Peer Specialist II (Part-time) - Beaver Crisis Services

Peer Specialist Ii

Beaver County Crisis Services provides 24/7 mobile crisis response, phone support, and walk-in services to individuals experiencing emotional distress or psychiatric emergencies. Our team delivers compassionate, recovery-oriented care in collaboration with law enforcement, healthcare facilities, and community partners. We are expanding our mobile capacity and integrating peer support to enhance accessibility, responsiveness, and person-centered outcomes.

Peer Specialist II are individuals with lived experience who provide non-clinical support as part of the treatment team. They model recovery principles, educate staff, and help clients overcome barriers and triggers in inpatient or outpatient settings.

Responsibilities:

• Provide feedback to clients, families, and clinical staff as appropriate
• Support clients in setting recovery goals, identifying barriers, and developing strategies
• Help clients connect with natural supports and community resources
• Advocate for clients in meetings, voicing their perspectives and goals
• Accompany clients to community activities and provide follow-up support (1:1, group, phone, virtual, or mobile)
• Facilitate recovery and wellness groups; offer individual support
• Monitor goal progress and provide ongoing feedback
• Assist with crisis planning, including WRAPs and mental health directives
• Complete documentation and paperwork as required
• Deliver advanced services in various settings (program, community, home)
• Educate clients to support informed decision-making
• Share personal recovery experience and apply recovery tools (WRAP, Personal Medicine, etc.)
• Teach life skills (e.g., problem-solving, money/time management, transportation)
• Maintain professional certification and CEUs
• Build relationships with community providers and treatment agencies
• Provide non-clinical services and coordinate with clinical staff as needed

Requirements:

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• Certified Peer Specialist or Certified Recovery Specialist certification is required.
• Demonstrated leadership qualities and mentorship skills.
• Minimum of one year of Peer Specialist experience
• OR applicable employment experience within last 3 years, maintained at least 12 months of successful full or part-time paid or voluntary work experience
• OR within last 3 years, obtained at least 24 credit hours of post-secondary education and have related, supervised work or volunteer experience, as approved the by the Pennsylvania Certification Board (PCB).
• Have lived experience in one or more of the following areas: mental health, substance use disorder, the recovery process and willing to share experiences to the benefit of clients/patients served.
• Basic understanding of mental health, wellness, and resiliency.
• Progressed in own recovery and have basic understanding of the recovery principles: Hope, Personal Responsibility, Empowerment Skills, Self-Advocacy, Educational Opportunities, and the importance of using personal and community supports.
• Able to articulate to clients/patients, families, and to interested stakeholders that peer support is a non-clinical service to promote recovery and wellness.
• Proficient with Office 365 applications, e.g., Microsoft Word, Outlook, Teams, etc.
• Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances:
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Certified Peer Specialist
• Comprehensive Crisis Management (CCMC)
• Driver's License
• Act 31 Child Abuse Reporting with renewal
• Act 33 with renewal
• Act 34 with renewal
• Act 73 FBI Clearance with renewal

UPMC is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran