Peer Supervisor - DEAC

Description

Shift: Office Day

• Days Off: Saturday and Sunday
• Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

About Desc:

DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) is a nonprofit organization working to help people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well-being through comprehensive services, treatment, and housing. Our vision is a community where no person is abandoned, ignored, or experiencing homelessness.

As the region's leading provider of services to multiply disabled adults who have experienced chronic homelessness, DESC serves almost 3,000 people each day. Our integrated service model is designed to help people secure and maintain appropriate, safe and affordable housing. DESC is recognized nationally and regionally as an innovator in developing solutions to homelessness.

Job Description:

In conjunction with the Drop-in, Admin and Client (DEAC) Engagement service Senior Program Manager, the Peer Supervisor oversees the operations of DESC's Downtown Behavioral Health’s Drop-ln Center and partners with DESC's SAGE and HOST teams to provide robust recovery services. In conjunction with the DEAC Manager, this position manages all aspects of both the peer and client engagement program, responsible for providing behavioral health, client engagement and case management services to individuals enrolled in Medicaid. This supervisor is responsible for team development and oversight with a focus on successful integration of both the peer's support and client engagement team. 

This supervisor will oversee alongside 3 Peer Specialists and 7 Client Engagement (4 CES at Downtown Behavioral Health Clinic and 3 at the STAR center) Specialists to model and manage daily tasks, support milieu management for the Downtown Behavioral Health Clinical Office and liaison with clinical teams to provide essential needs, increase crisis diversion and focus on harm reduction methods. This supervisor will also build a strong partnership with DESC's 515 Clinical Office and Hobson Clinic to support and guide Peer Navigator staff integrated into our HOST and SAGE Mental Health program at these sites. 

The Peer Supervisor will need to be a certified peer counselor (CPC) with relevant work history and preferably prior supervisory experience. The supervisor will also have personal experience, knowledge, and first-hand insight to benefit the team and its participants. They will be well established in their own recovery and provide expertise that professional training cannot replicate. The supervisor is a person who uses their lived experience of recovery from substance use/abuse and/or receives mental services, plus skills learned in formal training, to deliver services in behavioral health settings to promote mind-body recovery and resilience. 

Peer Specialists, Client Engagement team, and the Peer Supervisor provide consultation to promote a culture in which each client’s point of view and preferences are recognized, understood, respected and integrated into treatment, recovery and community self-help activities. Services will be provided primarily out in the community, 515 and Hobson Clinic Offices with outreach and engagement. This position requires a high degree of coordination and collaboration with other DESC programs as well as outside agencies. A preferred qualification of employment is for this position is to have completed the Washington State Peer Counselor Training and be classified as a Certified Peer Specialist.

Major Duties And Responsibilities

Supervisory:

Client Engagement Specialists

• Organize workflow for Client Engagement Specialist between DBHC, Drop- In Center and 515 Clinical spaces including scheduling of team member coverage, review and authorization of timesheets and submission.
• Provide direct oversight and weekly individual consultation/ supervision.
• Teach and promote core DESC values, crisis intervention and de-escalation skills, trauma informed care, to ensure the safety of clients and staff.
• Assist in planning, implementation, and coordination of Client Engagement services including care conferences, DESC service connection, harm reduction supplies.
• Supervise and review team documentation to ensure that team members maintain current and complete clinical records, and that records comply with the agency's policies and procedures.
• Train and oversee Behavioral Health Crisis Drills in collaboration with the Downtown Clinic Manager.
• Facilitate and lead weekly staff meetings.
• Monitor and maintain appropriate social interactions among clients and staff. 

Peer Specialists

• Assist in the planning, implementation, and coordination of Peer services.
• Intervene in crises and assist staff with training needs around crisis de-escalation by facilitating Behavioral Health Crisis Drills in collaboration with the Downtown Clinic Manager.
• Planning, implementing and coordinating all Drop-ln Center services, peer services, and other relevant resources within the clinic.
• Coordinate and participate in psychiatric consultation, clinical supervision, program meetings, and participate in clinical reviews and case conferences.
• Assess staff members supervised strengths and training needs. Provide regular supervision, clinical consultation, performance feedback, support and assurance of needed training for staff.
• Facilitate team meetings in a manner which promotes team members contributing to their areas of strength and learning as needed. Develop team cohesion, which effectively serves the clientele and provides the support needed for team members to effectively perform their job. 
• Coordinate and schedule all aspects of 216 Peer services, including scheduling of individual team members and coverage of offices as needed; review and authorize staff time sheets; submit on time to payroll department.
• Build Supported Employment and Vocational Services into peer services support with client volunteers, vocational focused groups and partner with Vocational Specialist working under the DAC Senior Manager. 
• Supervise and review team documentation to ensure that team members maintain current and complete clinical records, and that records comply with the agency's policies and procedures. 

