Outreach Certified Peer Specialist

Location: New Rochelle, NY Hours: M-F 5:45 am to 1:45 pm Rate of Pay: $26 Provisional and $28 Full Certification Certification Required: CPS/CRPA/Peer Advocate OVERVIEW OF PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:  At Access: Supports for Living and our affiliate, The Guidance Center of Westchester, we help people live the healthiest and fullest lives possible. The Outreach Certified Peer supports participants in our dual-licensed OMH/OASAS Opioid Treatment Program (METRO) using a harm reduction approach that aligns with OASAS and Joint Commission standards. Peer support is delivered as part of an interdisciplinary team and grounded in meeting participants where they are — reducing the negative consequences of substance use, supporting participant-defined goals, promoting safety, and using lived experience to provide non-judgmental, person-centered engagement across the program, the dosing area, and the broader recovery community. PRIMARY FUNCTIONS: Documents all interactions with participants in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) in accordance with OASAS documentation requirements for a Peer Advocate/Peer Specialist. Completes NOMS (National Outcome Measures) intake, follow-up, and discharge interviews with participants accurately and within required timeframes, and enters NOMS data into the appropriate reporting system. Coordinates MAS (Medicaid Answering Service / Medical Answering Services Inc.) non-emergency transportation requests for participants in partnership with the Program Engagement Specialist (Front Desk) — including scheduling rides to medical, psychiatric, and treatment appointments, troubleshooting missed pickups, and following up to confirm transportation is in place. Completes the OASAS 2015 form for each participant transportation/treatment request, ensuring that Dr. Thomas' NPI (National Provider Identifier) and all required prescriber information are entered accurately, and submits the form within required timeframes. Provides peer engagement support by accompanying participants to meetings with their clinicians (counselor, therapist, psychiatrist, medical provider) when requested, helping the participant feel heard, ask questions, and remain engaged in the conversation. Provides a supportive presence in the dosing area when needed, offering a calm, non-judgmental ear to participants who appear frustrated, anxious, or in distress, and assisting nursing/medical staff with de-escalation while staying within peer scope of practice. Serves as backup to the Program Engagement Specialist (Front Desk) when they are busy or unavailable, assisting participants in the medication area and in the waiting room — greeting participants, answering general questions, easing wait-time anxiety, and alerting clinical staff to any concerns. Engages with new intake participants to help them navigate the beginning of the treatment process — orienting them to the flow of the clinic, introducing them to the team, walking them through paperwork expectations, and providing peer reassurance during early visits. Meets one-on-one with participants to provide peer support, actively listen, share relevant lived experience, and help participants identify and voice their own recovery goals, hopes, and barriers — empowering them to bring those concerns to their counselor or medical provider. Participates in art group therapy and other group modalities as a peer co-facilitator/participant, using the group setting to build peer connection, model recovery, and strengthen the program's peer support community. Helps build and sustain a peer support group within the program — recruiting interested participants, supporting attendance, and reinforcing peer-led recovery culture. Provides referral sources to participants as needed — including community-based supports, mutual-aid meetings, housing, vocational, primary care, mental health, and other recovery resources — and follows up to confirm connection. Works collaboratively with the integrated treatment team and meets with participants as needed to address concerns, share lived experience, and reinforce participant-defined recovery goals. Escorts participants who are interested in outside self-help and mutual-aid meetings (AA, NA, SMART Recovery, MARA, etc.) and introduces participants to recovery community resources. Encourages participants to participate in scheduled clinical services, groups, and medical appointments; provides motivational support to reduce no-shows and disengagement. Makes outreach phone calls to participants who miss scheduled clinical services, missed dosing, or are at risk of disengagement, and documents outreach attempts in the EHR. Provides harm reduction education and supports overdose prevention efforts, including distribution of naloxone kits and naloxone/overdose training to participants and their families per OASAS and DOH protocols. Supports warm hand-offs to community-based supports, including housing, vocational, criminal justice re-entry, and primary care resources. Conducts outreach to community institutions and referral partners (e.g., hospitals, detox/inpatient programs, shelters, courts, drug courts, parole/probation, primary care, ED case management, and community-based organizations) to coordinate possible intakes and warm transfers into the program. Maintains a referral log of all programs and institutions from which the clinic receives intakes — including the referral source, contact person, date of referral, participant outcome (admitted, declined, no-show, referred out), and follow-up notes — and provides the log to the Program Services Manager and Program Director on a regular cadence. Always adheres to strict 42 CFR Part 2 and HIPAA confidentiality standards. Attends all TGCW meetings as required, including team and case-conference meetings. Attends supervision as scheduled with the Program Director and/or Clinical Supervisor. Maintains active NYS CRPA certification, including completion of required continuing education and timely credential renewal.   ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONAL / ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT: Performs other job-related duties as needed to ensure the success of the programs. QUALIFICATIONS AND ATTRIBUTES: Lived experience of recovery from substance use disorder, with the ability to share that experience appropriately in service of participant engagement. Working familiarity with an Electronic Health Record (EHR); myEvolv a plus. Familiarity with NOMS interviews and OASAS reporting workflows preferred. Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interface with regulatory agencies, community stakeholders, patients/families, and staff. Familiarity working with alcoholism, substance use, other addictions, and psychosocial stressors of poverty, abuse, abandonment, grief/loss, low/no literacy, and criminal justice involvement. Sensitivity and empathy for participants and their families. Demonstrated ability to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with participants and to practice within the NYS CRPA/CPS scope of practice and CRPA Code of Ethics.   EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: GED or High School Diploma. NYS Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) or NYS Peer Specialist — provisional acceptable; full certification required at the higher pay rate. At least one (1) year of experience working in an OASAS Article 32 program; experience in an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) / methadone setting strongly preferred. Bilingual in English/Spanish a plus. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to perform the job's essential functions successfully. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position described, which are reviewed in each case. Capable of collaborating face-to-face with participants. Able to sit for extended periods of time and to stand in the dosing area as needed. Able to work in open space floor plan. Must be capable of moving throughout the workday and escorting participants within and outside the building. Occasional lifting of > 25+ pounds.