Youth Peer Support Partner - Penobscot County

Are you looking for a job where YOU can make a DIFFERENCE in young people’s lives? Where YOUR ideas and lived experiences MATTER?

If so, please consider joining the Youth Peer Support team at Maine Behavioral Healthcare!

Peer Support Partners have struggled with challenges maintaining mental health, recovery from substance use or both. They have demonstrated resiliency and perseverance in their own wellness or recovery. A Peer Support Partner is willing to self-identify on that basis and is effective in communicating about their lived experience in a way that fosters a healthy relationship.*

As a Peer Support Partner, you will provide one-on-one support and outreach to people in the community, at their homes, and/or at the location where the peer works, such as substance use treatment programs or emergency department. Peer Support Partners also provide group facilitation in various topics related to the setting in which they work, including topics such as substance use, wellness, boundaries, self-esteem, healthy relationships, etc.

In addition, you’ll support people in connecting to wellness/recovery opportunities in the community and accessing other community support services when appropriate. Peer Support Partners do not provide clinical assessment or traditional service provider functions within the team, but rather use peer support to build mutually supportive relationships that allow each person to grow and learn together. Peer Support Partners manage conflict and disagreements according to agency and peer support values, and are required to have or obtain a certification in Intentional Peer Support.

• In order to comply with grant funding obligations imposed by the State of Maine and to meet the operational necessities of the peer support program, it is a bona fide occupational qualification for applicants to be within the ages of 18 and 26.

To learn more about Peer Support, please visit our website at:

https://mainehealth.org/maine-behavioral-healthcare/services/counseling-therapy-services-adult-child/peer-support

To be considered for this role, please copy and paste the template below into a cover letter and include this document as an attachment to your application. Please provide 1 – 3 sentence answers to the questions below, unless otherwise noted as a Y/N question.

DO NOT include diagnoses and/or criminal history in your answers! We will not accept this information or pass it along to our hiring managers.

• Have you struggled with challenges maintaining mental health, recovery from substance use or both? Yes / No ONLY

• Are you willing to self-identify on that basis and communicate about your lived experience in a way that fosters a healthy relationship? Yes / No ONLY

• How will you encourage a peer to focus on hope and possibilities instead of fear in their recovery?

• How will you facilitate a relationship with a peer, in which both parties have their needs and wants heard, respected, and discussed?

• How will you explain the benefit of learning together instead of simply trying to fix the other person’s problems?

Position Summary

The Youth Peer Support Partner will provide peer support through one-on-one meetings with youth peers, facilitation of peer support groups, education, and outreach. The Youth Peer Support Partner supports Behavioral Health Home (BHH) Program attendees in connecting to wellness/recovery opportunities in the community and accessing other community support services when appropriate. The Youth Peer Support Partner will work collaboratively with the BHH program to support clients in meeting their self-directed life, wellness and/or recovery goals. A Behavioral Health Home is NOT a residence, home, or a place where people live. The BHHO is a team approach to case management that includes a case manager, nurse care manager, and a Peer Support Specialist. The BHHO provides better care coordination and access to services that address both mental and physical health, as a whole person approach to wellness.

Maine Behavioral Healthcare (MBH) defines “Peer” as a person who has personally experienced challenges maintaining mental health, which includes recovery from substance use. These challenges and the resulting experiences of addressing them are referred to as “lived experience” and may include a history of accessing services in the mental health system. A Youth Peer Support Partner is a peer that is willing to self-identify on that basis and is effective in communicating about their lived experience in a way that fosters a healthy relationship, centered on each person exploring wellness, challenges, and ways of thinking. It is required that a person has lived experience as part of their life story to be employed as a Youth Peer Support Partner

Required Minimum Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

• Education: High school diploma or equivalent preferred. Some college preferred.
• License/Certifications: Completion of, or ability to complete, State of Maine C ertified Intentional Peer Support Specialist (CIPSS) Certification is required. Provisional CIPSS Certification is required within 9 months of hire date. Ability to maintain certification is required (meet co-reflection and continuing education requirements). Ability to provide support according to the values and principles of IPS is required. Employment will be contingent on the above certification guidelines. Driving license and reliable transportation.
• Experience: Experience providing one-on-one and/or group facilitation peer support is preferred.
• Is receiving or has received services and supports related to the diagnosis of a mental illness and is willing to self-identify on this basis with peers and in the community. May be receiving or has received services and supports related to a history of substance use, is in active recovery, and willing to self-identify on this basis with peers and in the community
• Models strengths-based interactions and treats all individuals with respect.
• Demonstrates ability to utilize strengths-based approach to problem solving
• Ability to articulate the unique nature of Peer Support within traditional service programs
• Good communication skills and an ability to establish rapport with consumers, family members, caregivers and other resource providers. Willingness to further develop communication skills (i.e. written, verbal, and computer.) Demonstrated ability to keep focus on continual learning and moving towards positive goals rather than away from what is not wanted
• Ability to work a flexible work schedule, including evenings and weekends
• Computer proficiency required with ability to demonstrate basic computer skills in using Microsoft Office and Outlook email
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of volunteers, fellow workers, communities, resources and cultures. Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively