Job Details

Peer Specialist

Program is looking to recruit and to fill two vacancies at our Santa Barbara, California location in the HUD VASH program. This position functions as an interdisciplinary team member, assisting physicians and other professional/non-professional personnel in a permanent supportive housing program and performs a variety of therapeutic and supportive tasks that include assisting Veterans in articulating their goals for recovery and personal wellness.

This job is open to current, permanent employees of the VA (i.e. T38, T38 Hybrid, and VCS employees on excepted appts covered by an interchange agreement); Federal employees on a Career/Career-Conditional appt.; Former competitive civil service employees eligible for reinstatement; Veterans eligible under VEOA, VRA, and 30% DAV; Those eligible under the Employment Program for People with Disabilities; and those eligible for CTAP/ICTAP.

Duties include: participating in the service, training, consultation, and other professional activities of VA health care services and functions as a fully vested member of the multidisciplinary team; using personal recovery experiences to model coping techniques and recovery tolls to coach Veterans to relevant skills need for self-management of their health condition(s) and pursuit of their personal wellness; serving as a recovery agent by providing and advocating for effective wellness and holistic, recovery-based services that aid Veterans in daily living; orienting new Veterans to the program's services, hours, locations, staff, and other pertinent information necessary for the Veterans to understand how to effectively utilize the program services; guiding Veterans to articulate personal recovery and wellness goals through the use of individual or group meetings; utilizing recovery tools to coach Veterans on relevant skills needed for self-management of their health condition(s) and pursuit of their personal wellness; monitoring progress and assisting with the execution of the recovery and wellness plan, making timely reports of progress, and presenting new areas of concern to the treatment team; contributing to the development of an effective discharge plan that is based upon their understanding of the Veteran's goals and interests; observing behaviors that might indicate difficulty adapting or responding to treatment (e.g., missed appointments, failure to maintain abstinence, risk to self or others, disruptive behavior), completing appropriate documentation, and reporting concerns to the treatment team in a timely manner; using ongoing individual and group meetings to teach Veterans how to identify and combat negative self-talk and overcome fears by providing a forum that allows Veterans to share their experiences; maintaining a working knowledge of current trends and developments in holistic approaches in wellness and recovery by reading books, journals, and other relevant materials; and performing other related duties as assigned.

Requirements include: being a U.S. Citizen; having a full, current, and unrestricted peer specialist certification; being a Veteran; having Selective Service Registration for males born after 12/31/1959; being required to serve a probationary period; being subject to background/security investigation; being required to complete an online onboarding process; being required to participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program; and being able to operate a government furnished vehicle for the purposes of assisting Veterans with obtaining and maintaining housing.