Bilingual Spanish/English Mobile Crisis Response Team Peer Support Specialist - Mental Health Association of San Francisco

POSITION TITLE: Bilingual Spanish/English Mobile Crisis Response Team Peer Support Specialist

POSITION TYPE: Full-time (40 hours); Non-exempt

PAY RANGE: $31.25 hourly

REPORTS TO: Marin Program Managers

HOURS & SHIFT OPTIONS:

• 4/10 schedule
• Sunday-Wednesday
• 7am-5:30pm
• Crisis response calls

Peer 2: Mid-Day Shift (with 1 weekend day shift)

• 4/10 schedule
• Wednesday-Saturday
• Wed/Thurs/Fri 9am-7:30pm
• Saturday 7am-5:30pm
• Combo of crisis response calls and mid-day follow-ups

• 4/10 schedule
• Wednesday-Saturday
• 10:30am-9:00pm
• Crisis response calls

BENEFITS:

• 100% Employer Paid Medical: Kaiser HMO or Blue Shield PPO
• 100% Dental, vision, life & long-term disability coverage; EAP
• Over 30+ days of PTO, including 10 vacation days (baseline), sick days, personal days, and major holidays
• Health and Dependent Care FSA, Commuter Check, and 403(b) options available
• Ongoing access to MHASF continuing education and skill-building workshops- all training time paid
• Excellent opportunity for advancement-over 70% of our staff have been promoted internally at least once!

ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO (MHASF)

MHASF is a mental health peer-run nonprofit located in downtown San Francisco and has been serving people and agencies across the Bay Area since 1947. As mental health consumers, we center the lived expertise of people with mental health challenges in our advocacy, education, and support programs. We believe that dignity and recovery in mental health are something everyone can experience. Our staff is dedicated to creating spaces for learning and healing around stigmatized and under-resourced areas in mental health-hoarding and cluttering behavior; post-hospitalization peer support; mental health and nutrition; peer mental health workforce development; and much more.

ABOUT THE MOBILE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM

The purpose of the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) is to respond to mental health and substance abuse crises and psychiatric emergencies in the community throughout Marin County. MCRT works collaboratively with the residents of Marin County, community based behavioral health agencies, hospitals and local law enforcement agencies to increase the safety of individuals in a crisis. MCRT provides rapid crisis intervention in the field to address and de-escalate, as well as stabilize, an immediate crisis in the least restrictive environment possible.

OVERVIEW OF PROGRAM & POSITION

When you're experiencing a mental health crisis, the presence of someone who understands what you're going through can make all the difference. In partnership with Marin County's Behavioral Health & Recovery Services (BHRS), MHASF aims to make that difference for Marin County residents. We place Bilingual Spanish/English Peer Support Specialists (MCRT BPSS) with a multidisciplinary crisis team, based in Marin County to offer compassionate, culturally sensitive support and help build a sense of trust, safety, and possibility for people at their most vulnerable. The MCRT BPSS position incorporates peer input, expertise, knowledge, and lived and living experience (having experienced behavioral health/recovery directly) to:

• Support MCRT in connecting community members to BHRS programs and other community resources
• Assist with de-escalation in the least restrictive manner
• Provide follow-up contact with clients
• Conduct outreach to assist clients who are identified as pre-crisis

The MCRT BPSS will provide these services in the following ways: education, information sharing, brokerage and linkage, individual rehabilitation, warm hand-offs, community engagement, and formal or informal presentations about MCRT services. The MCRT BPSS will also offer improvement recommendations and assist in the development of outreach & engagement materials. They will work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team of professionals including crisis specialists, mental health practitioners and other clinical staff, support services workers and internal and external BHRS stakeholders. The MCRT BPSS will regularly use Microsoft Office to send email correspondence to community members and stakeholders. This position requires administrative duties including but not limited to documenting communication with clients and family members in the Access Pre-Consumer log, tracking data, and compiling reports as needed.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Top Three Responsibilities

The MCRT BPSS will:

• Spend time both on-site at the BHRS office(s) and traveling throughout Marin County to provide personalized crisis follow-up peer counseling and resource navigation support
• Provide crisis-focused, field-based peer-to-peer support in 1:1 settings for Marin County. Be available for phone consultation to law enforcement, first responders, community providers, families and other community members
• Serve as an advocate for program participants and a model for mental health recovery, when necessary, facilitate transportation to Crisis Stabilization Unit, including coordination of appropriate and available community-based services for ongoing treatment and follow-up

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Use personal lived and living experience as a mental health consumer
• Serve as a role model and self-disclose lived and living experience background to clients as appropriate, to establish trust and demonstrate possibility of recovery
• Provide information and assist clients with access to community services and resources
• Communicate with physicians, psychiatrists, and therapists as well as other service providers
• Assist with crisis intervention, targeted case management, advocacy, service navigation, and other supports
• Provide ongoing follow-up contact to ensure clients are connected to appropriate supports, and provide additional assistance when needed
• Help ensure that services are sensitive to the cultural context and personal history of each client and the client's support system; provide services in community-based settings
• Ensure that consumers are involved to the greatest extent possible in decisions affecting services and treatment
• Promote collaboration among support systems, mental health providers, healthcare providers, justice system personnel, school personnel, and other agencies
• Outreach and engagement by developing trust and rapport by meeting clients where they are at and conducting outreach in the community to those who may be reluctant to engage with peers and clinicians
• Attend supervision, staff meetings, trainings, and other meetings in Marin and in San Francisco
• Maintain detailed records of services provided by program staff and ensure client record confidentiality
• Ensure records contain all data necessary in reporting to the State Department of Mental Health
• Ensure records conform to Medi-Cal requirements and standards
• Provide feedback and support to Marin County BHRS and communicate with MHASF about site issues as needed
• Provide training and information to the greater Marin County community to increase knowledge of and access to mental health triage
• Other responsibilities as assigned

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

• Personal lived and living experience of mental health challenges, and a willingness to disclose to participants and during counselor trainings is a requirement for this peer position
• Proof of COVID-19 vaccine and booster (This is field-based work in Marin County)
• Personal vehicle, clean driving record, valid CA driver's license, and the ability to drive throughout Marin County with project participants/clients
• Bilingual and able to read, write, and speak Spanish proficiently
• Ideally, applicant will already possess California Peer Certification OR, achieve this certification within 6 months of hire (cost of training and exam covered by MHASF)
• Preferred - Familiarity and experience with harm reduction and the mental health recovery model
• Preferred - Experience working in crisis settings and de-escalation/cultural responsiveness
• 2 years of professional experience supporting people with behavioral health challenges
• Proficient computer skills, including typing and data entry
• Clear, effective written and verbal communication skills
• Behavioral health knowledge, including familiarity with psychiatric diagnoses, psychiatric symptoms and associated behavior, psychiatric medications, and substance use issues
• Self-direction, flexibility, and organization
• Ability to use independent judgment, work effectively under pressure, and function well in a team setting
• Willingness to learn from others, take feedback, and adjust communication and behavior
• Proven ability to work effectively with people of a variety of ages, backgrounds, and paths to recovery
• Commitment to upholding the mission and values of MHASF

SUCCESSFUL ATTITUES & WORK APPROACHES

• Highly organized and resourceful, attention to detail, ability to multi-task and manage time well to accomplish all key tasks and deadlines
• Willingness to learn and support others, take, and provide constructive feedback, and adjust communication and behavior
• Affirmative and accepting towards people from diverse backgrounds and experience
• Experience taking initiative to self-educate about unfamiliar subjects or concepts