General

• Provide individual supervision/consultation for assigned team members.
• In cooperation with agency management, Peer should establish and maintain cooperative relationships with a broad spectrum of internal and external human service organizations/ programs that provide resources needed by client population.
• Comply with all agency policies and procedures, relevant Washington Administrative Code, and King County Mental Health Division policies and procedures.

Direct Service Job Duties:

• Identify clients in need, screen for appropriateness of added peer supports. Develop rapport and trust and assist with immediate and basic needs to individuals who are homeless/at risk of homelessness.
• Provide recovery support to clients who've been identified during clinical consult Participating in care planning and success planning for higher risk behaviors.
• Aid in obtaining and coordinating services for eligible clients, including services relating to daily living activities, personal financial planning, transportation, habilitation and rehabilitation services, pre-vocational and vocational services, and housing services (including through referrals to coordinated entry and/or other housing resources).
• Integrate personal experience with mental illness and substance use disorders into work with program participants.
• Help participants identify, understand, and combat stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and substance use disorders and develop strategies to reduce self-stigma. Help other team members identify and understand culture-wide stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness and substance use disorders and develop strategies to eliminate stigma within the team.
• Advocate for clients' access to community resources and services, ensuring that clients' needs are met, and rights maintained; consult and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care, facilitate linkages to collaborative resources when appropriate.
• Assist consumers with voicing their interests and goes through a variety of channels including; Goal Plans, Crisis Plans, WRAP and other methods of expressing individual preferences for their recovery goals.
• Participate in verbal de-escalation and physical interventions in emergent situations and be willing and able to assist other staff as needed to maintain a safe and secure environment.
• This position will require becoming certified in enhanced behavioral de-escalation training and maintain annual re-certification.
• Assist in training clinic staff on de-escalation skills and leading crisis response drills. 

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Must have lived experience as a consumer of behavioral health services (mental health and/or substance use treatment) or be the parent or legal guardian of a child who has received behavioral health services.
• Ability to meet Washington Department of Health requirements for registration as an Agency Affiliated Counselor (AAC) or any other superseding credential.
• Has a current Certified Peer Specialist certification from the Washington State Peer Counselor Training Program.
• One or more years' experience in community based behavioral health services.
• Experience working with adults experiencing homelessness, mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
• Willingly able to work with clients who are difficult to engage with, as we serve the most vulnerable and least expected to comply. Be able to maintain traditional mental health/substance use disorder programs.
• Be willing to seek to understand each client's unique circumstances and personal preferences and goals and incorporate them into the crisis response to help the client regain a sense of control.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Strong knowledge of relevant community resources and methods for accessing them.
• Possess strong communication and writing skills.
• Experience working with adults who are experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, have a mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorders.
• Ability to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of unpleasant and/or bizarre behavior.
• Subscribe to the philosophy of cooperation and continuity across programs and of consideration and respect for consumers.
• Have a strong understanding of recovery and resilience, the value of client partnerships and client choice, and the balance between protection from harm and personal dignity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Supervisory experience.
• Ability to drive an agency or personal vehicle to conduct agency related business, including a current Washington State driver's license and insurable driving record.
• Knowledge of de-escalation skills, crisis intervention & stabilization, and harm reduction strategies.
• Bi-lingual in Spanish/English. 

Strong applicants can demonstrate the ability to be positive in their empathetic responses to all people; understand the value of meaningful and deep client engagement; have the potential to acquire the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills of an effective crisis worker; and value a non-judgmental response to sensitive issues. Candidates should be able to accept feedback and work in a highly collaborative and potentially stressful environment.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required to sit, communicate with other employees and vendors, is required to lift and carry items weighing up to 25 pounds and to operate computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. Considerable on-the-job stress may occur.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.