bilingual Spanish/English proficiency is preferred. 
• Cultural humility and culturally responsive communication.
• Crisis recognition, de-escalation, and appropriate escalation.
• Professional boundaries and peer-support ethics.

Additional Requirements:

• Reliable transportation and flexibility to travel between Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties as needed.
• Must maintain certification and complete continuing education requirements.
• Valid California Driver’s License preferred.

Language Skills   

Ability to read, analyze and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public. 

Reasoning Ability   

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Synthesize complex or diverse information. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables. Ability to interpret situations, characteristics, behavior, etc. and respond appropriately.

Computer Skills   

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of MS Outlook, MS Excel, MS Word, and Internet software. Electronic Health Records experience preferred.