Peer Specialist, Capital District Psychiatric Center, P27845

Duties Description As a Peer Specialist, you would provide direct mental health services to recipients in emergency, inpatient, outpatient, community support programs, and residential settings. You would serve as a role model for recipients and educate recipients about self-help techniques and self-help group process; teach them effective coping strategies, sometimes based on personal experience; assist them in clarifying their goals for rehabilitation and recovery; and help them to develop support systems.

As a Peer Specialist, you would perform a range of tasks designed to assist recipients in regaining personal control over their lives and over their own recovery processes. Your tasks would focus on facilitating the development of self-help skills, support systems, coping strategies, and the increased hope and self-esteem that are central to recovery from a psychiatric disability.

- Lived mental health experience from first-hand, personal knowledge and understanding gained from directly navigating and receiving services and/or supports as an element of their recovery. - Experience as a peer advocate in the mental health system

• Candidates must have demonstrated interpersonal communications skills and the ability to empathize with, relate to and effectively work with recipients of mental health services AND two years of active participation in mental health self-help activities, peer support or peer advocacy programs, or recipient run organizations or similar experiences or programs. Additional Comments All OMH employees receive a generous benefits package including:
• NYS medical, dental, & vision insurance
• Access to tuition assistance programs
• Excellent opportunities for advancement & professional growth
• Paid time off – 13 paid vacation days in the first year, 5 paid personal days, 13 paid holidays, & paid sick leave
• NYS Retirement programs Background checks will be required. Posted hiring rate includes the sum of the statutory hiring rate for CSEA Grade 09 ($42,641) and Increase Hiring Rate ($5,584). Notes: In order to be eligible for appointment and to maintain employment, you cannot be listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of the Federal and/or State Medicaid and Medicare exclusion lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program). If you are appointed and subsequently listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of these lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program), you may be terminated from your employment. If appointed you may be required to become an enrolled Medicare provider; obtain and provide to your employer a National Provider Identifier (NPI) number issued by the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES); and otherwise actively participate to the degree necessary to allow for your services to be billed through Medicare and Medicaid. If you are appointed and you lose the ability to bill through Medicare and Medicaid, you may be terminated from your employment.